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Built for the 1958 Brussels World's Fair (Expo '58), the 103-meter (335-foot) tall Atomium monument represents a unit cell of an iron crystal (body-centered cubic), magnified 165 billion times, with vertical body diagonal, with tubes along the 12 edges of the cube and from all 8 vertices to the center.

Nine steel spheres 18 meters in diameter connect via tubes with escalators as long as 35 m, among the longest in Europe. Windows in the top sphere provide a panoramic view of Brussels. Other spheres have 1950s exhibitions. Three upper spheres lacking vertical support are not open to the public for safety reasons.


THE EIFFEL TOWER OF BRUSSELS

Planned originally to last only six months, architect André Waterkeyn's design has survived to become a popular tourist attraction that some feel is a Belgian national icon rivalling Manneken Pis. It sits beside the King Baudouin Stadium in Heysel Exhibition Park. Just next to it also lies the congress center, and the Mini-Europe park.


RENOVATION OF THE ATOMIUM

Beginning in March 2004, much-needed renovation work has included replacing faded aluminium sheets on the balls with stainless steel. To help pay for renovations, the old aluminium has been sold to the public as souvenirs. A triangular piece about 2 m long sold for $1,300.

The Atomium, which has been closed to the public since October 2004, re-opened on 18th February 2006.

The renovation includes revamped exhibition spaces, a restaurant, and an overnight dormitory (with suspended plastic sphere beds) for visiting schoolchildren


ATOMIUM INFORMATION

Location: Eeuwfeestlaan/ Boulevard du Centenaire 1020 Brussels (Laken)

Opening hours: Sept. to March: 10 a.m. till 5.30 p.m. April to August: 9 a.m. till 7.30 p.m.

Admission: Euro 7.00 - Euro 9.00


EXPO '58

Expo 58, also known as the Brussels World's Fair and the Exposition Universelle et Internationale de Bruxelles, was held from April 17 to October 19, 1958. It was the first major World's Fair after World War II.

Nearly 15,000 workers spent three years building the 2 km² site, found on the Heysel plateau, seven kilometres northwest of Brussels, Belgium. The site is best known for a giant model of a unit cell of an iron crystal (each sphere representing an atom), called the Atomium, which decades later remains one of the best known landmarks of Brussels.

More than 42 million visitors visited the site, which was opened with a call for world peace and social and economic progress, issued by King Baudouin I.

The fair is also known for a musical milestone, a melding of musical composition and architecture. Edgard Varèse composed "Poème électronique," which was recorded from 425 loudspeakers placed at specific points in Le Corbusier's Philips Pavilion.


Retrieved from Wikipedia.org, the Free Encyclopedia



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