It’s hard for structures that try to capture the future to retain their appeal.  So many, like the Unisphere, and a lot of Frank Lloyd Wright projects from the 1950’s, quickly seem out of date; they look even older than they are.  The Atomium in Brussels, a monument constructed for the 1958 World’s Fair and now a lookout tower for tourists, has escaped that trap.  Over fifty years later it still seems stylishly futuristic, and has an appeal that’s remarkably free of kitsch.

The structure, intended to replicate an “iron crystal,” was dreamt up by engineer André Waterkeyn and architects André and Jean Polak.  From the outside the Atomium, which was just restored, is a big, uncomplicated bliss-out.  Visitors can drive underneath, walk around, climb inside, and take lots of pictures.  It’s not really a building and not really a sculpture, but something informal and in-between that’s unburdened by the need to be useful or beautiful or represent anything in particular.  It’s exactly what it is, a brilliant folly.