dossier pédagogique (en) - ningapi.ning.com/files/qiztrvhfnpdideuqjz2y0kxy7cpejwtabht6odqaw5… ·...
TRANSCRIPT
Gustave Eiffel (1832-1923) An engineer by training, Eiffel founded and developed a company specializing in metal structural work, whose crowning achievement was the Eiffel Tower. He devoted the last thirty years of his life to his experimental research. Born in Dijon in 1832, he graduated from the Ecole Centrale des Arts et Manufactures in 1855, the same year that Paris hosted the first world's Fair. He spent several years in the South West of France, where he supervized work on the great railway bridge in Bordeaux, and afterwards he set up in his own right in 1864 as a "constructor", that is, as a business specializing in metal structural work. His outstanding career as a constructor was marked by work on the Porto viaduct over the river Douro in 1876, the Garabit viaduct in 1884, Pest railway station in Hungary, the dome of the Nice observatory, and the ingenious structure of the Statue of Liberty. It culminated in 1889 with the Eiffel Tower. Eiffel built hundreds of metal structures of all kinds all around the world. Eiffel built hundreds of metal structures of all kinds, all around the world. Bridges, and in particular railway bridges, were his favourite field of work, but he also won renown for his metal structural work and industrial installations. His career was marked by a large number of fine buildings, among which two of the most outstanding are the twin edifices of the Porto viaduct and the Garabit viaduct in the Cantal region of France. Equally outstanding are certain other structures in which the pure inventiveness of Eiffel's company was allowed free rein, such as the "portable" bridges sold around the world in "kits", the ingenious structure of the Statue of Liberty in New York, and of course the Eiffel Tower itself.
The West Station in Budapest, Hungary Garabit Viaduc The Eiffel Tower conception and design The plan to build a tower 300 metres high was conceived as part of preparations for the World's Fair of 1889. Emile Nouguier and Maurice Koechlin, the two chief engineers in Eiffel's company, had the idea for a very tall tower in June 1884. It was to be designed like a large pylon with four columns of lattice work girders, separated at the base and coming together at the top, and joined to each other by more metal girders at regular intervals. The company had by this time mastered perfectly the principle of building bridge supports. The tower project was a bold extension of this principle up to a height of 300 metres - equivalent to the symbolic figure of 1000 feet. On September 18 1884 Eiffel registered a patent "for a new configuration allowing the construction of metal supports and pylons capable of exceeding a height of 300 metres". The Koechlin's plan
In order to make the project more acceptable to public opinion, Nouguier and Koechlin commissioned the architect Stephen Sauvestre to work on the project's appearance.
Sauvestre proposed stonework pedestals to dress the legs, monumental arches to link the columns and the first level, large glass-walled halls on each level, a bulb-shaped design for the top and various other ornamental features to decorate the whole of the structure. In the end the project was simplified, but certain elements such as the large arches at the base were retained, which in part give it its very characteristic appearance. The curvature of the uprights is mathematically determined to offer the most efficient wind resistance possible. As Eiffel himself explains: "All the cutting force of the wind passes into the interior of the leading edge uprights. Lines drawn tangential to each upright with the point of each tangent at the same height, will always intersect at
a second point, which is exactly the point through which passes the flow resultant from the action of the wind on that part of the tower support situated above the two points in question. Before coming together at the high pinnacle, the uprights appear to burst out of the ground, and in a way to be shaped by the action of the wind".
The Tower stirs debate & controversy Various pamphlets and articles were published throughout the year of 1886, then on February 14 1887, with the construction work barely begun, there appeared the Artists' Protest. The "Protest against the Tower of Monsieur Eiffel", published in the newspaper Le Temps, is addressed to the World's Fair's director of works, Monsieur Alphand. It is signed by several big names from the world of literature and the arts: Charles Gounod, Guy de Maupassant, Alexandre Dumas junior, François Coppée, Leconte de Lisle, Sully Prudhomme, William Bouguereau, Ernest Meissonier, Victorien Sardou, Charles Garnier and others to whom posterity has been less kind. Other satirists pushed the violent diatribe even further, hurling insults like "this truly tragic street lamp" (Léon Bloy), "this belfry skeleton" (Paul Verlaine), "this mast of iron gymnasium apparatus, incomplete, confused and deformed" (François Coppée), "this high and skinny pyramid of iron ladders, this giant ungainly skeleton upon a base that looks built to carry a colossal monument of Cyclops, but which just peters out into a ridiculous thin shape like a factory chimney" (Maupassant), "a half-built factory pipe, a carcass waiting to be fleshed out with freestone or brick, a funnel-shaped grill, a hole-riddled suppository" (Joris-Karl Huysmans). Once the Tower was finished the criticism burnt itself out in the presence of the completed masterpiece, and in the light of the enormous popular success with which it was greeted. It received two million visitors during the World's Fair of 1889.
