Gustave Eiffel He had a very French idea: to commemorate the centenary of the glorious liberal revolution, the starting point for many that came after, by building a massive iron hull that would fuse the splendor of Paris with contemporary architectural trends. 324 meters of iron and magnificence that could literally project the image of France above the world.
What few poor Eiffel could have imagined was that Parisians would have an even more French idea: protest. When its construction was completed on the occasion of the Universal Exposition of 1889, the romantic Paris of post-impressionism and the Third Republic reacted with fear and horror to such artistic perversion. In a city accustomed to classical beauty, Eiffel’s ideas were an unacceptable excess.
But Eiffel achieved something even more important: founding Proposal of the republican government for the construction of the tower. Associated with the imaginary Universal Exposition, a fair that would show the world the divine greatness of France, the tower was built and clearly documented by primitive photographers of the time. Those images continue to exist even today.
These pieces, collected here by Public Domain Review, represent a balcony towards the impressive architecture of the project designed by Eiffel. At the time, it was an engineering breakthrough: no one had built taller, and no one had used the defining elements of the Industrial Age with more boldness and ambition. The Eiffel Tower was a distinctive work of the 19th century; It was inseparable from the Paris of bohemian cafés and imperial anxiety.
Of course, Parisians disagreed. Time put them in their place. The Eiffel Tower, twenty years after its construction defined the silhouette from Paris. The construction was so symbolic and surprising that by the time its permits had to be renewed two decades later, the public’s perception of its impact had changed. So much so that the demolition foreseen in the previous concession was never carried out.
“It started from the bottom, now we’re here.”
“I started from the bottom, now my whole crew is fucking here.”
“It started from the bottom, now we’re here.”
“It started from the bottom, now we’re here.”
“We started from the bottom, now the whole team is here.”
“It started from the bottom, now we’re here.”
Two factors contributed to this: renewed popular accommodation and strategic use. The tower was very tall and represented a welcome treat for the first medium of mass communication, the radio. An antenna was placed at its peak so that it could broadcast hundreds of kilometers around. Such a definitive argument strengthened his already indisputable position and projected his existence into infinity.
That’s why engineering continued to experience breakthroughs. And its step by step construction continues to amaze.
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*An earlier version of this article was published in April 2019.
Source: Xatak Android
Ashley Johnson is a science writer for “Div Bracket”. With a background in the natural sciences and a passion for exploring the mysteries of the universe, she provides in-depth coverage of the latest scientific developments.