Innovation means progress- by Simran Vedvyas

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Innovation means progress- by Simran Vedvyas
by Simran Vedvyas \| 12-01-2014 17:55 0
I visited the Atomium and understood that- Innovation means progress! In 1958, the Atomium portrayed perfectly the spirit of innovation blowing over the planet by dominating a universal exhibition entirely devoted to progress and the future. Do you remember the presentation of Sputnik, the Earth's first artificial satellite, launched into space a year earlier which was the pride of the Soviet Pavilion. Innovation, at that time, raised the eyes skywards. Space was the new frontier to be reached! The Atomium and its nine spheres representing the iron crystal with nine atoms also explicitly referred to this forward-looking progress - the innovation of controlling the atom. WoW is NoW delves into the rich production of innovative objects that have been building the story of humanity. The subject of the Brussels 1958 World Fair was the concern to shape a kind of humanism based on science and progress, and the wish to build a more human world for modern mankind. This spirit was at the heart of the event. More than fifty years after the World Fair, the Atomium re-explores human creativity by investigating the concept of innovation. What is innovation? Who innovates, where, when and how. Several examples of innovations are shown- Who invented the security helmet, How did someone come up with the idea of Velcro, Why do we eat potatoes, How was the Jacuzzi created. WoW is NoW will tackle these questions playfully and interactively. A seminal totem in the Brussels skyline neither tower, nor pyramid, a little bit cubic, a little bit spherical, half-way between sculpture and architecture, a relic of the past with a determinedly futuristic look, museum and exhibition centre the Atomium is, at once, an object, a place, a space, a Utopia and the only symbol of its kind in the world, which eludes any kind of classification. The Atomium was the main pavilion and icon of the World Fair of Brussels (1958), commonly called Expo 58. It symbolised the democratic will to maintain peace among all the nations, faith in progress, both technical and scientific and, finally, an optimistic vision of the future of a modern, new, super-technological world for a better life for mankind. The peaceful use of atomic energy for scientific purposes embodied these themes particularly well and, so, that is what determined the shape of the edifice. At 102 metres high, with its nine interconnected spheres, it represents an elementary iron crystal enlarged 165 billion (thousand million) times. It was dreamed up by the engineer Andre Waterkeyn (1917-2005). The spheres, though, were fitted out by the architects Andre and Jean Polak. The Atomium was not intended to survive beyond the 1958 World Fair but its popularity and success soon made it a key landmark, first of Brussels then internationally. Half a century later, the Atomium continues, for that matter, to embody those ideas of the future and universality. And, among other things through its cultural programming, it carries on the debate begun in 1958: What kind of future do we want for tomorrow What does happiness depend on While looking through the windows I saw the use of Solar Panels so effectively done- Impressive.

Dormant user Simran Vedvyas