This is the Atomium, Belgium's most famous landmark.
But did you know?
It's not actually in the shape of an atom.
I'm here today to find out what it is and what's actually inside its 9 balls.
Follow me to find out about the secrets of Atomium.
The Atomium consists of 9 spheres. Each one weighs 250 tons.
Wow, look how futuristic this looks.
This is quite impressive for a building that is 65 years old.
To learn more about the secrets of the Atomium, I meet Dirk Rebry from Belgium.
He's been a guide here for 15 years.
So Dirk, when you see this you think this is an Atom.
They told you that this is an atom?
Well, you are close to it, because it is a crystal with atoms in it.
And it was thought by Mr. Waterkeyn
who was the president of the metal industry in Belgium.
The iron crystal, enlarged 165 million times,
was designed by architects André and Jean Polak
for the 1958 World's Fair to give a positive image to the peaceful use of atomic energy.
The world exhibition was during 6 months.
And also the Atomium had to be broken down after 6 months,
like all the other pavilions that were here, to make place for other activities.
But because it was really something special and it was so successful during the worlds fair,
and also Waterkeyn asked and he was lobbying and asked if it could not stay maybe 6 months
later and then they agreed and added more 6 months and finally it stays.
It's no wonder they didn't have the heart to tear it down. The Atomium also looks
spectacular from the inside. It continued to break records even after it was built. Back then,
this 35-meter escalator was one of the fastest in Europe.
Today, you can take an extraordinary ride on it from sphere to sphere.
Look at that! It's really nice and light and really beautiful.
Here you can rest.
Yeah, you can just take a little break.
A little bit meditation.
After all of these stairs I need my break. It's really nice.
Fortunately, there's also an elevator for the 92 meters up to the top.
Here I learn the secret about how the Atomium always looks so good.
The Atomium is always so shiny,
what is the secret behind that?
Well, that is the secret, that you see here.
People hanging on the spheres to clean them.
And they do it once a year. Although after the renovation
the outside skin is made of inox, it still needs to be cleaned once a year.
And then they ask a group of alpinists to do it.
Then they are hanging on the spheres and cleaning them.
The Atomium was renovated in 2006.
What is the best kept secret of this building?
Well something really amazing and also for myself is that by the renovation
they changed the outside skin from aluminium to inox or stainless steel.
So the aluminum plates where two centimetres thick
but this aluminium didn't weight anything.
So they had to keep the stainless steel as thin as possible.
So they now are only 1.2 millimeters.
But even then the Atomium took 200 tons more weight.
Can you imagine?
So you are basically telling me that
the Atomium just got fatter over the years?
That's correct.
You can't enter every sphere, but you can still see a lot.
From exhibitions, to a light show – and even a restaurant.
But the best, of course, are the incredible views.