The document discusses the history and significance of international exhibitions from the 19th century, with a focus on the 1889 Paris Exhibition. It summarizes that the exhibitions emerged from the Industrial Revolution to showcase technological progress on a global scale. A key attraction of the 1889 Paris Exhibition was the Eiffel Tower, which was originally criticized but became the iconic symbol of the city. The tower represented the pinnacle of 19th century engineering achievements through its innovative iron design and massive scale.
The document discusses the history and significance of international exhibitions from the 19th century, with a focus on the 1889 Paris Exhibition. It summarizes that the exhibitions emerged from the Industrial Revolution to showcase technological progress on a global scale. A key attraction of the 1889 Paris Exhibition was the Eiffel Tower, which was originally criticized but became the iconic symbol of the city. The tower represented the pinnacle of 19th century engineering achievements through its innovative iron design and massive scale.
The document discusses the history and significance of international exhibitions from the 19th century, with a focus on the 1889 Paris Exhibition. It summarizes that the exhibitions emerged from the Industrial Revolution to showcase technological progress on a global scale. A key attraction of the 1889 Paris Exhibition was the Eiffel Tower, which was originally criticized but became the iconic symbol of the city. The tower represented the pinnacle of 19th century engineering achievements through its innovative iron design and massive scale.
The document discusses the history and significance of international exhibitions from the 19th century, with a focus on the 1889 Paris Exhibition. It summarizes that the exhibitions emerged from the Industrial Revolution to showcase technological progress on a global scale. A key attraction of the 1889 Paris Exhibition was the Eiffel Tower, which was originally criticized but became the iconic symbol of the city. The tower represented the pinnacle of 19th century engineering achievements through its innovative iron design and massive scale.
and Technological Progress The international exhibition movement was a product of the Industrial Revolution, a phenomenon that originated in Great Britain and which, by the end of the nineteenth century, had spread throughout the world. Industrialisation was a process that fundamentally transformed agrarian economies and created the world's first industrial societies (Meredith and Dyster 1999: 27). It was the foundation of the modern world and marked the most extensive economic and social change the world had seen. The Industrial Revolution saw the number of manufactured objects in circulation within countries increase dramatically. These new goods were produced through a reorganisation of production, namely that of machine production in factories using inanimate sources of mechanised power. These changes transformed economy and society. The impact on all aspects of society was profound, perhaps most obviously in the material wealth industrialisation engendered, though the distribution of the material benefits of the revolution was far from equal within societies. An extensive international economy emerged during the nineteenth century, being based on the expansion of world trade, capital flows, migration, communications and business. In this rapidly changing world, the role of international exhibitions was to showcase globally the advance of technological progress, among other things. Four developments dictated the shape of international exhibitions and all of them related to the Industrial Revolution — mass production, prefabrication, mass communications and urbanisation. The focus of the international exhibition movement was industrial trade and the upward progress of industrial civilization. International exhibitions introduced to large audiences many products that we, in our modern society, now take for granted. They included the elevator (Dublin 1853), the sewing machine, silver electroplating and aluminium (Paris 1855), the calculating machine (London 1862), telegraphy and innovations in steel production, (Paris 1867), the telephone (Philadelphia 1876), outdoor electric lighting, the typewriter and the phonograph (Paris 1878), the gas-powered automobile (Paris 1889), motion pictures (Paris 1900), controlled flight and the wireless telegraph (St Louis 1904) and Kodachrome photographs (San Francisco 1915) The Universal Exposition of 1889 (Exposition Universelle de 1889) was a highly successful international exhibition and one of the few world's fairs to make a profit. Its central attraction was the Eiffel Tower, a 300-meter high marvel of iron by Gustave Eiffel. Over eighty other structures on the Champ de Mars housed exhibits, including the impressive 1,452 foot long Galerie des Machines by Ferdinand Dutert. The fair attracted exhibits from Europe, South America, the United States, and the French colonies, yet in the final analysis it was a celebration of French achievements on the centennial of the French Revolution. Interior of Gallery of Machines, showing machines being set up, Paris Exposition, 1889. Palais des Machines Ferdinand Dutert, architect; Victor Contamin, engineer View of the interior. Thisinnovative iron and glass structure was the largest building in the exposition, enclosing fifteen acres. Its most extensive exhibit was that of Thomas Edison’s 493 inventions. Referred to at the time as a "disconcerting industrial cathedral," the Palais des Machines was reused for the 1900 Universal Exposition and demolished in 1909 Le Palais de Machines. Aerial view of Paris, France, from balloon, showing the Eiffel Tower at right center. Gustave Eiffel, designer; Stephen Sauvestre, architect; Maurice Koechlin and Emile Nouguier, engineers
This view was taken from the Trocadero Palace.
