In 1889, France held a Centennial Exposition to commemorate the French Revolution. A competition was held for a suitable monument. Over 100 plans were submitted. The one that was chosen was that of an eminent bridge engineer, Gustave Eiffel. He proposed a 300 metre (984 feet) tower of a lattice design in wrought iron. It was an audacious plan that was met with amazement, scepticism and outright opposition. Nothing remotely like it had ever been constructed. It was twice as high as the next highest building in the world. It would dominate the Parisian landscape.
A ‘Committee of Three Hundred’ was formed (one member for each metre of the tower’s height) to oppose the plan. It included some of the most prominent and influential people in French artistic society, including Guy de Maupassant, Charles Gounod and Jules Massenet. They petitioned the government and the national press. They said, ‘Imagine for a moment a giddy, ridiculous tower dominating Paris like a gigantic black smokestack, crushing under its barbaric bulk Notre Dame, the Tour de Saint-Jacques, the Louvre, the Dome of les Invalides, the Arc de Triomphe, all of our humiliated monuments will disappear in this ghastly dream. And for twenty years … we shall see stretching like a blot of ink the hateful shadow of the hateful column of bolted sheet metal.’
However, Eiffel had powerful allies and he fought back by comparing his tower to the Egyptian pyramids. He appealed to French national pride saying, ‘My tower will be the tallest edifice ever erected by man. Will it not also be grandiose in its way?’ The tower was built in a matter of months. It remained the tallest building in the world until the completion of the Chrysler Building in New York in 1930. It became one of the world’s most popular tourist attractions and a symbol of Paris around the globe.
Gustave Eiffel graduated from the prestigious École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures in 1855. As an architect and civil engineer, he specialised in metal construction, especially in bridges. In 1877, he constructed a bridge over the Douro River in Portugal with a 160 metre (525 foot) steel arch. It was the greatest arch span anywhere at the time. But he soon exceeded it with the Garabit Viaduct in southern France, which, at 120 metres (400 feet) above the river, was for many years the highest bridge in the world. He was always ambitious to create works that were longer, taller or bigger than those elsewhere.
Eiffel designed many bridges and railway stations around the world. He employed innovative techniques and was one of the first civil engineers to use compressed air caissons and hollow cast-iron piers in bridge building. His design for the movable dome of the observatory at Nice was particularly inventive. He also designed the framework for the Statue of Liberty, which was given by France to the people of the USA.
In later life, he studied and made important contributions in aerodynamics and meteorology. He founded the world’s first aerodynamics laboratory near Paris. He died in his home in Paris in 1923.
Eiffel’s work was highly influential for a number of reasons. He set ambitious new standards for metal construction, using innovative designs and methods. He was also a pioneer in his approach to engineering work. He insisted on detailed calculations of all forces involved, together with high specifications of accuracy in drawing and manufacture. He designed two of the most iconic buildings of the nineteenth century – the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower. He showed that metal structures could be beautiful, durable and strong. His remarkable constructions and, in particular, the Eiffel Tower earned him the nickname, ‘the magician of iron’.
The greater the innovation, the greater the opposition. Eiffel’s daring plan for the world’s tallest tower in Paris provoked fierce criticism from those who said it was not feasible and from those who said it was too ugly. He calmly faced down his critics and lobbied hard for his plan, appealing to the vision and pride of the French Government and people.
Combine precision and creativity. Eiffel’s designs and methods were highly innovative, but he did not sacrifice accuracy or quality in the design detail or in construction. His products were ground-breaking, artistic and reliable.
DID YOU KNOW?… The Eiffel Tower is the most visited paid monument in the world with around seven million visitors every year.