Skip to main content

Gustave Eiffel Biography

Gustave Eiffel

(Alexandre Gustave Eiffel; Dijon, 1832-Paris, 1923) French engineer and architect.After graduating from the School of Arts and Crafts in Paris in 1855, he specialized in the construction of metal bridges.His first work of this type was carried out in Bordeaux in 1858; In 1877 he designed the impressive 160-meter metal arch of the bridge over the Douro, near Porto.A little later it surpassed its own mark with the Garabit viaduct, for many years the highest artificial laying in the world (120 meters).

Gustave Eiffel

Pioneer when considering the aerodynamic factor in its constructions, to the point of building the first aerodynamic laboratory in Auteuil, To his credit are works as diverse as the mobile dome of the Nice Observatory or the metal structure of the famous Statue of Liberty in New York.

However, his greatest achievement was the impressive steel tower located in Paris and which was named after him.The Eiffel Tower was built on the Champ de Mars in Paris for the Universal Exhibition of 1889.Today it is one of the best-known buildings in the world and has become the symbol of the French capital.

The organization of the Universal Exhibition, commemorating the centenary of the French Revolution (1789), was used by Gustave Eiffel to demonstrate to the world the technological advances in the architecture of his country through the erection of a tower 300 meters high and an iron structure.After the approval of the project (conceived by his collaborator Maurice Koechlin) by the competent body, it was erected on the left bank of the Seine, in the heart of Paris.The works began in 1887 and two years and 6,900 tons of iron were invested in its construction.

The tower stands on a square base of 125 meters, which has the four starting supports embedded in its corners in which the elegant arches that support the different floors are inscribed.The curves of the four sides provide an impression of strength and beauty and the gaps favor the passage of air, guaranteeing the stability of the building.Its large-capacity elevator system was the first to be installed in the world.Its 300 meters made it the tallest building in the world until the inauguration of the Empire State Building in New York in 1922.

Eiffel Tower

Its Construction aroused a heated controversy, as many considered it a crude structure lacking artistic sensibility.At the beginning of its construction, a group of intellectuals-among which Garnier and Zola stood out-signed a letter of protest addressed to the curator of the Exhibition, in which they complained about that "vertiginous and ridiculous tower that dominates Paris, like a gigantic dark factory chimney ".The composer Charles Gounod and the writer Alexandre Dumas Jr.wrote a letter of protest against the construction of the tower; the writer Guy de Maupassant left Paris to show his disgust.But once finished, many of the initial detractors were seduced "by the fantastic that delights our littleness.Planted on its arched legs, solid, huge, monstrous, brutal, it seems that, disregarding whistles and applause, it tries to seek and defy the sky, regardless of what moves at your feet."

Originally conceived as a temporary attraction, in 1909 it was bought by the French state.Later it was considered to be demolished due to high maintenance costs and the danger of future weakening of the structure by oxidation.However, the strong popular reaction to the idea that the tower, considered a national symbol, would disappear, led to the abandonment of this purpose.Nowadays, in addition to being a tourist attraction, the tower houses the facilities of the French Radio and Television and functions as a beacon for planes heading to Paris Orly airport.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Alessandro stradella Biography

Alessandro Stradella (Naples, 1645-Genoa, 1682) Italian singer and composer.He contributed to the evolution of the aria, the cantata, and the oratorio.He used the stubborn bass frequently and influenced musicians such as Purcell and Händel.He wrote operas ( Doriclea , 1677; The force of paternal love , 1678), oratorios ( San Juan Bautista , 1675; Susana , 1681), cantatas, symphonies, sonatas and chamber music.
Post a Comment
Read more

Georges bruhat Biography

Georges Bruhat (Besançon, 1887-Buchenwald, 1944) French physicist.Graduated in physical and mathematical sciences in 1908, he later received his doctorate with a thesis entitled The abnormal dispersion of the power of molecular rotation , which he defended shortly before the outbreak of the First World War.Mobilized in 1915, he developed sound-tracking devices during the war that earned him the cross of war. Georges Bruhat In the interwar period he was a professor at the University de Lila and at the Sorbonne, he carried out various works on physical optics and thermodynamics and published the Course in General Physics , a manual of exceptional pedagogical value divided into four volumes: Electricity ( 1924), Thermodynamics (1926), Optics (1930) and Mechanics (1934).In 1944, after refusing to expose a student, he was arrested by the Gestapo; a year later he died in a concentration camp.
Post a Comment
Read more

Alan J. Pakula Biography

Alan J.Pakula (New York, 1928- id. , 1998) American film director.His filmography includes All the President's Men (1976) and Sophie's Decision (1982).His last work was La sombra del diablo .He was currently preparing a film on the biography of Franklin D.Roosvelt.He died in a traffic accident.
Post a Comment
Read more

