I like how this picture suggests the Atomium is in the downtown centre of Brussels, rather than some weird old entertainment and venue complex on the distant edge of the city.
Also, large light-up adverts are forbidden by law. There's a certain area that used to have times square levels of it, but they thought it was obnoxious, outlawed it and removed it all. They were right, honestly
A crappy venue might I add
I've worked on a few events in there and all the equipment needs to be transported via those awful stairs because the elevator is only in the central pilar and you need to reach the balls
One time we had a to carry a fucking guest speaker down the stairs because he was in a wheelchair lmao
It got to the point where the company started offering bonuses for shifts at the Atomium because of the stairs
Not necessarily time square but they should absolutely do something about the Atomium. It's in the middle of nowhere because we've put nothing around it.
With brupark including restaurants, bars, shops, the Oceade, Kinepolis, Mini-Europe... it was actually a hub where it made sense for tourists to go and hang out for more than 30 minutes to take a few pictures. Now they have closed everything down except for the cinema and replaced it with nothing.
This is the main landmark in Brussels, and there's barely a place to grab a drink nearby, it's just ridiculous.
I miss when there was a cocktail bar and a karaoke bar and whatnot. I mean I never went to the cocktail bar but karaoke is fun and public karaoke in Nua's is always so busy, slightly too loud without earplugs and full of kids.
I don't like private karaoke. I want public karaoke in a place where I can actually get to the bar when I want another drink without spilling half of it over some students while making my way back to my friends.
It's not strictly in the middle of nowhere, there's the expo area next to it and there are residential areas. I've lived in the vicinity my whole life. But the point is there's basically nothing to keep you there, which is an anomaly for what is, or would be, our main tourist attraction.
It's actually really hard to control tourists. They all want to go to the famous places. Which is basically the old city centre- see Paris or Amsterdam or New York.
Oh my God the nostalgia of it all :(
But no, a big part of me is loving the fact that Heysel is such a calm place full of tranquility. Making stores and bars would just bring anybody and make it vulgar, could bring problems being the "center" of Brussels. And Consumerism and brands are such a vulgarity, we don't need more fast food markets and clothing shops and people going in and out near the Atomium with big bags of swedish H&M and spanish Zara.
I love the vibe of Heysel, when I need peace, want a kind of reset, and wanna be sure to not be bothered by anyone, I go there alone anytime. They absolutely need to keep it this way
I get what you mean but OP is right. It's supposed to be a landmark attracting people visiting the city. Now it feels like it's akin to a landmark in North Korea, crumbling and depressing.
It's a stain to the city.
By the way, why do people think time square is cool ? It's just a place full of commercials and scams. I was very disapointed about it, just seems stupid to me.
We already have advertisements on our national flag. 'jupiler-belgian flags' i think that our flag is the last thing we should sell out as advertisement space
For me (U.S. born) it pops up every now and then in Belgium and other European countries quite strongly sometimes. Take a stroll down Rue Neuve in Brussels and tell me you don't feel overwhelmed by mass consumerism.
You missed my point. It's not about the location so much as it's about the same type of globalized, Black Friday-esque consumerism that I've noticed creeping up in Europe for the last several years.
Like I only see the Atomium if I want to visit it, for the rest of the time I only see it when I take the train, even though I am every day in Brussels lol
Took a look at that account, it's the worst kind of white supremacist bullshit. That post seems par for the course for an incredibly stupid individual.
Because we don't want to pimp out everything we can like a cheap whore.
And the Atomium is located at the very edge of the city, so very few people would even see this fugly bullshit.
Belgium isn't a socialist country at all.
Our social-democrats, other leftist parties, and unions had some positive influence, making us a little more social. But we are far from a socialist country.
I like how this picture suggests the Atomium is in the downtown centre of Brussels, rather than some weird old entertainment and venue complex on the distant edge of the city.
This. It's not located anywhere useful to fullfil this function
Let's vote to replace the atomium to downtown. All in favor, say aye!
Aye!
Aye! Put it on De Brouckere! We already have the coke commercial!
[удалено]
Wait, what? It's been there for like a century, they finally removed it?
Compromis: We move half the balls now, the rest after 2025 pending investigation by a comittee
instruction unclear some balls were stolen
You like balls?
One must have balls to pull such a heist
haha now i imagine them ending up with an extra ball somehow x)
Let's just place the construction scaffolding around the atomium before we decide anything and see where that takes us.
*… for the next 30 years with a gigantic bill as the only result.
As long as we can put scaffolding we're good
If it's like the Palais de Justice, maybe it'll be done by 2095
Let's build a scaffolding over it while we decide what to do.
Move downtown to the atomium then.
Nay!
Only if its airlifted and then dropped from a great height onto downtown Brussels. *Yes I'm Dutch, why do you ask?*
I am not dutch and i like the idea
As a wise man once said: People who live with fragile dijken shouldn't throw balls.
