The Parc du Cinquantenaire is one of Brussels most iconographic parks. It was built in 1880 during the reign of King Leopold II (the King Urbanist), to commemorate Belgium’s 50th independence anniversary. Over the last century however, this magical urban space was host to numerous World Exhibition fairs, which left their consumerists mark on the park, leaving behind cultural ‘space junk’ such as museums, pavilions and sculptures. During the (unbelievable) 1970’s the park was physically cut in two by an open-air traffic tunnel. Today, despite its former grandeur, the park is one of the most dilapidated green areas of the capital. Re-Park announced the start of the park’s rehabilitation, temporarily reprogramming its haphazard components.
Re-Park focused on two specific locations, each with their distinctive scale. The small and intimate Human Passions Sculpture Pavilion by Art Nouveau architect Victor Horta was turned into a café/library/concert hall during the day and a cinema/dj-set during night. The ‘urban’ highway running through the Parc du Cinquantenaire acted in its turn as a three-dimensional billboard room for the Re-Park event, counting some 50.000 passers-by (cars) per day.