EIFFEL TOWER, Building

An unmissable and ubiquitous feature of the Parisian skyline, the Eiffel Tower was built as a "temporary" structure and has no recognizable style: it is a progressive monument that uses steel structures, and relates to no previous architectural structure. This is perhaps one of the reasons it has been so successful. According to the original plans and international regulations for buildings erected in universal exhibitions, it should have been demolished within twenty years of being built.  Nevertheless, it continued to look out proudly over the capital, defying the disbelief of scientists, engineers and mathematicians of the time, who would insist on how fragile and unstable it was. But do you know why it was never demolished? Simple - money. They realized that dismantling it would cost an astronomical amount, much better leave it in place!

So Gustave Eiffel was right about everything and everyone: the monument that was detested by many Parisians soon became the symbol of the city, and could also boast of being the tallest structure in the world for over forty years, until the Empire State Building was built in New York.

There soon turned out to be a number of potential uses for the "useless" tower as well: a landmark for adventurous aviation pioneers, an anchorage point for airships, a lookout tower during The Great War, and the support for a radio antenna that increased its overall height by approximately 20 meters....