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Expo 58, also known as the '''Brussels World’s Fair''', '''Brusselse Wereldtentoonstelling''' or '''Exposition Universelle et Internationale de Bruxelles''', was held from April 17 to October 19 , 1958 . It was the first major World's Fair after World War II .

Nearly 15,000 workers spent three years building the 2 km² site, found on the Heysel plateau, seven kilometres northwest of Brussels , Belgium . The site is best known for a giant model of a unit cell of an iron crystal (each sphere representing an Atom ), called the Atomium , which decades later remains one of the best known landmarks of Brussels.

More than 42 million visitors visited the site, which was opened with a call for world peace and social and economic progress, issued by King Baudouin I .

The fair is also known for a musical milestone, a melding of musical composition and architecture. Edgard Varèse composed "Poème électronique," which was recorded from 425 loudspeakers placed at specific points in Le Corbusier 's Philips Pavilion.


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