'It was challenging': Meet the artist behind the design of Brussels' Flower Carpet 2024

Brussels' historical Flower Carpet is shaking things up this year and breaking with tradition in the hopes of attracting a new and younger audience.

According to event organisers, up until now, the Flower Carpet's motif each year was linked to a specific idea, such as a cultural event, a guest country of honour or a specific anniversary. This year, things will be different.

The carpet's motif will instead be "a nod to Brussels and Art Nouveau", in an event that will take place between 15 and 18 August.

The flowers used in the carpets have also traditionally been begonias. However, this year, more than 80% of the carpet will be made up of different colours and varieties of fresh dahlias.

Océane Cornille is the Liège-based artist who was chosen to revamp the Flower Carpet's look.

The artist, who goes under the artistic name "Whoups", was initially contacted in January by the Flower Carpet organisation. After a bit of back-and-forth on potential ideas and sketches, they finally agreed on a design.

"It was challenging. I was totally free for my design but my lines are really thin and I had to think the design was not in centimetres but in flowers," she shares with Euronews Culture.

She joined a team of illustrators,
graphic designers, and landscape architects who bring the event to life every other year. It was a collaborative effort unlike any other Cornille had experienced before, she says.

It takes around six hours and more than 100 volunteers to build the 70-metre long and 24-metre wide carpet.

Check out some of the pictures in the gallery below:

Océane Cornille studied graphic design at the École Supérieure des Arts de Saint-Luc in Liège and worked a 9-to-5 office job. "And then one day, I just noticed that I didn't want to be