Eiffel Tower to be updated

Discussion in 'Architecture & Engineering' started by Tiassa, Mar 26, 2008.

?

My opinion of this design:

Poll closed Jul 24, 2008.
  1. It's a good thing; too bad it's temporary.

    1 vote(s)
    5.9%
  2. It's fine with me; good thing it's temporary.

    4 vote(s)
    23.5%
  3. Oh, no; what the hell are they doing?

    12 vote(s)
    70.6%
  4. Other (???)

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
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  1. Tiassa Let us not launch the boat ... Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    37,884
    Two comments out of Seattle:

    • "It’s not quite April Fool’s Day, is it?" (Billy Howard)

    • "[T]hat makes it the Space Needle!" (Spock)​

    Indeed, 'tis not quite April Fool's, and yet it really does seem a joke. Sean Dodson reports for the Guardian:

    So, for those who aren't familiar with our local landmark, this is the thing:

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    A local chuckle: The proposed update to the Eiffel Tower (top, Serero Architects);
    the Space Needle (bottom, Nanook's Photo Gallery).

    So before you get all upset that we're chuckling over the Eiffel Tower because we have that thing standing in our city, well, that's kind of the point. We have that thing standing in our city. And we love it, truth told. But come on, the last thing the Eiffel Tower should look like is, well, that thing standing in our city.

    Some more from a Slog readers:

    ____________________

    Notes:

    Graves, Jen et al. "They Wouldn't. Would They?" Slog. March 25, 2008. http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/they_wouldnt_would_they

    Dodson, Sean. "New look for Eiffel Tower". Guardian.co.uk. March 24, 2008. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/24/france.design

    See Also:

    Serero Architects. http://www.serero.com/index_en.htm

    Nanook's Photo Gallery. http://www.eskimo.com/~nanook/gallery/index.php
     
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  3. MacGyver1968 Fixin' Shit that Ain't Broke Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    7,028
    What's next?....Dressin' "Big Tex" like a metrosexual?

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  5. Asguard Kiss my dark side Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    23,049
    i have to agree with MacGyver1968

    Actually his signiture is probably quite apropriate for this case
    "Fixin' shit that ain't broke"
     
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  7. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    33,264
    So they are going to add MORE weight to the top of the structure to allow for more people who weigh even more to visit the top. The structure was designed to carry a certain load with its structure the way it is and that has been standing for over 100 years. That steel isn't getting any stronger and I'd bet that the whole structure might need to be upgraded in order to withstand the increase pressure that expansion will produce. I just hope that they have taken into account the entire load on the weakest points to be certain it will actually hold the load!

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  8. USS Exeter unamerican american Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    2,482
    Exacly! That sleek look that the Eiffel tower once had is about to be gone! Just for the sake of carrying more fat American tourists on the top. They should put a weight limit for the viewing area and just leave it be! I'm glad that structure is only temporary!
     
  9. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

    Messages:
    24,690
    When that bridge collapsed in Minnesota I asked a civil engineer why some of our much older bridges weren't in desperate need of repair. He said the reason is that when those bridges were built the engineers didn't have the precise data on material strength that they do today, so to be safe they vastly overengineered everything. Their managers didn't know any better so they couldn't second-guess them to cut costs. He said those bridges could carry twice the load they carry today, much less what they were designed for. Today the engineers and their managers know exactly how much material to use in order to exactly fulfill the specifications and maximize profit, so the things become unreliable exactly when they say they will. I'm sure the Eiffel Tower is strong enough to use as the base for a space elevator.

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  10. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    72,825
    That money could find a lot of better use elsewhere.
     
  11. Tiassa Let us not launch the boat ... Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    37,884
    Big Tex is already gay; red wine and Herbie Hancock

    Um ..., well, he already looks gay enough.

    I suppose the same could be said for the Eiffel Tower, too. But, y'know ... er ... um ... yeah.

    • • •​

    It's not quite a rock and a hard place, but the thing is that I have a hard time wishing this project ill. Not because I think it looks good, or is a good idea, but rather because about the only thing to vindicate people's concerns at this point would be if the project killed people.

    It's like drinking red wine out of flutes. Sure, it's stylish, but it actually reduces one's ability to experience the wine.

    Next up ... snap-on day-glo panels for Chichen Itza. Because, well, you know ... if it looks classic, it looks old and stuffy and out of date. Any testament to the longevity of the human species should be rendered devoid of timeless context: it needs to be hip; it needs to be now; it needs to have it; it needs to be in your face; it needs to be ... cool.

    I was going to draw some sort of jazz metaphor here, but it utterly failed me. Anyway, since I managed to pull up the links before I realized how badly it was going to go, enjoy:

    Herbie Hancock, "Cantaloop Island" (classic)
    Herbie Hancock, "Cantaloop Island" (contemporary)
    Us3, "Cantaloop" (cover)​
     
  12. Tiassa Let us not launch the boat ... Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    37,884
    Or maybe not ....

    Update: That's negative, repeat, negative on tower redesign

    To her credit, Jen Graves was kind enough to bring us the latest. Don't bother clicking the link unless you want to comment at Slog. The entry only points to this:

    That's right, the whole thing is apparently the result of overzealous reporters who got the wrong idea when someone at an architecture firm doodled some ideas and then posted them on the company website alongside other projects the firm actually is undertaking.

    Or something like that.

    (Damn it ... I finally put a time limit on a poll and the story burns out over a hundred days early.)
    ____________________

    Notes:

    Katz, Basil. "France: No Eiffel Redesign Planned, Says Architect Who Made Proposal". New York Times. March 27, 2008. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/27/world/europe/27briefs-NOEIFFELREDE_BRF.html

    See Also:

    Graves, Jen. "No, In Fact, They Wouldn’t". Slog. March 27, 2008. http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/no_in_fact_they_wouldnt
     
  13. Pandaemoni Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    3,634
    The irony here being that many people said very similar things about the Eiffel Tower itself when it was being built. It was going to be what a terrible eyesore blighting the Paris skyline and, the naysayers predicted, it would lose money hand over fist.

    Do I think that little addition would somehow blight the Eiffel Tower? No, not really. It is displeasing to the that part of me that fears change and hates that noise the kids today call music, but things change anyway and usually for the better. The big question is whether the change matches the design of the existing tower, on an aesthetic level, and I did not see that this proposal seemed to "not fit" the overall design.
     
  14. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    25,817
    Why would they do that? It's like painting a hat on Mona Lisa.
     
  15. hypewaders Save Changes Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    12,061
    Bon sang! Quelle abomination! N'est rien de sacré?
     
  16. USS Exeter unamerican american Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    2,482
    Very true.

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