Thu, 24 May 2012
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Three years of design and construction work were required to develop and implement a project which was to shoot to international fame and contribute to the international visibility of the capital of Europe.Designed to represent Belgium at the Universal Exhibition in 1958 in Brussels, the Atomium was intended to last only for the six months of the Expo, from 17 April to 19 October 1958. Over fifty years on, this architectural masterpiece remains one of the world's best-known and most visited buildings.
Attached as they are to this symbolic edifice over 100 meters high, Belgians tend to forget just how daring, creative and modern engineer André Waterkeyn's design was.
Waterkeyn's intention was to represent an iron crystal – not a molecule or atom as is sometimes believed - 165 billion times its actual size, in the form of an assembly of 9 spheres connected by 20 tubes.
Three years of design and construction work were required to develop and implement a project which was to shoot to international fame and contribute to the international visibility of the capital of Europe. The Architects were André and Jean Polak.
The Atomium, which had aged over the years, was entirely renovated between 2004 and 2006. Its exterior was fully re-clad, the exhibition and reception areas, shops and restaurant were reconstructed, an outdoor ticket pavilion was built and the square around the building was redesigned.
This renovation work gave the Atomium a new lease of life and has met every expectation. Since reopening in February 2006, the Atomium has welcomed over 1.400.000 visitors and is once more arousing the curiosity and enthusiasm of both Belgians and foreign visitors.
On the occasion of its 50th anniversary, the Atomium management drew up a schedule of many activities on the theme of " Brussels Happiness " and of the links between technological progress and the promise of happiness.
Almost 50 events (exhibitions, shows, outings, evenings, special publications, etc.) took place during the exact period of the 1958 Universal Exhibition, only half a century later:
A blog on the website of the Atomium, www.atomium.be is open to everyone.
Photos: André Waterkeyn © SABAM 2008 – www.atomium.be , photo Olivier Hennebert
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