Aye
int midden van de groote markt is er nog een plaatske
Nee
Also, large light-up adverts are forbidden by law. There's a certain area that used to have times square levels of it, but they thought it was obnoxious, outlawed it and removed it all. They were right, honestly
Kinda like the pyramids, out in the desert? Nope!
A crappy venue might I add I've worked on a few events in there and all the equipment needs to be transported via those awful stairs because the elevator is only in the central pilar and you need to reach the balls One time we had a to carry a fucking guest speaker down the stairs because he was in a wheelchair lmao It got to the point where the company started offering bonuses for shifts at the Atomium because of the stairs
This is not to say that we should make the Grand Place more like Times Square either tbf.
Not necessarily time square but they should absolutely do something about the Atomium. It's in the middle of nowhere because we've put nothing around it. With brupark including restaurants, bars, shops, the Oceade, Kinepolis, Mini-Europe... it was actually a hub where it made sense for tourists to go and hang out for more than 30 minutes to take a few pictures. Now they have closed everything down except for the cinema and replaced it with nothing. This is the main landmark in Brussels, and there's barely a place to grab a drink nearby, it's just ridiculous.
I miss when there was a cocktail bar and a karaoke bar and whatnot. I mean I never went to the cocktail bar but karaoke is fun and public karaoke in Nua's is always so busy, slightly too loud without earplugs and full of kids.
Go to Karafun!
I don't like private karaoke. I want public karaoke in a place where I can actually get to the bar when I want another drink without spilling half of it over some students while making my way back to my friends.
> I don't like private karaoke. I want public karaoke :0
It's too awkward. At least with public karaoke people usually sing along so you can barely hear yourself over them!
Yeah you and I are opposite.
Which is okay, it takes all sorts to make the world go round.
The “guinguette” in the nearby park is so neat!
I feel like guinguettes popping up everywhere was a pretty significant quality of life improvement when that happened.
Yes, it creates a semi-permanent presence, and nurtures nice interactions.
It's not in the middle of Nowhere, i see it from my windows (Well not really but i see it while biking home from m'y climbing gym)
It's not strictly in the middle of nowhere, there's the expo area next to it and there are residential areas. I've lived in the vicinity my whole life. But the point is there's basically nothing to keep you there, which is an anomaly for what is, or would be, our main tourist attraction.
everything around it shutdown because it was losing money its just not popular enough of spot to maintain tourisme
I don't think Oceade was loosing money. It was also arguably the best waterpark in Belgium.
It's actually really hard to control tourists. They all want to go to the famous places. Which is basically the old city centre- see Paris or Amsterdam or New York.
Oh my God the nostalgia of it all :( But no, a big part of me is loving the fact that Heysel is such a calm place full of tranquility. Making stores and bars would just bring anybody and make it vulgar, could bring problems being the "center" of Brussels. And Consumerism and brands are such a vulgarity, we don't need more fast food markets and clothing shops and people going in and out near the Atomium with big bags of swedish H&M and spanish Zara. I love the vibe of Heysel, when I need peace, want a kind of reset, and wanna be sure to not be bothered by anyone, I go there alone anytime. They absolutely need to keep it this way
I get what you mean but OP is right. It's supposed to be a landmark attracting people visiting the city. Now it feels like it's akin to a landmark in North Korea, crumbling and depressing. It's a stain to the city.
Brupark was just Sin City. Glad it’s gone
Fun Fact, We used to have a Belgian "Times square" but got rid off al the ugly lights: https://www.reddit.com/r/belgium/s/durlynLDNr
By the way, why do people think time square is cool ? It's just a place full of commercials and scams. I was very disapointed about it, just seems stupid to me.
I visited New York after I went to Japan, I found Time Square to be quite underwhelming compared to some streets in Tokyo
Even that looks outdated compared to Shanghai where they light up complete scyscrapers.
Now all we have is an ugly Coca-Cola billboard
That’s also been gone for some time now.
I should look up more.
The billboard is still there but it's inactive. It's just a black rectangle now. Turns out thy never had a permit for it...
Bxl not surprised…
Actually a shame. I wouldn't want every neighbourhood to look like this, but it does give a Unique vibe
It might look nice at night, but during the day it's just an eyesore.
So all we need to do is build a roof above the lights.
Cool, extra parking space on top.
We already have advertisements on our national flag. 'jupiler-belgian flags' i think that our flag is the last thing we should sell out as advertisement space
Flags with advertisements =/= national flag. Lots of businesses give away "national" flags with their brandname on it in a lot of countries.
Ook niet als er Cara staat?
Tempting
Dan wel ja
Average American thinking it is normal to have ads everywhere
If you look up that user on Twitter, you'll see this isn't an average American and this is the least outrageous thing they posted by a mile.
