The Exposition Universelle of 1889, also known as the Worlds Fair, was held in

Paris celebrating 100 years since the start of French Revolution. Paris used this
celebration to reconstruct parts of the city surrounding the Bastille. There were
attractions, exhibits, 28,000,000 visitors, and most unforgettable of all, the 1063foot breathtaking iron structure so famously known as the Eiffel Tower. Gustave
Eiffels vision as the engineer and designer was to astonish crowds with the tallest
building in France, which at the time was built as the entrance to the Worlds Fair. He
succeeded. The Eiffel Tower the tallest building in the world until 1930 upon the
completion of the Chrysler Building in New York.

The design was conceptualized using the principles of bridge structures, which Eiffels
engineering company had mastered. The Eiffel tower was to consist of four columns of
lattice work girders separated at the base and meeting at the top of the structure with
metal girders at regular intervals. Eiffel was confident in the strength of his structure,
and during the design process in 1884 he registered a patent for a new configuration
allowing the construction of metal supports and pylons capable of exceeding a height
of 300 metres (1000 feet).

Construction began on July 1,1887. More than three hundred workers worked long hours for
two years to assemble the structure, which was made of puddled iron. The 18,000 pieces that
formed the tower were each specifically designed and calculated precisely to the tenth
millimetre. The iron framework was held together by thermally assembled rivets that
contracted during cooling to create a tight fit. The four uprights that constitute the base rest on
concrete foundations. The arches between them serve no structural purpose but are a
romantic gesture integrated into the design for aesthetic purposes. As construction continued
towards the top, conditions became more dangerous due to there being only three
intermediate floors in the tower.

The tower was not appealing to many people during the construction, and several
significant artists and writers signed the Protest Against the Tower of Monsieur Eiffel.
Insults were made by opposing satirists, calling it a truly tragic street lamp and a belfry
skeleton. These opinions seemed to fade away, however, upon the towers completion. Not
only did it attract a number of visitors, but it left the world in awe.
The Eiffel Tower became the symbol of Paris. People climb up through the structure and
with each step have impressive views of the city through the iron framework. At night the
tower illuminates with 20,000 special light bulbs lighting up the city. For ten minutes every
hour small lights flicker along the tower, sparkling like diamonds.
An architectural experience unlike any other, the Eiffel Tower is an icon that the world
insists to keep as one of mans most monumental structural achievements