Atomium in Brussels is an iconic 105-meter high structure. It cannot be called a building or a tower or a pyramid. It is between a sculpture and a science model, and it dodges any classification. Modeled on a unit crystal of Iron that has been magnified 15 billion times, it is shaped from nine steel spheres connected to each other by large steel tubes and resting on support pylons. These tubes have access stairs, escalators, and a high-speed elevator which allow connection between the spheres.
Atomium was designed by architects André and Jean Polak and engineer André Waterkeyn and built for the World Expo in 1958. It symbolized the dawn of the Atomic Age, the optimistic spirit of the times and postwar progress. People saw a golden future for humankind in advancing science.
By Alain – Full Story at Keep Calm and Wander