Eiffel
"On its completion in 1889, the
Tower was, at 300m, the tallest building in the world.
At the time, it incited some violent reactions. [1].
"
"Eiffel Tower faced massive opposition from Paris
artistic and literary elite when it was built
for the 1889 Exposition Universelle (World
Fair), marking the centenary of the Revolution.
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It
was almost torn down in 1909 but was spared for purely
practical reasons [2] "
"[We] protest with all our force, with all our indignation, in
the name of unappreciated French taste, in the name of menaced French
art and history, against the erection, in the very heart of our capital,
of the useless and monstrous Eiffel Tower… Is Paris going to be associated
with the grotesque, mercantile imaginings of a constructor of machines?
[3] "
"Eiffel Tower proved an ideal platform for the transmitting
antennas needed for the new science of radiotelegraphy. It was the
world's tallest structure until the Chrysler
building in New York was completed in 1930.
[4]. "
"The Tower, named after its designer, Gustave
Eiffel, is 320m high, including the television antenna
at the very tip. This figure can vary by as much as 15cm, however,
as the tower's 7000 tonnes of iron, held together by 2.5 million rivets,
expand in warm weather and contract when it's cold. [5]. "
"Eiffel himself thought it was beautiful. "The first
principle of architectural aesthetics," he said, "prescribes that
the basic lines of a structure must correspond precisely to its specified
use ... To a certain extent the tower was formed by the wind itself."
Needless to say, it stole the show at the 1889 Exposition
Universelle, for which it had been constructed. Lit from
within in 1986 by a complex system of illumination, the tower's super structure
looks at its magical best after dark, as light and fanciful as a filigree
minaret. [6]. "
References:
[1], [3], [6] Kate Baillie, Tim Salmon, Margo Daly, Rachel
Kaberry, "PARIS". London: Rough Guides Ltd, 1999.
[2], [4], [5] Steve Fallon, Daniel Robinson, Tony Wheeler, "PARIS".
Footscray, Victoria, Australia: Lonely Planet Publication, 2001.
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