3D print the Atomium
A free, printable model of the Atomium's nine spheres and their connecting tubes, with the roads, lawns and ponds around it, generated from real map data in your browser.
Free, in your browser. Exports a slicer-ready 3MF.
About the Atomium
The Atomium is a modernist landmark in Brussels, Belgium, built for Expo 58, the 1958 Brussels World's Fair, as its centerpiece. André Waterkeyn, an engineer, worked with the architects André and Jean Polak on the design, which pays tribute to scientific progress and symbolizes Belgian engineering skills of the time. The site is the Heysel/Heizel Plateau, in Laeken, in the north of the City of Brussels. The exhibition was held there. The building also works as a museum, an art center and a cultural venue.
At 102 m (335 ft), the Atomium is among the tallest structures in Belgium. The nine spheres, each 18 m (59 ft) across and clad in stainless steel, are arranged like a unit cell that could stand for an iron (ferrite) crystal enlarged 165 billion times. Tubes 3 m (10 ft) wide join the spheres and enclose stairs, escalators and a lift. Six of the nine spheres are open to visitors, and a restaurant in the top sphere offers a panoramic view over Brussels.
The name is a blend of "atom" and "aluminium", the metal that first covered the spheres. The building was designed to last six months, but it proved so popular and successful that it became a prominent feature of Brussels' landscape, and the city's authorities eventually chose to keep it. Wind-tunnel tests showed that, without legs, winds of 80 km/h (50 mph) would have toppled the structure, so support columns were added under the three lower outer spheres. A comprehensive renovation by Jacques Delens and BESIX between 2004 and 2006 replaced the faded sheets with stainless steel.
How it prints
Make this print opens the generator on a 600 m square around the landmark. Buildings print at close to true scale, so the landmark grows with the print size.
| Print size | Landmark height | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| 160 mm default | 29 mm | 1:3,750 |
| 200 mm | 36 mm | 1:3,000 |
| 256 mm | 46 mm | 1:2,344 |
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North
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East
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South
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West
- Spheres on slim tubes
- Nine spheres are joined by narrow connecting tubes. Print friendly adapts them to your print scale; Full detail keeps them as modeled, best for a larger print.
- Slender support legs
- Thin angled legs hold up the lower outer spheres. Printing slowly and with layers of 0.12 to 0.16 mm keeps these narrow supports clean.
- One piece with the ground
- The Atomium is joined to the ground in the exported file, and the four-side check found no floating parts, so nothing needs gluing.
- Pick the detail for your nozzle
- In the Buildings settings, set Landmark detail to Print friendly to adapt thin parts and small details to the print scale. Full detail keeps every modeled feature, for larger prints or a finer nozzle.
- Colors
- Buildings, roads, water and ground arrive as separate filament slots in the 3MF. The Atomium takes the building color.
- File format
- You get a 3MF for Bambu Studio, OrcaSlicer or PrusaSlicer. Any of them can save it as STL if you need one.
About this model
The Atomium is one of more than 2,300 landmark models in Mini Skyline. They are made with AI, and each one is checked from four sides in its real surroundings before release. Everything around it is built from OpenStreetMap and Overture map data. If you would rather print the shape from map data, turn off Landmark models in the Buildings settings.
Common questions
Is there an Atomium STL I can download?
Mini Skyline builds the file for you in your browser and exports 3MF, which every major slicer opens. If you need an STL, open the 3MF in your slicer and export it from there.
How big can I print it?
Any print size from 40 mm across. The Atomium grows with the print: about 29 mm tall on the default 160 mm print. For a model larger than your printer bed, Project Mode splits the area into tiles.
Is it free?
Yes. Generation runs in your browser, with no account and nothing behind a paywall.
