The world exposition often left some impressive buildings, for example the huge crystal box (Crystal Palace) in Hyde Park for London World Exposition 1851, and the great tower erecting upright in the sky (Eiffel Tower) near the Seine River for Paris World Exposition 1889. They might become forgotten or permanent. In any case, they all challenged the imagination of people in very unusual ways at their time.

However, the Atomium in Brussels simply broke people’s established concepts of architecture. It was rather a magnified sculpture than a building. The nine large balls assembled together expressed far more than the building itself.

When we came here, they were just about to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Brussels World Exposition 1958. The Atomium had been washed clean, standing under the limpid blue sky, with the spheres shining brilliant light.

The Atomium enlarged the atomic structure of iron by 160 billion times. It was totally 334ft high, weighed 2,200 tons, and consisted of nine large aluminum balls. According to the designer, the nine spheres stood for the nine member states of the newly established European Community (the former term for European Union), and also represented the nine provinces of Belgium. But to me, this design of enlarged atom undoubtedly expressed people’s worries and expectations of the atomic technology which had suddenly come into the world.

The Brussels World Exposition 1958 was the first world expo held after the Second World War. Although the two atomic bombs thrown 13 years ago ended the war, they also opened a corner of the Pandora’s Box. Therefore, this exposition determined its theme as “Evaluation of the World for a More Human World” – when the magic box was open, can people realize their expectations of controlling it?

However, this World Expo did not go peacefully.

Germany did not participate in the Brussels World Exposition 1958. Also, people no longer saw the intense confrontation between German and Soviet Pavilions at Paris World Exposition 1937. This time, closely adjacent was the U.S. and Soviet Pavilions. In the Director of Atomium Park Henri Simons’ opinion, the purpose of this arrangement was “as we have just stepped out of the war for 9 years, we want to express our aspiration for pushing forward the peace process. So wishing reconciliation between the two powerful countries is one of the ideas of this World Expo.”

Expo1958 Exhibition Area

But the cold war already started with the Iron Curtain coming down. The pavilions of U.S. and Soviet Union stood on one side of Atomium, only less than 10 meters away. The United States, who had developed the first atomic bomb of the world, did not exhibit high-tech products in their pavilion. Instead, their focus was on life styles. The adjacent Soviet Pavilion was, however, a gather-together of high-tech.

That was an intense and cold comparison: two ideologies, two modern patterns, and two life styles.

Belgian people still preserve good memories of World Expo 1958. Robert Urbain, the General Representative of Belgium for Expo 2010, said: “The Brussels World Expo was a good opportunity for unity. We left visitors the deepest impression of the latest technology…Brussels became the center of Europe.”

US Pavilion is Located at the End of the Lawn

Within 10 kilometers around the Atomium, there are the Headquarters of North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and the Headquarters of European Union. Now the war is far away. The little hero Even no longer needs to think of how to pour the fuse to eliminate. He is considered as the symbol of peace and hope.

As night falls, the Atomium starts to light up the jewelry blue night sky, radiating distinctive colors. Although the war gets far away and the cold war ends, there are still disputes, oppositions and conflicts in this world. But the brilliance of communication, dialog and reconciliation still shines through the world exposition.