An extract from the "Protest against the Tower of Monsieur Eiffel". "We come, we writers, painters, sculptors, architects, lovers of the beauty of Paris which was until now intact, to protest with all our strength and all our indignation, in the name of the underestimated taste of the French, in the name of French art and history under threat, against the erection in the very heart of our capital, of the useless and monstrous Eiffel Tower, which popular ill-feeling, so often an arbiter of good sense and justice, has already christened the Tower of Babel. (...) Is the City of Paris any longer to associate itself with the baroque and mercantile fancies of a builder of machines, thereby making itself irreparably ugly and bringing dishonour ? (...) To comprehend what we are arguing one only needs to imagine for a moment a tower of ridiculous vertiginous height dominating Paris,just like a gigantic black factory chimney, its barbarous mass overwhelming and humiliating all our monuments and belittling our works of architecture, which will just disappear before this stupefying folly. And for twenty years we shall see spreading across the whole city, a city shimmering with the genius of so many centuries, we shall see spreading like an ink stain, the odious shadow of this odious column of bolted metal. "
Charles Garniers Leconte de Lisle Alexandre Dumas Fils
In an interview in the newspaper Le Temps of February 14 1887, Eiffel gave a reply to the artists' protest, neatly summing up his artistic doctrine. "For my part I believe that the Tower will possess its own beauty. Are we to believe that because one is an engineer, one is not preoccupied by beauty in one's constructions, or that one does not seek to create elegance as well as solidity and durability ? Is it not true that the very conditions which give strength also conform to the hidden rules of harmony ? (...) Now to what phenomenon did I have to 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. Likewise the many empty spaces built into the very elements of construction will clearly display the constant concern not to submit any unnecessary surfaces to the violent action of hurricanes, which could threaten the stability of the edifice. Moreover there is an attraction in the colossal, and a singular delight to which ordinary theories of art are scarcely applicable".
Construction of the Eiffel Tower The assembly of the supports began on July 1, 1887 and was completed twenty-two months later. All the elements were prepared in Eiffel’s factory located at Levallois-Perret on the outskirts of Paris. Each of the 18,000 pieces used to construct the Tower were specifically designed and calculated, traced out to an accuracy of a tenth of a millimetre and then put together forming new pieces around five metres each. A team of constructors, who had worked on the great metal viaduct projects, were responsible for the 150 to 300 workers on site assembling this gigantic erector set. All the metal pieces of the tower are held together by rivets, a well-refined method of construction at the time the Tower was constructed.
First the pieces were assembled in the factory using bolts, later to be replaced one by one with thermally assembled rivets, which contracted during cooling thus ensuring a very tight fit. A team of four men was needed for each rivet assembled: one to heat it up, another to hold it in place, a third to shape the head and a fourth to beat it with a sledgehammer. Only a third of the 2,500,000 rivets used in the construction of the Tower were inserted directly on site.
It only took five months to build the foundations and twenty-one to finish assembling the metal pieces of the Tower.
15 mars 1888 15septembre 1888 26 décembre 1888 12 mars 1889 Considering the rudimentary means available at that period, this could be considered record speed. The assembly of the Tower was a marvel of precision, as all chroniclers of the period agree. The construction work began in January 1887 and was finished on March 31, 1889. On the narrow platform at the top, Eiffel received his decoration from the Legion of Honour. Why the Eiffel Tower is made of iron ? What are the advantages of iron? Gustave Eiffel himself gives the answer: “First of all, its resistance. From the viewpoint of loads one or the other of these materials can support, we know that for any given surface area, iron is ten times more resistant than wood and 20 times more resistant than stone.” He points out: “It’s above all in the large constructions that the metal’s resistance makes it superior to other materials. The relative lightness of metal constructions also allows for smaller supports and foundations.” And he concludes: “To give just one example, that of the Exhibition Tower, I astonished more than one person who was worried about the load on the floor of the foundations, by saying that the load wouldn’t be any greater than that of a house in Paris.”