The Eiffel Tower is the only surviving structure from the 1889 exposition. View from the Seine. Gustave Eiffel’s tower was greatly criticized during its two-year construction period as being an "abomination and eyesore," its "barbarous mass" looming over the Paris skyline. When the fair opened, however, it became the most visited attraction and subsequently the grand symbol of Paris that it is today. Palais des Arts Libéraux, from beneath the Eiffel Tower Jean Camille Formigé, architect It has been called a technological masterpiece in building-construction history. Built in commemoration of the French Revolution, the Eiffel Tower is one of the world's premier tourist attractions. It has been compared to the Great Pyramid of Giza and St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Nothing remotely like it has ever been constructed. The tower is located on the Left Bank of the Seine River, at the northwestern extreme of the Parc du Champ de Mars, a park in front of the École Militaire that used to be a military parade ground. Garden underneath Eiffel Tower Galerie Viveinne Toyshop- Paris Eiffeltower internals Eiffel tower inside elevator The tower was built for the Paris World's Fair in 1889. When the French Government was organizing this event, a competition was held for designs for a suitable monument. Over 100 designs were submitted, and the World's Fair Committee selected the conception of a 984 foot (300 meter) open-lattice wrought iron tower. This design was the creation of Alexendre-Gustave Eiffel. He was a renown French civil engineer who specialized in metal construction. His previous works included an iron bridge at Bordeaux, the 540 foot (162 meter) Garabit viaduct, the moveable dome at the observatory in Nice, and the framework of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. Eiffelstartled the world with the construction of the tower. In contrast to such older monuments, Eiffel's tower was completed in a matter of months with a small labor force. Eiffel made use of advanced knowledge of the behavior of metal arch and metal truss form under loading, including wind forces. His results started a revolution in civil engineering and architectural design. With the completion of the tower, Eiffel earned the nickname, "magician of iron." The tower was almost torn down on several occasions and despite long and continuous protests, the tower vindicated itself aesthetically. With the advent of radio and television, the Eiffel Tower gained even greater importance as a transmission tower. For many years, it was the tallest man-made structure on earth. This tower's dimensions are remarkable. The current height of the tower is 1069 feet (320.75 meters), which is about the equivalent of a 105-story building. It is still the tallest structure in Paris by a very wide margin . Its size is very deceiving since there are no other structures close to it. The levels accessible to the public are at heights of 189 feet (57.63 meters), or 19 stories; 380 feet (115.73 meters), or 38 stories; and 896 feet (273 meters), or 89 stories. The base of the tower covers a square area of 328 feet (100 meters) on a side. One can stand in the center of the area at the base and look directly up at the floor of the second level, 38 stories above. The tower is built of puddled iron (very pure structural iron), and weights 7300 metric tons. It is extremely light. The tower actually weighs less than the air that surrounds it! If a scale model of the tower one foot (30 cm) high were constructed, it would weigh only as much as a nickel (seven grams)! The four pillars supporting the tower are aligned to the points of the compass. Another unique feature is the tower's base. The four semi-circular arches required elevators to ascend on a curve. The glass-cage machines were designed by the Otis Elevator Company of the United States. These elevators provide visitors a fantastic view as they ride to the top of the tower. This tower moves in the wind. On days with high, gusting winds, the wind can reach speeds in excess of 100 mph (160 kph) at the summit of the tower. Visitors can feel the tower swaying gently at the summit. Under such wind conditions, the tower is usually closed to the public, although there is always an engineer present at the summit to monitor telecommunications equipment. The magnitude of the sway in the tower, under worst-case conditions, is about six inches (15 cm). There is no danger of the tower being damaged by wind-induced movement since it is designed to withstand movements easily five times beyond those produced by the highest winds ever recorded. Today, the movements are monitored by a laser alignment system. The tower also leans very slightly in bright sunlight, as one side is heated by the sun and expands slightly. The Eiffel Tower was built for the International Exhibition of Paris of 1889 commemorating the centenary of the French Revolution. The Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII of England, opened the tower. Of the 700 proposals submitted in a design competition, Gustave Eiffel's was unanimously chosen.
