The Eiffel Tower, La Tour Eiffel in French, was the main exhibit of the Paris Exposition — or World’s Fair — of 1889. It was constructed to commemorate the centennial of the French Revolution and to demonstrate France’s industrial prowess to the world.
The Eiffel company’s design won, and construction of the wrought-iron tower began in July 1887. But not everyone in Paris was thrilled with the idea of a giant metal monument looming over the city.
Even to contemporary eyes, the Eiffel Tower is unique. But in the late 19th century, nothing had been seen like it. “Modern architecture was emerging slightly in Paris before the Eiffel Tower. But it was doing it in a very shy way,” said Gudek Snajdar. Iron, which was newly popular as a building material because of the Industrial Revolution, became a cornerstone of modern architecture. But in 1887, it had only appeared internally, as support structures, or in unimportant buildings like hothouses, factories and bridges.
When construction of the tower began on the Champs de Mars, a group of 300 artists, sculptors, writers and architects sent a petition to the commissioner of the Paris Exposition, pleading him to halt construction of the “ridiculous tower” that would dominate Paris like a “gigantic black smokestack.”
But the protests of Paris’ artistic community fell on deaf ears. Construction of the tower was completed in just over two years, on March 31, 1889.
Picture Credit : Google