Movement of the Tower top The Tower sways slightly in the wind. During the storm of 1999, it moved approximately 13 centimeters from its initial position. But the Tower is also affected by heat.When the temperature is high, that portion of the structure exposed to the sun expands more than the portion in the shade.To “get out of the sun”, the Tower can lean as much as 18 centimeters. Painting the Eiffel Tower Being made of iron, the Tower has been protected from oxidation by many layers of paint, which ensure that it will last for ever. In 1900 in his book " The 300-Meter Tower ", Gustave Eiffel wrote, "We will most likely never realize the full importance of painting the Tower, that it is the essential element in the conservation of metal works and the more meticulous the paint job, the longer the Tower shall endure." The Tower has been re-painted 18 times since its initial construction, an average of once every seven years. It has changed colour several times, passing from red-brown to yellow-ochre, then to chestnut brown and finally to the bronze of today, slightly shaded off towards the top to ensure that the colour is perceived to be the same all the way up as it stands against the Paris sky. Sixty tons of paint are necessary to cover the Tower's surface, as well as 50 kilometers of security cords, 5 acres of protection netting, 1500 brushes, 5000 sanding disks, 1500 sets of work clothes…and more than a year for a team of 25 painters to paint the Tower from top to bottom. The 19th repainting of the Eiffel Tower got underway in March 2009.
The Eiffel Tower as a radio broadcaster Eiffel strongly encouraged research into radio transmission by proposing the use of his tower as a monumental radio mast. After the success of the first radio signals broadcast to the Pantheon by Eugène Ducretet in 1898, Eiffel approached the military authorities in 1901 with a view to making the Tower into a long-distance radio antenna. In 1903 a radio connection was made with the military bases around Paris, and then a year later with the East of France. A permanent radio station was installed in the Tower in 1906, thus ensuring its continuing survival. Eiffel lived long enough to hear the first European public radio broadcast from an aerial on the Tower in 1921. The top of the tower has been modified over the course of the years in order to accommodate ever more antennae.
The top of the Tower originally consisted of two lattice work arches, supporting the lamp of a beacon visible from beyond the horizon. The narrow open-air platform which crowned this top level was at a height of exactly three hundred metres above ground level. This was itself topped by a lightning conductor with three branches, connected to two large metal tubes buried in the ground. The top of the Tower has since been completely transformed, and today it accommodates several
tens of antennae of all kinds, including a television mast whose peak is at a height of 324 metres. The first television trials to use the Tower date back to 1921, and the first regular broadcasts started in 1935.
Illuminating the Eiffel Tower From gas to electricity The Tower's artificial illuminations have been constantly revised and improved throughout the years, taking advantage of the latest innovations in lighting. From gas to electricity, incandescent lamps to neon and not forgetting the sodium lamp. At the dawn of the 20th century, the Eiffel Tower adopted quite quickly the new electric technology. Universal Exposition of 1889 The development of electric lighting has allowed the Tower to be bathed in light in a variety of ways over the years.
