Belgium-Brussels (Atomium inside) Part 11

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The Atomium/Brussels:
The Atomium is a building in Brussels originally constructed for Expo 58, the 1958 Brussels World's Fair. Designed by the engineer André Waterkeyn and architects André and Jean Polak, it stands 102 m (335 ft) tall. Its nine 18 m (60 ft) diameter stainless steel clad spheres are connected so that the whole forms the shape of a unit cell of an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times. It is now a museum.Tubes of 3 m (10 ft) diameter connect the spheres along the 12 edges of the cube and all eight vertices to the centre. They enclose stairs, escalators and a lift (in the central, vertical tube) to allow access to the five habitable spheres which contain exhibit halls and other public spaces. The top sphere includes a restaurant which has a panoramic view of Brussels. CNN named it Europe's most bizarre building.
In the 1950s, faith in scientific progress was great, and a structure depicting atoms was chosen to embody this. Though many believe the Atomium depicts an atom, in fact it depicts 9 of them. The Atomium is in the shape of the body-centred cubic unit cell of an iron crystal, magnified 165 billion times. In layman's terms, the Atomium depicts the precise layout of the iron atoms of an iron crystal.Though the Atomium depicts an iron unit cell, the balls were clad with aluminum instead of iron. Following the 2004-2007 renovations, however, the aluminum was replaced with stainless steel, which is in fact primarily iron. Likewise, while the subject of Atomium was chosen to depict the enthusiasm of the Atomic Age, iron is not and cannot be used as fuel in nuclear reactions.
Renovation of the Atomium began in March 2004; it was closed to the public in October, and remained closed until 18 February 2007. The renovations included replacing the faded aluminium sheets on the spheres with stainless steel. To help pay for renovations, the old aluminium was sold to the public as souvenirs. A triangular piece about 2 metres (7 ft) long sold for €1,000.
Three of the four top spheres lack vertical support and hence are not open to the public for safety reasons, although the sphere at the pinnacle is open to the public. The original design called for no supports; the structure was simply to rest on the spheres. Wind tunnel tests proved that the structure would have toppled in an 80 km/h wind (140 km/h winds have been recorded in Belgium). Support columns were added to achieve enough resistance against overturning.Wikipedia