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Yeah, why did they go through all that effort to build the Eiffel tower?

by malfist 16d ago

Levitating 12d ago
To serve as the centrepiece of the 1889 World's Fair exposition.[1] [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposition_Universelle_(1889) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposition_Universelle_(1889)
billynomates 16d ago
It honored the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. And it demonstrated French industrial prowess, iron craftsmanship advanced engineering capabilities..
- jimnotgym 12d ago
  Yet if an archaeologist excavated it with no knowledge of that, like everything that is not clearly a house, it would be chalked down as a 'ritual site'
- ralfd 16d ago
  Furthermore: The Eiffel Tower was planned to be temporary, it only still stands because it was used as a radio tower.
  - whythismatters 16d ago
    >planned to be temporary Same for the Atomium in Brussels, Belgium.
    - anon48293 12d ago
      Then they probably shouldn’t have used a stable atom..
- uniq7 16d ago
  I wonder if Stonehenge was only for demonstrating some tribe's engineering capabilities too
Gravityloss 16d ago
Selfie geolocation
irishcoffee 16d ago
I realize that was tongue in cheek, but what I found more interesting is that is was only to stand for 20 years and was initially set to be demolished in 1909. So your question is even more amusing as the thing was only supposed to be temporary.
- ButlerianJihad 16d ago
  Since it was part of a World's Fair, it is unsurprising today that the Eiffel Tower was slated for demolition. I grew up very near to Balboa Park, and it was rather late in life that I learned that all those buildings were sort of hastily erected for the Panama–California Exposition, 110 years ago, and they were expected to be demolished quickly, or decay, because they were never intended for permanent habitation. And so the intervening years have been a saga of very industrious preservation and restoration, as most all of the buildings have been deemed to be architectural marvels and very much worth keeping around.
  - irishcoffee 15d ago
    Was it unsurprising at the planning stages?
DarmokTanagra 16d ago
The eiffel tower will be gone long before stonehenge.

Yeah, why did they go through all that effort to build the Eiffel tower?

by malfist 16d ago

Yeah, why did they go through all that effort to build the Eiffel tower?

To serve as the centrepiece of the 1889 World's Fair exposition.[1] [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposition_Universelle_(1889) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposition_Universelle_(1889)

billynomates 16d ago

It honored the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. And it demonstrated French industrial prowess, iron craftsmanship advanced engineering capabilities..

jimnotgym 12d ago
Yet if an archaeologist excavated it with no knowledge of that, like everything that is not clearly a house, it would be chalked down as a 'ritual site'
ralfd 16d ago
Furthermore: The Eiffel Tower was planned to be temporary, it only still stands because it was used as a radio tower.
- whythismatters 16d ago
  >planned to be temporary Same for the Atomium in Brussels, Belgium.
  - anon48293 12d ago
    Then they probably shouldn’t have used a stable atom..
uniq7 16d ago
I wonder if Stonehenge was only for demonstrating some tribe's engineering capabilities too

Gravityloss 16d ago

Selfie geolocation

irishcoffee 16d ago

I realize that was tongue in cheek, but what I found more interesting is that is was only to stand for 20 years and was initially set to be demolished in 1909. So your question is even more amusing as the thing was only supposed to be temporary.

ButlerianJihad 16d ago
Since it was part of a World's Fair, it is unsurprising today that the Eiffel Tower was slated for demolition. I grew up very near to Balboa Park, and it was rather late in life that I learned that all those buildings were sort of hastily erected for the Panama–California Exposition, 110 years ago, and they were expected to be demolished quickly, or decay, because they were never intended for permanent habitation. And so the intervening years have been a saga of very industrious preservation and restoration, as most all of the buildings have been deemed to be architectural marvels and very much worth keeping around.
- irishcoffee 15d ago
  Was it unsurprising at the planning stages?

DarmokTanagra 16d ago

The eiffel tower will be gone long before stonehenge.