Atomium
Nine-sphere steel landmark of the 1958 World's Fair, with viewing sphere and exhibition spheres.
The Atomium was built for Expo 58, the world's fair held on the Heysel plateau in northern Brussels. Designed by the engineer Andre Waterkeyn with the architects Andre and Jean Polak, it represents a unit cell of an iron crystal magnified some 165 billion times. Nine spheres, each about eighteen metres across, are linked by tubes containing escalators and stairs, and the structure stands 102 metres high. Intended to last only for the duration of the fair, it was kept afterwards and became the best known modern landmark in the city.
Six of the nine spheres are accessible to visitors. A lift in the central column rises to the top sphere, where a panoramic level looks over Brussels, the Laeken park and the Heysel exhibition halls. Lower spheres house a permanent display on Expo 58 and the building's history, temporary exhibitions and digital installations, and a restaurant. The cladding, originally aluminium, was replaced with stainless steel during a full renovation completed in 2006, which also renewed the interiors and the lighting of the spheres.
Highlights
- Panoramic top sphere 92 metres above the Heysel plateau
- Escalator tubes linking the spheres, among the longest in Europe
- Permanent display on Expo 58 and the monument's renovation
- Stainless steel cladding installed during the 2004-2006 renovation
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