- [Seb] The magician of iron as Gustave Eiffel is known
is special for so many reasons.
Although everyone knows his most famous work,
the Eiffel Tower, Gustave had an influence
on many other iconic structures.
His lesser known, but just as important legacy
of contributions to research and science
play a role in many things we know
about aerodynamics and meteorology today.
So there's no better architect to kick off this new series
of History's Greatest Architects than the
magician of iron himself, Gustave Eiffel.
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Gustave Eiffel was born in 1832
in the town of Dijon, France.
He was born to Francois Alexandre Eiffel
and Catherine Mélanie Moneuse.
Eiffel was not at first interested in his education
but due to the influence of his uncle,
Jean-Baptiste Mollerat, Eiffel began to take an interest
in chemistry in his later years.
Upon finishing school, he set out to further his
education in Paris where he studied at the
College of Art and Manufacturing.
At first he focused on chemistry and learned a lot about
metal construction, which led him to spend the first
twenty years or so of his career
focusing on engineering bridges.
- [Female Voice] Number seven.
- [Seb] The Passerelle Eiffel.
A few years after University, Eiffel was hired
as Head of Research at Piels and Company,
where he received his first big project.
Tasked with completing the construction
of the 1600 foot long iron railway bridge,
later named the Passerelle Eiffel, in the city of Bordeaux,
the bridge had already been designed
by Stanislas de la Laroche-Tolay in 1858,
and Eiffel was brought in as a young, then 26-year-old,
construction manager to manage the project.
And in particular, the foundations of the bridge.
Eiffel proposed several changes to the foundations
due to his research on hydraulic pressure
and air compression.
These changes were incorporated into the final design
and helped support the six pairs of masonry
supporting the bridge securely.
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- [Female Voice] Number 6.
- [Seb] Building the bridge at Bordeaux, it wasn't long
before Eiffel decided to venture out on his own.
And in 1866, he set out as a consulting engineer.
He partnered with fellow engineer, Theophile Seyrig,
to form the Eiffel et Cie,
which translates to Eiffel and company.
Their first project together was the Rouzat Viaduct in 1867.
This was to be another iron railway bridge,
located in Vichy, France.
At first glance, the bridge doesn't look that impressive,
but the area has significant horizontal wind loads,
so the raw iron towers had to be designed with a curved base
as a way to counter the effects.
This lateral stiffness allows the tower
to manage the strong winds.
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- [Female Voice] Number 5.
- [Seb] A decade later, Eiffel designed
another one of his most famous works, the Maria Pia Bridge.
Located over the Duoro River in Portugal,
it was a challenging project to win.
It had initially been announced in a competition
by the Royal Portuguese Railway Company,
and there were several more established competitors
in the ring.
Ultimately, price won out, though,
as Eiffel's estimations projected a budget
two thirds the cost of the others.
So even though he was less established,
he was able to win the proposal.
Technically, it was a complicated job as well
due to the challenging nature of the river.
It was known to flood,
and the river bed consisted of gravel,
requiring the need for such a long central span.
Construction took just under two years to complete,
and he used a relatively new engineering technique,
with steel cables supporting two halves of the arch
as they were constructed and connected.
When it was inaugurated by the King of Portugal
in November, 1878, the final deck length
was over 1100 feet long,
with two pillars on the Vila Nova de Gaia side,
and two pillars on the Porto side.
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- [Female Voice] Number 4.
- [Seb] The Nice Observatory.
Finally taking a break from bridges, Eiffel tried his hand
at constructing scientific buildings.
After finishing work on the Maria Pia Bridge in 1878
he worked together with architect Charles Garnier
to build the Nice Observatory on the top
of Mount Gros in the southeast of France.
Eiffel designed himself the moveable dome
of the observatory, which could accommodate
a 30 inch refracted telescope made by Henri Gautier.
At the time, this meant the building
had the largest telescope
of any privately funded observatory,
even thought the Lick Observatory's 36 inch telescope
in California was a more impressive design.
Built at the height of 1066 feet above sea level,
the Nice Observatory was also higher than
other top observatories of the time,
such as those in Pulkovo or Vienna.
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- [Female Voice] Number 3.
- [Seb] During his career,
Eiffel became more well known
for using innovative engineering techniques.