Enrique Guitart Biography

Enrique Guitart (Barcelona, ​​1909-1999) Spanish theater and film actor.Son of the actors Enrique Guitart and Emilia Matas, the family atmosphere led him to make his debut on the scene in 1913, while still a child.As soon as he grew up enough, he did not hesitate to dedicate himself to the theater, a framework in which he developed a long career full of successes, among which his time in the Spanish Theater as the first actor stands out. The cinema claimed him to late twenties.He intervened, in his debut, in La moza del cantar (1928), by José Amich "Amichatis", to continue with El Señor Esteve (1929), but he failed to maintain an annual film continuity.Some of the films in which he participated were Mom's Boyfriend (1933), by Florián Rey, and The Dancer and the Worker (1936), by Luis Marquina. After the Civil War ended, it became part of the credits of films such as His brother and him (1941) and Crossed lives (1942), by Luis Marquina; Confused lives ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Zacharias Janssen Biography

Zacharias Janssen (The Hague, 1588-Amsterdam, 1628 or 1631) Flemish optician who has been credited with the invention of the microscope and telescope.Zacharias Janssen was the son of an optician with his own workshop (named according to the sources Hans, Jan, Johan or Johannides Janssen) who died when Zacharias was four years old.His mother instructed him in the tasks of the family workshop, which the young Zacharias would direct until 1624. Zacharias Janssen Contrary to the Spanish rule over the Netherlands, in the workshop Zacharias Janssen carried out all kinds of illicit activities, such as counterfeiting of currency, which earned him two convictions from the authorities of the Empire; One of them went to death, but it would be commuted to him in 1618.When he was released from prison, impoverished, he had to declare the workshop bankrupt and saw his assets auctioned.
Post a Comment
Read more

José María Pérez de Urdininea Biography

José María Pérez de Urdininea (Luribay, 1784-La Paz, 1865) Bolivian military.Born on the Anquioma ranch, near Luribay, he studied at the seminaries of La Paz and Cochabamba and entered the ranks of the patriot armies at a young age. For a decade, between 1811 and 1821, he served under the command of José de San Martín, Manuel Belgrano, Martín Miguel de Güemes and José Rondeau.It was Urdininea who, together with Álvarez de Arenales, received the surrender of the last Spanish authority on the Río de La Plata. Appreciating his fortitude and military experience, Antonio José de Sucre incorporated him into his army and assigned him the responsibility of directing the Ministry of War.After Sucre's resignation as president, Urdininea had to replace him for a few months, and finally withdrew to one of his rural properties when he was accused of not having stopped the entry of Agustín Gamarra's troops into Bolivian territory. It was recovered for military life by President Andr...
Post a Comment
Read more

Adriaan van roomen Biography

Adriaan Van Roomen (Leuven, 1561-Mainz, 1615) Flemish mathematician.He studied in Germany and Italy.Professor in Louvain and Würzburg, in 1595 he was appointed astronomer to the King of Poland.His works dealt mainly with plane and spherical geometry and trigonometry.He proposed and gave a solution to an algebraic equation of degree 45.Among his works are Ideae mathematicae (1593) and Canon triangulorum sphericorum (1609).
Post a Comment
Read more

Giuseppe Valeriani or Valeriano Biography

Giuseppe Valeriani or Valeriano (LÁquila, 1542-Naples, 1596) Italian painter and architect.After professing as a Jesuit, he became one of the official architects of the Society, for which he built buildings in Rome, Naples, Genoa and Munich.His pictorial work focused on the spirit of the Counter-Reformation.
Post a Comment
Read more

Hilary swank Biography

Hilary Swank (Lincoln, Nebraska, 1974) American actress who has revealed herself, with a relatively short filmography, as one of the most solid professionals in Hollywood.Her athletic physique and her stern countenance have conditioned her roles, at least those that have so far brought her the most success: Hilary knows how to give credibility on the screen to ambitious women, with clear ideas and a strong fighting character.In his short career he has already won two Oscars, one in 2000 for Boys don't cry and another in 2005 for Million Dollar Baby , directed by veteran Clint Eastwood. Hilary Swank Hilary Ann Swank was born on July 30, 1974 in Lincoln, Nebraska.His father, who never had a steady job for too long, decided to take the family (consisting of his two children, Hilary and James, and his wife Judy, a secretary) to the state of Washington, specifically to Bellingham, very close to the border.with Canada.After practicing various trades, she decided to become a tra...
Post a Comment
Read more