The first lighting system was installed for the Universal Exposition of 1900, but by 1925, André Citroën set the Tower alive with his colored lighting ad campaign. In 1937, André Granet added colored lighting to the latticework handrails for the International Exposition of Arts and Techniques. New golden lighting system for the Tower arrives in 1985 A new golden lighting decorates the Tower, inaugurated on 31 December 1985. Created by Pierre Bideau, lighting designer, this installation
is composed of 336 projectors, equipped with sodium-vapour lamps providing the yellow-orange colour. The light rays are oriented upwards lighting up the Tower structure from the inside. This system replaced the installation that had been in service up to the year 1958. It received a unanimous round of applause all over
the world, to such an extent that other major cities adopted special lighting so as to highlight their monuments at night. The Beacon and Sparkes for the "Countdown to the Year 2000" On 31 December 1999 at the approach of midnight, the entire world will discover the beacon and the Tower's sparking lights. The becaon, sending out two light beams with a reach of 80 kilometres, is composed of 4 "marine" motorised projectors. They are operated by automatically piloted computer programs. Since their rotation sweep is 90°, they are synchronized to form a double beam in a cross that pivots around 360°. The xenon 6000 watt lamps were chosen for their longevity, around 1,200 hours. The lamps are cooled to prevent overheating and a heating system is activated when the temperatures drop below zero Centigrade whilst the lights are off. This beacon resonates the image of Gustave Eiffel's Tower itself as a universal and symbolic landmark. The glittering lights are layered over the golden lighting system that has highlighted the Tower’s structure at night since 1986, marvellous as always. To finalize the show, the gold lights were shut down and only the sparkling lights performed, five minutes of magic never seen before, breathtaking. The glittering light installation of the year 2000 was not made to last and was replaced in June 2003 by another lighting installation meant to
weather a period of 10 years. Installing the lights is about as impressive as the lighting itself : * A lighting system built to last ten years * 25 mountain climbers for the 5-month installation * 20,000 special light bulbs (5,000 per side) attached one at a time * 40 kilometers of strings of light and electrical cords
* 40,000 joints and 80,000 various metallic parts weighing 60 tons * 230 enclosed lighting fixtures and electrical boxes * 10,000 m² of safety nets * 120 kilowatts of power. * Budget total: 4.55 million euros
2004 - January 24: The Eiffel Tower Celebrated the Chinese New Year in Red!
Relying on spotlights on the outer Tower, the most celebrated monument in Paris beamed scarlet red colors for the occasion of the Chinese New Year on Saturday, January 24, 2004. Following the Chinese New Year parade on the Champs-Elyséees, the Chinese and French Culture ministers as well as the mayors of Peking and Paris were present at the "lights on" ceremony at the Tower. Sponsored by the company Electricite de France, the red lighting lasted for five days until the morning of January 29th, visible each day from 5pm to 7:30am.
The Tower Turns Blue for the 20th Anniversary of Europe Day For the 20th edition of Europe Day, the Eiffel Tower turned blue on 9 May 2006.
Autumn 2007, Rugby is Honoured From 7 September to 20 October 2007 for the occasion of the World Rugby Cup hosted by France, the Eiffel Tower adopted the colours of rugby: green lighting for the floor of the second floor symbolic of the turf, two light beams vertically oriented, a cross beam bringing to mind the goal posts, a giant ball with a 13-metre span suspended from the 2nd floor approximately 80 metres from the ground with a big spotlight on the official logo, and finally, a giant screen 120m² under the first floor facing the Seine River and giving all the results of the matches. Visitors from all over the world and Parisians alike were also able to enjoy the sparkling lights and the beacon that maintained the hourly show during the entire opération.
The Eiffel Tower in the Colors of Europe As the French President took the helm of the European Union from July 1 to December 31, 2008, the Eiffel Tower in cooperation with the Mayor of Paris payed homage to Europe. Every evening, the Tower donned its blue night-lighting at sunset, dotted with the 12 yellow stars representing the European flag. The sparkling lights remained in place, glittering every hour on the hour for 5 minutes as usual.
Questionnaire :
1. En quelle année a eu lieu la première émission de télévision grâce à l’émetteur de la Tour Eiffel ?
1935 1937 1940
2. Quelle était la couleur de la Tour en 1899 ?
Rouge Jaune Brun
3. Combien de marches jusqu’au sommet de la Tour Eiffel ? 1665 1800 3000
4. Comment s’appelle le restaurant situé au deuxième étage ?
Le Gustave Eiffel Le Champs de Mars Le Jules Verne
5. 72 noms sont inscrits sous le premier étage. A qui appartiennent-ils ?
