See also: 20th-Century Architecture. Who Was Gustave Eiffel? Born in Dijon, Gustave Eiffel was a French civil engineer and architect. After graduating in from the Ecole Centrale des Arts et Manufactures , he specialized in metal construction, notably bridges, such as the Garabit viaduct In he was contacted by Auguste Bartholdi who needed an engineer to help him complete the Statue of Liberty , following the death of architect Eugene Viollet-le-Duc Eiffel was selected because of his expertise with iron and wind stresses.
Eiffel, helped by Maurice Koechlin, a young graduate of the Zurich Polytechnikum, designed a structure made up of a four legged pylon to support the body of the statue. The statue's pedestal was designed separately by Richard Morris Hunt : The complete statue was first erected at Eiffel's works in Paris before being dismantled and shipped to America.
Later in life he focused on meteorology and aerodynamics. While fortunate to be working at a time of rapid industrial growth in France, Eiffel was also highly attuned to the merits of wrought-iron in architectural design, and willing to explore new techniques of prefabrication.
He also adapted new techniques invented by others, such as compressed-air caissons and hollow cast-iron piers, while all the while paying close attention to accuracy in architectural drawing and site safety.
As it was, Eiffel's preference for metal frames was widely confirmed when iron and steel rapidly replaced stone in the design and construction of tall buildings around the world. For details of this form of Skyscraper Architecture , see William Le Baron Jenney - leader of the Chicago School of Architecture - whose Home Insurance Building - most of which was composed of cast and wrought iron - was built in Chicago four years prior to Eiffel's tower.
More Articles about 19th Century Architecture. All rights reserved. The harmonious structure is today recognised as a symbol of beauty and Romance, representing the more intimate side of the city of lights.
The protective public worried that the tower would detract from the the historic beauty of their prized city. Although some changed their opinion of the tower once it was built, many maintained that the iron pyramid was distinctly unappealing. With the original plans drawn up by Maurice Koechlin and Emile Nouguier , engineers at the Compagnie des Establissement Eiffel, Gustave Eiffel was initially uninterested by the project.
The vote was unanimous, and the Tour Eiffel was built during the two years that followed, finally being erected in The Eiffel tower was revolutionary for its use of iron and rivets, breaking with the masonry architecture that had dominated cities in this period, and for its astonishing height — it was the tallest building in the world at the time of its construction, and maintained the record for 40 years after its erection. Set to be torn down in , the tower was saved when a radio antenna was added to its pinnacle, preserving it as a functional piece of architecture.
Gustave Eiffel was born in Dijon, France in 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. 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 , it had only appeared internally, as support structures, or in unimportant buildings like hothouses, factories and bridges. When they were using it, they would try to repeat historic stone structures. It's very visible on — for example, pillars in the Bibliotheque Ste. The structure, its appearance is completely new and modern. When construction of the tower began on the Champs de Mars, a group of 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, Each of the 18, pieces used to build the tower was calculated specifically for the project and prepared in Eiffel's factory on the outskirts of Paris.
The wrought-iron structure is composed of four immense arched legs, set on masonry piers that curve inward until joining in a single, tapered tower. However, because of the addition, in , of the antenna atop the Eiffel Tower, it is now taller than the Chrysler Building. Not including broadcast antennas, it is the second-tallest structure in France, after the Millau Viaduct.
The tower has become the most prominent symbol of both Paris and France, often in the establishing shot of films set in the city. In May Koechlin, working at his home, made an outline drawing of their scheme, described by him as "a great pylon, consisting of four lattice girders standing apart at the base and coming together at the top, joined together by metal trusses at regular intervals".
Initially Eiffel himself showed little enthusiasm, but he did sanction further study of the project, and the two engineers then asked Stephen Sauvestre, the head of company's architectural department, to contribute to the design. Sauvestre added decorative arches to the base, a glass pavilion to the first level and other embellishments.
0コメント