Eiffel Tower Picture

The Eiffel Tower, built in commemoration of the French Revolution, was the tallest building in the world when it was unveiled at the Paris World's Fair in 1889. Although it has been surpassed in height by nearly a dozen skyscrapers since then, Alexandre Gustave Eiffel's chocolate-brown, 984-foot open-lattice wrought-iron tower remains one of the world's premiere tourist attractions.

Is there anything more beautiful than the Eiffel tower on a bright spring sunny day?

Is there anything more beautiful than the Eiffel tower on a spring sunny day?

Before the Tower's construction, critics called Eiffel's design an eyesore and predicted that the Tower would cost too much to build.His crew assembled the 18,000 pieces of iron in just 21 months, under budget and in time for the fair's opening day. With the completion of the Tower, Eiffel earned the nickname "magician of iron." Eiffel was one of the first engineers to recognize the importance of wind forces on tall structures. He designed the surface of his Tower to be so minimal that the wind has virtually nothing to grab onto. All pieces of the Tower form an open lattice of light trusses through which the wind can blow. The Eiffel Tower was one of the first tall structures in the world to contain passenger elevators, and tourists loved them. Elevator ticket sales in the Eiffel Tower regained almost the entire cost of the structure, in just one year! (reference)

Other landmarks: Christ the Redeemer, Colossus, Delhi pillar, Eiffel tower, Golden Gate bridge, Great Buddha, Guggenheim Museum (Bilbao), Guggenheim Museum (NYC), Normandy bridge, Oresund crossing, Quebec Bridge, Statue of Liberty, Thames Barrier, Titanic, Tower of the Orologio