Project Gutenberg Self-Publishing - eBooks | Read eBooks online

Here to Stay

History by Design

The Eiffel Tower, Paris, 1889 (by Fritz, Editor)
Giovanni-Battista Piranesi, 1720-1778 (by Focillon, Henri, 1881-1943)
Phoebe Apperson Hearst, 1842-1919, Photo... (by Johnston, Frances Benjamin)
New York, New York Washington Square Arc... (by Library of Congress)
Palace of Fine Arts and Lagoon, Panama-P... (by Maybeck, Bernard R)
A Discourse on the Dignity and Excellenc... (by Hitchcock, Enos)

Many iconic buildings and monuments, such as the London Eye and the Parthenon in Nashville were originally planned for temporary use, but have endured. These structures still stand years after their planned demolition dates.

The Eiffel Tower, which became a symbol of Paris, was originally intended to be a temporary structure for the 1889 Exposition Universelle. Civil engineer Gustave Eiffel and his chief engineers, Emile Nouguier and Maurice Koechlin, envisioned a soaring tower that would stand tall at 300 meters (approximately 984 feet).

In an effort to make the design more aesthetically pleasing, they commissioned architect Stephen Sauvestre to finesse the design.

Considered “monstrous” and “useless,” the Eiffel Tower was criticized by many prominent writers, artists, and intellectuals, including Guy de Maupassant and François Coppée. In The Eiffel Tower, Paris 1889, Fritz writes:

The natural question will arise what is to be the use of this Tower. Without entering into the scientific value to which this Tower may lead, and the many scientific uses it may hereafter be put to, we take it that first and foremost, it will be one of, if not, the greatest feature of the Universal Exhibition, opening the 5th of May next.” Despite harsh criticism, the Eiffel Tower drew two million visitors during the exposition.” (p. 7)

The opulent Palace of the Fine Arts in San Francisco, designed by Bernard Maybeck, was erected to serve as temporary museum for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition. In Palace of Fine Arts and Lagoon, Panama-Pacific International Exposition, 1915, Maybeck writes:

When the Director of the Division of Fine Arts explained what he felt was necessary for a Fine Arts Palace, he said that he did not want the visitors to come directly from a noisy boulevard into collections of pictures, but on the contrary he wanted everybody to pass through a gradual transition from the exciting influences of the Fair to the quiet serenity of the galleries. (p. 3)

The structure’s design was inspired by an engraving by artist Giovanni Battista Piranesi. It features a Greco-Roman-style rotunda, colonnades, and a lagoon. Since it was designed for temporary use, it wasn’t made of durable substances. Phoebe Apperson Hearst led the initial efforts to preserve the structure. In 1965, the palace was rebuilt with concrete.

Manhattan’s triumphal Washington Square Arch is a marble structure erected in Greenwich Village’s Washington Square Park in 1892. It honors George Washington, who was inaugurated in New York City.

The arch that currently stands in the park is not the original structure. Today’s white marble arch was designed by architect Stanford White. It replaced a temporary wooden arch built with funds raised by an affluent resident of the area. For more on Washington’s legacy, read A Discourse on the Dignity and Excellence of the Human Character Illustrated in the Life of General George Washington, Late Commander of the Armies And President of the United States.

By Regina Molaro