Sunday, September 6, 2009

A Vertiginous View of the Tour Eiffel


What made this especially dizzying to me was the movement of the passing clouds overhead.

"Now to what phenomenon did I give primary concern in designing the Tower? It was wind resistance.  Well then!  I hold that the curvature of the monument's four outer edges, which is as mathematical calculation dictated it should be...will give a great impression of strength and beauty, for it will reveal to the eyes of the observer the boldness of the design as a whole." -Gustave Eiffel [see original French* below]

The tower sways two to three inches (6-7 cm) in the wind.  I think we definitely experienced a little of that the day this photo was taken.

Uh oh...I think I'm feeling queasy again...

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*"Or de quelle condition ai-je eu, avant tout, à tenir compte dans la Tour? De la résistance au vent.  Eh bien! je prétends que les courbes des quatre arêtes du monument, telles que le calcul les a fournies...donneront une grande impression de force et de beauté; car elles traduiront aux yeux la hardiesse de la conception dans son ensemble..."

4 comments:

  1. Wow! I'm dizzy, too! Like the new blog!

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  2. Thanks! It's my little Calgon-Take-Me-Away moment each day!

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  3. Love the New blog - and love Paris! (Spent my honeymoon there at the Hotel Esmeralda - next time you go you MUST stay there! (It was the hotel in the children;s book Linea and Monet's Gardens).

    Thanks also for the book recs. I've read Gopnik's book and Sarah;s Key, and the others look great also. Would add Julia Child's My life in France - another great listen (though abridged...)

    Good luck with this new venture!

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  4. Thanks, Peggy - I added the book to my sidebar.

    I can't wait to read Linnea in Monet's Gardens! I'm so glad you let me know about it. I love children's books - what better than a children's book about Paris/France? :)

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