Over the past century or so, Paris’s most iconic landmark, the Eiffel Tower, has been used for broadcast transmissions. In fact, radio is often credited for the famous structure’s survival into the 21st century. Of course, over the last several decades, the most famous building in the City of Lights has become a beloved piece of history that will never be taken down. That said, while it may never be demolished, that doesn’t change subtly every few years. And as of this week, it underwent a small but mighty development: It’s 20 feet taller than it was last week, bringing its total height to 1,082.68 feet. The additional six meters (roughly 20 feet) come courtesy of a new communications antenna that was installed atop the city’s tallest monument, which shares a nickname with the famed Margaret Thatcher: The Iron Lady.
Though the tower is known affectionately among Parisians and visitors alike as a monument that is synonymous with the glamorous city in which it lives, it was erected to mark the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. It started at the Journal Officiel de la République Française, which initiated the launch of what would soon become one of most visited landmarks in the world, with a competition.
And among the 107 projects submitted for the contest, entrepreneur Gustave Eiffel, engineers Maurice Koechlin and Emile Nouguier, and architect Stephen Sauvestre won. The goal set before them was to construct a tower 300 meters high for the 1889 World’s Fair, which they did. Today, though, with the new antenna, the Eiffel Tower stands just under 1,083 feet tall. The project took a whopping two years, two months, and five days of construction.
Regarding the structure’s new soaring height, the Eiffel Tower company’s president, Jean-François Martins, told the Associated Press, “From the invention of the radio at the beginning of the 20th century to right now, decades after decades, the Eiffel Tower has been a partner for all the radio technology.” He’s not wrong; it is as much an architectural landmark as it is a technological one. Martins added, “It’s a historical moment, because the Eiffel Tower is getting higher, which is not so common.” It may not be common, but the Eiffel Tower has undergone a few transformations before. For instance, in September 2017, the Eiffel Tower underwent quite a drastic renovation to modernize everything from visitor reception area to one of the restaurants, La Bulle Parisienne.
The designers of the original tower, back in the late 19th century, wanted to build the world’s tallest structure, and for nearly four decades, it was. Of course, New York City’s Chrysler Building, which shot up in 1929, surpassed Paris’s tower. Luckily, though, it was still tall enough to attract millions of visitors per year. In fact, more than seven million people come from all over the world to pay the iconic architectural masterpiece a visit, strolling around the perimeter of the 125-meter-wide base.
This is the tallest the Eiffel Tower has ever been, but whether or not it will continue to grow as technology advances is up for debate. After all, we do live in the Digital Age, which begs the question: Will one of the first technological landmarks literally grow with the times? Only the next generation of innovators will tell.
