The Eiffel Tower, Ashley Desjardins

The Eiffel Tower was constructed by a man named Alexaandre Gustave Eiffel, who was a French Structural Engineer, and was the leading European Authority on Aerodynamics of high frames. It was the main attraction at the International Expo (The World Fair), held in 1889. This event also marked the centennial of the Revolution which began in 1789. This name was decided upon because it was first a contest to see who could come up with the best design. The radical design by Gustave was unanimously chosen and hence, given the name.
The tower is located in Paris, France, and stands at 984 ft tall, and weighs 7000 pounds. It was built of wrought iron and supported truss work. It was the tallest structure in the world, until the completion of the Empire State Building. It consists of two different parts. The first, is the base. Which is composed of a platform resting on four separate supports called, Pylons, or Bents. The second part is a slender tower that rises from each of the Pylons and leads to a second platform, the third part is one unified column. The curve of the base Pylons was precisely calculated so that so that is could withstand the intense forces of the wind by turning the force into compression.
When the tower was put up there were many people who resented it. There was even a petition to get rid of it, which gathered 300 names. Some people believed that it took away from the natural beauty of Paris, and others believed that it would interfere with the birds that flew over. In 1909 the tower was almost torn down, but the final decision made against it was because of its antenna, used for telegraphy at the time. In 1910 it became part of the International Time Service, and was made useful by the French radio and television.
The Eiffel Tower was built in order to celebrate the Science and Engineering feats of its time and became a symbol for the ideals of: ingenuity, progress and beauty. The first level, base portions are detailed with the names of all the great men in French history. Today, the biggest attraction is riding to the top to view the city of Paris.
I believe that the Eiffel Tower is art for many reasons. First, there was a lot of thought put into it and a lot of debate over how it should be made, and what it should be made of. Secondly, I think that it is really beautiful and took a long time to create and has a lot of detail. I also think that it has a lot of meaning behind it which to me, makes it instrumental art. I also think that when people see this it brings forth a lot of emotion, which makes it emotionalist art. There emotions could be astonishment, happiness or maybe feeling overwhelmed because of its size. I chose to do this because it is somewhere that I have always wanted to go to.

Works Cited
Eiffel Tower by art Historian Dr. Lori. Dr Lori. Web. 16 Nov. 2009. .

The Eiffel Tower, Paris. Discover France. Web. 16 Nov. 2009. .