monumental<\/strong><\/a> scale, Neo Hokusai folds contemporary visual language into the familiar swell, turning the historic square into something halfway between a digital canvas and an extremely ambitious flower bed.<\/p>\n![\"brussels](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/brussels-hokusais-great-wave-dahlias-flower-carpet-2026-designboom-1-1.jpg\")
Brussels\u2019 Grand-Place transforms into a floral wave | images: \u00a9FlowerCarpet_MasterShoot<\/p>\n
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750,000 DAHLIAS BUILD A 1,300-SQM IMAGE<\/p>\n
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More than 750,000 dahlias make up the installation, covering almost 1,300 square meters and accounting for around 80% of the carpet. Dahlias have been the event\u2019s flower of choice since 2024, and for this edition they are arranged alongside a series of Japanese motifs embedded into the composition. An ichimatsu checkerboard \u2014 traditionally associated with continuity and prosperity \u2014 frames the upper and lower edges, while patterns inspired by kumiko ranma woodwork define the sides. Brussels\u2019 coat of arms occupies the four corners.<\/p>\n
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The installation turns a centuries-old form of floral decoration into a rather improbable meeting point between Japanese graphic culture, Belgian horticulture and UNESCO-listed architecture. Its reference to Hokusai also nods to the history of Japonisme, when Japanese ukiyo-e prints began radically influencing European artists in the late 19th century. More than a century later, the exchange comes full circle: an image once exported from Japan to Europe is now reconstructed petal by petal in the center of the Belgian capital.<\/p>\n
![\"brussels](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/brussels-hokusais-great-wave-dahlias-flower-carpet-2026-designboom-4.jpg.jpg\")
more than 750,000 dahlias compose the 1,300-square-meter flower carpet<\/p>\n
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A SECOND FLOWER CARPET EXTENDS THE ROUTE<\/p>\n
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For the first time, the Grand-Place is not the only location getting the floral treatment. A second flower carpet inside the Brussels Stock Exchange extends the event towards the Bourse, creating a route through the city center. This companion installation takes hops \u2014 a symbol of Belgium\u2019s brewing heritage \u2014 as its starting point, using natural tones and botanical imagery to connect the country\u2019s floral and beer-making traditions.<\/p>\n
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Visitors can see both installations from August 13 through 16, while the Grand-Place carpet is accompanied each evening by a sound and light show running from 9:45 pm to 11 pm, with performances every 15 minutes. The square itself remains freely accessible throughout the event, while elevated views of the carpet are available from the balcony of Brussels Town Hall. For a work made from hundreds of thousands of cut flowers and destined to disappear after four days, Neo Hokusai certainly knows how to make an entrance.<\/p>\n
![\"brussels](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/brussels-hokusais-great-wave-dahlias-flower-carpet-2026-designboom-16.jpg\")
Japanese artist Hiro Sugiyama designed the 2026 flower carpet for Brussels<\/p>\n
![\"brussels](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/brussels-hokusais-great-wave-dahlias-flower-carpet-2026-designboom-13.jpg\")
the installation marks 160 years of diplomatic relations between Belgium and Japan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOKUSAI\u2019S GREAT WAVE TAKES OVER BRUSSELS \u00a0 For four days, one of the world\u2019s most recognizable waves has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":639235,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[267],"tags":[365,362,363,364,366,18,117,121047,19,9914,17,11480],"class_list":["post-639234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-design","tag-eire","tag-entertainment","tag-flower-and-leaf-art","tag-ie","tag-interactive-installation","tag-ireland","tag-public-art"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117101653025445835","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=639234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639234\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/639235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=639234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=639234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=639234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}