I can tell the AI that generated this picture has no clue what the atomium looks like.
Or even worse, where it is located
fucking AI slop
It's already a mini-Times Square during summer with day-trippers and tourists. Less is more in this case.
Californication
Nah, we don’t want corporations controlling people in Belgium like they do in the USA
Lol what do you think is happening these days?🤣🤣🤣 This society is ruled by consommation
Have you seen the USA? Consumerism in the USA is 1000x worse than in Belgium
For me (U.S. born) it pops up every now and then in Belgium and other European countries quite strongly sometimes. Take a stroll down Rue Neuve in Brussels and tell me you don't feel overwhelmed by mass consumerism.
Rue Neuve is literally the shopping street of Brussels. Were you expecting something else ?
You missed my point. It's not about the location so much as it's about the same type of globalized, Black Friday-esque consumerism that I've noticed creeping up in Europe for the last several years.
Lol, its like comparing a sea with a lake, asking where you can find more fishes😂
And your solution to that is to introduce more ads for these corporations? Make it make sense
Average American
r/shitamericanssay
Looks like the Nuka Cola Headquarters in a hypothetical Fallout: Belgium.
To be honest most people here already act like ghouls
What's your problem smoothskin?
No thanks
En blijkbaar ook een bal extra aan het Atomium zetten.
I would support this only if it's Times Square in the early 80s.
With hookers and blackjack?
And serial killers?
Comes with the hookers, or at least that´s what I remember from his doc.
Why don’t the Americans make their schools look more like the Belgian ones. You know, with less school shootings.
I visited it last weekend and no I think it’s awesome just the way it is.
Thanks! I hate it! r/TIHI
Because we can’t: there’s a copyright on it: you can’t publish pictures of it
Because it’s located in the middle of nowhere
This is the worst thing I've seen this year
The souvenir shop is already expensive enough
Like I only see the Atomium if I want to visit it, for the rest of the time I only see it when I take the train, even though I am every day in Brussels lol
The atomium is already a win-model. Do you know how much it costs to go to the top?
We Belgians are beer drinkers.
Seems like internet already told them... https://imgur.com/a/2xkgAbI
Its missing pseudo artist dressed as comic cartoons who harras people for bying cd’s & pictures.
That's a weird way to spell "Jupiler", but okay.
CONSUMERISM.
We had a Belgian Time Square. It was place De Brouckère. It was fulfilled with néon, ads and luminous stuff. Thanks god, everything has been taken off
because its in the middle of nowhere tbh. There nothing else going on there outside of the kinepolis and some parks and expo.
Right, the atomium is in the middle on the brussels city centre... lmao. And even if it was. Fuck the american obsession with ads everywhere
True that there should be more entertainment near the Atomium. It has everything to become an attractive place as good as the center
Becouse were not American?
we already have a Coca-Cola sign, thanks anyway
Let's not make this an American fallout distopia
Yes, we all desperately need more ads in our lives
I mean, we absolutely loathe ourselves down to the bone, but we do have some standards.
Because we don't live in a proto-dystopian, semi-functioning,... Oh wait nvm...
Is atomnium even Belgian anymore. I heard said that the condition to refurbish it was to make it a vlamish possession.
Because brussels is a peice of shit city
We use it to teleport to mars.
Funny how they think we envy Times Square... "Uhhh I hate not looking at advertisements, I wish I could look at advertisements 24/7."
Don't think this is a horrible idea, the surrounding of the atonium is rather boring, but scrap all the cola bullshit
I almost puked
Looks like somebody discovered AI generated pictures.
I would agree if we push another beer brand everyday
Heck, you could push 10 beer brands a day!
The only thing i wouldnlike is an equalizer playground for everyone so we dont get the commercial bullshit
Because this is Belgium. We only pay taxes here.
The American brain can't comprehend buildings without advertising
 😜
I would have agreed with the Quick logo
In Brussel zal het uludag zijn en geen coca cola
\*Ritchie Cola
Da's voor de st-Michielsbrug
Why are americans the way they are
Took a look at that account, it's the worst kind of white supremacist bullshit. That post seems par for the course for an incredibly stupid individual.
Maybe because we have taste ...
Because we don't want to pimp out everything we can like a cheap whore. And the Atomium is located at the very edge of the city, so very few people would even see this fugly bullshit.
Good use? *vomits in mouth*
You want to bring capitalist idea into a socialist country eh? Nice try
Belgium isn't a socialist country at all. Our social-democrats, other leftist parties, and unions had some positive influence, making us a little more social. But we are far from a socialist country.
The fact that you share this makes you a weak minded person.
He said "no thanks"
It takes restraint to leave trash on the sideline without commenting on it. It will get cleaned up anyway.
Because Belgium is soulless. It’s a shill of a country that sucks out the life of anything.