A des artistes parisiens A des scientifiques Aux rois de France
6. Quel autre monument a fait la célébrité de Gustave Eiffel ?
La statue de la Liberté à New York Big Ben à Londres La gare de l’est à Paris
7. Quelle est la hauteur exacte de la Tour, antenne comprise ? 204 m
324 m 544 m
8. A l’origine, qu’y avait-il au dernier étage de la Tour ?
Une réserve d’eau Un poste de police L’appartement de Gustave Eiffel
9. A quelle fréquence repeint-on la Tour Eiffel ?
Tous les 3 ans Tous les 7 ans Tous les 10 ans
10. Quel est le surnom de la Tour Eiffel ?
La Fée Electricité La Dame de Fer La Tour Infernale
11. Quelle quantité de peinture faut-il pour repeindre la Tour Eiffel ?
10 tonnes 60 tonnes 100 tonnes
12. Jusqu’à quelle date la Tour Eiffel fut-elle l’édifice le plus haut du monde ?
1929 1980 2005
13. Au bout de combien de temps la Tour Eiffel devait-elle pétré détruite ?
10 ans 18 ans 20 ans
14. Quelle est la hauteur de la « Tour Eiffel » de Las Vegas ?
100 m 164 m 312 m
15. Combien de visiteurs du monde entier la Tour Eiffel accueille-elle chaque année ?
Près de 7 millions Près de 10 millions Près de 100 millions
Les bonnes réponses
En quelle année a eu lieu la première émission de télévision grâce à l’émetteur de la Tour Eiffel ? La bonne réponse : 1935 Le 10 novembre 1935, Georges Mandel, ministre des PTT, inaugure la première émission (en 180 lignes) depuis l’émetteur de la tour Eiffel. Le 18, la speakerien Susy Wincker effectue une démonstration pour la presse. Quelle était la couleur de la Tour en 1899 ? La bonne réponse : jaune La Tour a été repeinte 18 fois depuis sa construction, soit une fois en moyenne tous les sept ans. Elle a changé plusieurs fois de couleur, passant du brun-‐rouge, sa couleur d’origine, à l'ocre jaune en 1899 puis au bronze aujourd'hui. Combien de marches jusqu’au sommet de la Tour Eiffel ? La bonne réponse : 1665 La Tour compte 1665 marches du sol au sommet. Comment s’appelle le restaurant situé au deuxième étage ? La bonne réponse : Le Jules Verne Restaurant gastronomique, Le Jules Verne est situé au deuxième étage de la Tour Eiffel et bénéficie d'un accès direct par ascenseur privé. Il domine Paris à 125 m au-‐dessus du sol. 72 noms sont inscrits sous le premier étage. A qui appartiennent-ils ? La bonne réponse : à des scientifiques Sur la tour Eiffel, soixante-‐douze noms de scientifiques ont été gravés par Gustave Eiffel en reconnaissance de leurs contributions à la science. Quel autre monument a fait la célébrité de Gustave Eiffel ? La bonne réponse : la statue de la Liberté à New York Gustave Eiffel est également le créateur de la structure de la statue de la Liberté, inaugurée à New York en 1886. Quelle est la hauteur exacte de la Tour, antenne comprise ? La bonne réponse : 324 m La tour mesure 324 mètres, antenne comprise. C’est le monument le plus haut de la capitale. A l’origine, qu’y avait-il au dernier étage de la Tour ? La bonne réponse : l’appartement de Gustave Eiffel On peut encore visiter l'appartement de Gustave Eiffel située au 3e étage. L'ingénieur s'était fait aménager une petite garçonnière au sommet de son chef d’œuvre.
A quelle fréquence repeint-on la Tour Eiffel ? La bonne réponse : Tous les 7 ans Les travaux durent environ entre 15 et 18 mois Quel est le surnom de la Tour Eiffel ? La bonne réponse : La Dame de Fer Quelle quantité de peinture faut-il pour repeindre la Tour Eiffel ? La bonne réponse : 60 tonnes Jusqu’à quelle date la Tour Eiffel fut-elle l’édifice le plus haut du monde ? La bonne réponse : 1929 La Tour Eiffel resta l’édifice le plus haut du monde avant d’être dépasser par le Chrysler Building à New York qui culmine à près de 320 mètre Au bout de combien de temps la Tour Eiffel devait-elle pétré détruite ? La bonne réponse : 20 ans La Tour Eiffel devait être détruite au bout de 20 ans. Heureusement, cette Dame de Fer à réussit à résister aux attaques. Elle s’avéra utile du point de vue scientifique mais aussi stratégique et technique en servant d’émetteur et récepteur radio. Quelle est la hauteur de la « Tour Eiffel » de Las Vegas ? La bonne réponse : 164 m Combien de visiteurs du monde entier la Tour Eiffel accueille-elle chaque année ? La bonne réponse : Près de 7 millions Il s’agit tout simplement du monument le plus visité dans le monde !