Home ›› 28 Aug 2022 ›› Opinion
When the French government was organizing the International Exposition of 1889 to celebrate the centenary of the French Revolution, a competition was held for designs for a suitable monument. More than 100 plans were submitted, and the Centennial Committee chose that of the noted bridge engineer Gustave Eiffel. When completed, the Eiffel Tower served as the entrance gateway to the exposition.
The Eiffel Tower was initially built to serve as the entrance gateway to the International Exposition of 1889 as well as a testament to French industrial ingenuity. It has since come to represent the distinct character of the city of Paris. Its lights are also often turned on or off to reflect commemoration of major world events.
The Eiffel Tower is made almost entirely of open-lattice wrought iron. Gustave Eiffel used his advanced knowledge of the behaviour of metal arch and metal truss forms under loading to design a light and airy but strong structure that presaged a revolution in civil engineering and architectural design.
The Eiffel Tower can be found on the Champs de Mars at 5 Avenue Anatole France within the 7th arrondissement of Paris. Situated on the “Left Bank,” meaning it is to the south of the Seine River, the storied 7th arrondissement neighbourhood in Paris is home to many other famous tourist attractions, such as the Musée d’Orsay and the Rodin Museum.
The Eiffel Tower can be seen sparkling every night for five minutes each hour, at the precise start of the hour. The current lighting system has been in place since 1985, though the tower has been lit up in various fashions since its 1889 debut for the International Exposition, when gaslights were used.
Nothing remotely like the Eiffel Tower had ever been built; it was twice as high as the dome of St. Peter’s in Rome or the Great Pyramid of Giza. In contrast to such older monuments, the tower was erected in only about two years (1887–89), with a small labour force, at slight cost. Making use of his advanced knowledge of the behaviour of metal arch and metal truss forms under loading, Eiffel designed a light, airy, but strong structure that presaged a revolution in civil engineering and architectural design. And, after it opened to the public on May 15, 1889, it ultimately vindicated itself aesthetically.
Back within the city limits, south of Place Charles de Gaulle, is the Chaillot Palace (Palais de Chaillot). Standing on a rise on the Right...
The Eiffel Tower stands on four lattice-girder piers that taper inward and join to form a single large vertical tower. As they curve inward, the piers are connected to each other by networks of girders at two levels that afford viewing platforms for tourists. By contrast, the four semicircular arches at the tower’s base are purely aesthetic elements that serve no structural function. Because of their unique shape, which was dictated partly by engineering considerations but also partly by Eiffel’s artistic sense, the piers required elevators to ascend on a curve; the glass-cage machines designed by the Otis Elevator Company of the United States became one of the principal features of the building, helping establish it as one of the world’s premier tourist attractions.
The tower itself is 300 metres (984 feet) high. It rests on a base that is 5 metres (17 feet) high, and a television antenna atop the tower gives it a total elevation of 324 metres (1,063 feet). The Eiffel Tower was the tallest structure in the world until the topping off of the Chrysler Building in New York City in 1929.
Britannica
