Eiffel Tower Obs Deck

statler

Senior Member
Joined
May 25, 2006
Messages
7,908
Reaction score
496
Gizmodo.com - March 19
Eiffel Tower Getting Huge Observation Deck Made of Kevlar Webbing

Next year marks the 120th anniversary of the Eiffel Tower. To celebrate, the French will be adding a gigantic webbed Kevlar observation deck to the top, doubling the size of the deck and making the Eiffel Tower look like some sort of alien space needle.

The addition isn't permanent ? don't worry, purists ? but will be simply bolted in place and easily removed later. It's pretty amazing looking, a really interesting way of blending the past with the future. I like it. What say you? [Dwell via io9]

eiffeltower1.jpg


eiffeltower2.jpg

Link

At first I was horrified but then relieved to discover it was not permanent.

Then I remembered that people we horrified by the original Tower and that was not supposed to be permanent either, but that turned out OK.

Now I don't know what to think.
 
U-G-L-Y you ain't got no alibi, you ugly <clap clap> you ugly
 
I think it's a cool 'limited time offer' type of deal. Good way to mark an anniversary and draw in some attention.
 
Oh my god, it already takes four hours of line waiting to get up there...
 
A larger deck should mean less waiting in line, no? Or is elevator capacity the real limiting factor?
 
It's the elevators that make it tough. There's tons of space once you get up to the observation levels - room enough for things like shops and restaurants.
 
It looks like the Space Needle's skeleton. You sure these "photos" aren't old X-Rays?

good thing it's temporary, and who knows, maybe it'll catch on.
 
It's almost a shame it's temporary. Central Paris could use some kind of bold (yet refined, of course) way of announcing it's still got some dynamism. The Louvre pyramids were nice, but they were decades ago and sequestered in a courtyard.

The Economist has an article this week going on at length about how much London has outpaced Paris...the city's hope appears to hinge on annexing all the fiercely independent (and sometimes booming) suburbs and being able to ease the polarizing wealth gap between them.
 
That's pretty damn cool, but you probably shouldn't mess with something that iconic.
 
you probably shouldn't mess with something that iconic

It's still only temporary. But even if it weren't...

1reichstag.jpg
 
From the Belfast Telegraph:

Le grand hoax: Eiffel Tower extension is fake

[Published: Thursday 27, March 2008 - 12:10]
Old ladies might love to wear silly hats, but this particular old lady - 120 years old next year - will not be wearing the silly hat shown in the picture.

Yesterday, the rumour mills of both Paris and London were buzzing with the shock "news" that the Eiffel Tower may be given a new look for the 120th anniversary of its construction, in 2009.
A reputable firm of French architects, Serero, had posted elaborate designs and computer-generated images - pictured on this page - on its website, showing a large, temporary, viewing platform at the top of the 905ft tower.
The computer-generated images, which had been online since the start of the week, made the world's most celebrated metal structure look like a steel mushroom or an avant-garde lampshade.
A host of style and architecture websites reported the story, claiming that Serero Architects' plans had "won" a competition organised by the tower's management company, La Societe d'Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (SETE).
Soon, British newspapers were getting in on the act. The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph both informed the readers of the potential new addition to Paris' skyline.
There was but one problem: the tower management company has never planned to change the appearance of one of the most instantly recognisable buildings in the world.
"This is a hoax," a tower spokeswoman said last night. "We have no idea where this came from. The whole thing is preposterous. There is no question of changing the way that the Eiffel Tower looks, even temporarily. We have plans for the 120th anniversary, of course, but nothing like this."
Nevertheless, a spokesman for David Serero architects, who declined to give his name, insisted that the company had been, "invited to enter a limited competition", and that, "we would not have drawn up such elaborate plans unless we thought that there was a genuine competition".
However, he added that the suggestion that his company had "won" was a pure internet rumour, fed from site to site (and then onto the pages of English broadsheets) without being checked. Easter came early this year. So, it seems, has April the first.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/article3555867.ece
? Belfast Telegraph
 
Sweet. I hope this made more then a few architects completely flip out.
 
...flipping out!!!

Is nothing sacred? ...come on. What's next? Spandex on Michelangelo's David? Or how about adding an Ipod to Mona Lisa...
 
I stand corrected... ^that's ART!
(thanks for the laugh)
 

Back
Top