However it was not accepted by all at first,
and a petition of 300 names - including those of Maupassant, Emile Zola, Charles Garnier (architect of the Opéra Garnier), and Dumas the Younger - protested its construction. At 300 metres (320.75m including antenna), and 7000 tons, it was the world's tallest building until 1930. Other statistics include: 2.5 million rivets. 300 steel workers, and 2 years (1887-1889) to construct it. Sway of at most 12 cm in high winds. Height varies up to 15 cm depending on temperature. 15,000 iron pieces (excluding rivets). 40 tons of paint. 1652 steps to the top. It was almost torn down in 1909, but was saved because of its antenna - used for telegraphy at that time. Beginning in 1910 it became part of the International Time Service. French radio (since 1918), and French television (since 1957) have also made use of its stature.
During its lifetime, the Eiffel Tower has also
witnessed a few strange scenes, including being scaled by a mountaineer in 1954, and parachuted off of in 1984 by two Englishmen. In 1923 a journalist rode a bicycle down from the first level. Some accounts say he rode down the stairs, other accounts suggest the exterior of one of the tower's four legs which slope outward.
However, if its birth was difficult, it is now
completely accepted and must be listed as one of the symbols of Paris itself. The tower has three platforms. A restaurant (extremely expensive; reservations absolutely necessary), the Jules Verne is on the second platform. The top platform has a bar, souvenir shop, and the (recently restored) office of Gustave Eiffel.
From its platforms - especially the
topmost - the view upon Paris is superb. It is generally agreed that one hour before sunset, the panorama is at its best. Eiffel and Aviation
After the debacle of the Panama Canal with
Ferdinand De Lessups, Gustave Eiffel began to experiment with enterprises to prove the usefulness of his tower. He had begun to develop a passionate interest in that which, at the turn of the century, was considered avant-garde science: meteorology, radiotelegraphy and aerodynamics. In 1889, M. Eiffel began to fit the peak of the tower as an observation station to measure the speed of wind. He also encouraged several scientific experiments including Foucault's giant pendulum, a mercury barometer and the first experiment of radio transmission. In 1898, Eugene Ducretet at the Pantheon, received signals from the tower. AfterM. Eiffel had experimented in the field of meterology, he begun to look at the effects of wind and air resistance, the science that would later be termed aerodynamics, which has become a large part of both military and commerical aviation as well as rocket technology. Gustave Eiffel imagined an automatic device sliding along a cable that was stretched between the ground and the second floor of the Eiffel Tower. The limited capacity of the available measuring instruments, led M. Eiffel to a more sophisticated knowledge in aviation and, eventually, to wind tunnel experiments. He built a wind tunnel on the Champ de Mars, which was in use from 1909-1911. The tunnel was sufficient for lab experiments bit inadequate for the study of airplanes. However, with the help of several other engineers, Leon Rith, Lapresle, and Eiffel made over 5,000 tests in this lab. Almost all the pioneers of aviation tested in this wind tunnel.