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The Atomium ( , , ) is a landmark modernist building in Brussels, Belgium, originally constructed as the centrepiece of the 1958 Brussels World's Fair (Expo 58). Designed by the engineer André Waterkeyn and the architects André and Jean Polak as a tribute to scientific progress, as well as to symbolise Belgian engineering skills at the time, Official websiteLe Monde.fr. 2005. André Waterkeyn, concepteur de l'
Accessed. it is located on the Heysel Plateau in Laeken (northern part of the City of Brussels), where the exhibition took place. It is the city's most popular tourist attraction, and serves as a museum, an art centre and a cultural destination.
The Atomium stands tall, making it one of the tallest structures in Belgium. Its nine stainless steel clad are connected in the shape of a unit cell that could represent an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times. Steel tubes connecting the spheres enclose stairs, and a elevator (in the central, vertical tube) to allow access to the six visitable spheres, which contain exhibit halls and other public spaces. The top sphere includes a restaurant with a panorama view of Brussels. The building was completely renovated between 2004 and 2006 by the companies Jacques Delens and Besix.
The building is located on the italic=no/italic=no, at the intersection of the italic=no/italic=no with the italic=no/italic=no and the italic=no/italic=no, and opposite the Centenary Palace of the Brussels Exhibition Centre (Brussels Expo). It is served by Heysel/Heizel metro station on line 6 of the Brussels Metro.
The construction of the Atomium was a technical feat. In January 1955, a first project was presented by the engineer André Waterkeyn, director of the economic department at , the Federation of Companies in the Metal Fabricating Industry (now known as Agoria). The architects André and Jean Polak were responsible for the concept's architectural transposition, drawing up numerous sketches in the process. The company received assistance from the consulting engineers Artémy S. Joukoff and André Beckers, who were supported by the V. Daniel design office. Construction of the foundations began in March 1956 and the building, erected by the Jambes-Namur Construction Workshops, was completed less than a month before the inauguration of Expo 58, on 17 April 1958.
The three upper outer spheres lack vertical support and are therefore not open to the public for safety reasons (to minimise foot traffic in the spheres). The original design called for no leg supports on the three lower outer spheres; the structure was simply to rest on the singular mid-bottom sphere. However, wind tunnel tests proved that such a structure would have toppled in an wind, whilst winds of up to have been recorded in Belgium. Support columns were thus added under the three spheres in question to provide sufficient resistance against overturning.
The Atomium, designed to last six months, was not destined to survive the 1958 World's Fair, but its popularity and success made it a major element of Brussels' landscape. Its destruction was therefore postponed year after year, until the city's authorities decided to keep it. However, for thirty years, little maintenance work was done. Still, the building continued to serve as the backdrop for major events and competitions. In 1960, the 47th Tour de France passed in front of it during its inaugural stages. From 1960 to 1962, the Brussels Motor Grand Prix automobile race was also organised nearby.
On 21 December 2005, the Atomium's new outdoor lighting was tested. The meridians of each sphere were covered with rectangular steel plates, in which LED lamp was integrated. The LED application illuminates the bulbs at night. The lights can also flash simultaneously or in turns along each meridian, symbolising the range of an electron around its core. In addition, the German industrial designer Ingo Maurer created lighting objects and installations for the building's interior.
On 14 February 2006, the Atomium was officially reopened by then-Prince Philippe, and on 18 February 2006, it opened again to the public. The renovation cost €26 million. Brussels and the Atomium Association covered one-third of the costs, whilst the Belgian Government financed the remaining two-thirds. To help finance the renovation, pieces of the old aluminium plates were sold to the public as souvenirs. A triangular piece measuring approximately in length sold for €1,000. In March 2006, a €2 commemorative coin depicting the building was issued to celebrate the renovation and reopening.
Although the Atomium depicts an iron unit cell, the spheres were originally clad in aluminium. Following the 2004–2006 renovation, however, the aluminium was replaced with stainless steel, which is primarily iron.
Of the six spheres accessible to the public: the bottom sphere is reserved for permanent exhibitions dedicated to the 1950s, Expo 58 and the building's construction; the second sphere hosts temporary exhibitions; the third and central spheres contain flexible spaces that can be rented for events, such as film screenings, concerts, parties and conferences; the top sphere, in addition to the panorama, holds a restaurant; and the sixth sphere is the kids' sphere, intended for the organisation of workshops in urban pedagogy, allowing children aged six to twelve to spend the night there.
In 2008, Anno Expo, who organised 50th anniversary celebrations of Expo 58 in Mechelen, announced a "cultural guerrilla strike" by asking people to send in their old photographs of the Atomium and 100 photoshoppers to paint over the spheres. SABAM responded that they would make an exception for 2008, allowing people to publish private photographs for one year, provided they were for non-commercial purposes. Anno Expo later announced they had censored part of their own report due to "complications" and referred to a meeting they had with SABAM. Mechelen's mayor, Bart Somers, called the Atomium copyright rules absurd.
In the summer of 2015, the Belgian political party Open Vld, which was part of the then-ruling Michel I Government, proposed a bill to enable freedom of panorama in Belgium. The bill was enacted into law in June 2016, allowing pictures of the Atomium, and other public buildings under copyright, to be legally distributed.
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