One of these was the use of compressed air caissons
in bridge building.
The word caisson simply means a large box.
And what engineers would do before Eiffel's time
was to work in a box that was open to the air above.
Eiffel preferred to use compressed air caissons
which would be placed upon bedrock or hard mud
and sealed at the top with compressed air
to keep out water and mud.
Although it sounds like it might be a lot of effort,
ultimately it can speed up the construction process,
because placing concrete is better in dry conditions.
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- [Female Voice] Number 2.
- [Seb] The Statue of Liberty reaches a total height
of 300 feet in the New York City Harbor.
The iconic copper sculpture was completed
under Frederic Auguste Barholdi,
however the four gigantic steel supports which keep her
looking over Manhattan over a century later
were designed originally by Eugene-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc.
Then Eiffel took over when Viollet-le-Duc passed away
in the middle of the project.
Work began in 1875, but the status wasn't firmly established
in its new home until October of 1886.
While keeping some of Viollet-le-Duc's plans
for internal structure, such as the way the copper sheets
were connected and plans for sculpting,
Eiffel did change some critical elements of the supports.
Instead of relying on weight to support the copper sheets,
Eiffel aimed to create a skeletal iron truss structure
that could be built in Paris and deconstructed
for its journey across the Atlantic to America.
As the statue would be in New York,
which gets extremely hot in the summer months,
Eiffel had planned for the metal to expand.
Therefore he used flat iron bars to connect
the support structure to the skin.
To prevent iron copper from corroding,
he insulated the copper skin with asbestos.
The end result is a structure
that has stood the test of time
and was beloved by New Yorkers from the moment
it sailed into the harbor.
The statue stands out more today than it did then
because its original dark brown copper color
has faded into its now famous green.
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Did you know?
Built to commemorate the friendship of America and France,
The Statue of Liberty was originally referred to
as The Liberty Enlightening the World?
She does this by holding both
the Declaration of Independence in one hand
and a 29 foot torch up in the other.
Visitors can climb into her crown
for breathtaking views of Manhattan.
Of course, you can't talk about Gustav Eiffel
without talking about his most iconic work,
The Eiffel Tower.
Standing at an imposing 984 feet above Paris,
with the tip reaching a total height of 1063 feet,
it has become Paris's most famous landmark.
Almost 7 million people visit every single year
and take the long stair climb
or short elevator ride to the top.
At the time of construction
and for the next 40 years afterward,
it would be the tallest manmade structure in the world.
And that's what gave Eiffel the nickname,
as the magician of iron.
The project came about when the french government
organized a competition to design a monument
to celebrate the centenary of the French Revolution.
They wanted this newly inaugurated building
to coincide with the World's Fair
they were planning for the event.
Eiffel beat out 100 other designs
with his raw iron tower concept.
Work on the tower began.
The structure has 4 lattice girder piers
that bend inwards to create one vertical tower.
There are two horizontal piers so that tourists
can visit the structure and look out over the Seine
on the city of Paris.
One of the purely aesthetic choices
Eiffel made for the tower
were 4 semi-arches between the tower bases,
as the arches serve no structural purpose.
Also the tower was originally painted a reddish brown color.
In the 1960s, it changed to its current bronze color.
This paint has to be reapplied every 7 years,
otherwise the structure would rust.
Special elevators also had to be designed for the tower,
as they needed to curve as they ascended.
An American engineering company developed
the glass cage elevators,
which became one of the main features of the building.
Parisians and tourists alike are lucky that the tower
is still standing, as it was originally planned
to be dismantled after 20 years.
But, as it was so useful for communication,
the city decided to let it remain.
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Gustav Eiffel's influence can still be felt today.
And not just in the cities of Paris and New York,
but across the globe.
His expertise in metal construction,
in particular with his innovative iron bridges and buildings
elevated the understanding and appreciation of architecture.
On the other hand, his scientific contributions
and experiments he conducted in areas such as aerodynamics
and meteorology are equally groundbreaking.
For example, the donation of his aerodynamic labatory
to the state in 1921 meant that other researchers
could build upon his work to develop
more scientific breakthroughs.
Eiffel truly had a far-reaching impact
on many aspects of our lives today.
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- Hey guys, this is Kathy.
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(jazzy guitar music).