Paris, France — The Eiffel Tower is set to remain eternal and subsequently offering its creator up to eternity as well. The year 2023 marked the 100th anniversary of the death of the engineer, architect, entrepreneur of, if not the man of steel, the genius of steel, Gustave Eiffel. Born in Dijon, France in 1832 he entered the prestigious Ecole Centrale in 1852 and studied metallurgy. His career all began with the construction of a railway bridge in Bordeaux in which he experimented with certain techniques that he would use later on in some of his now legendary works. He founded his own workshops in the Parisian suburb of Levallois-Perret in 1866. He would be behind two of the world’s most famous monuments one on each side of the Atlantic, the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor for which he designed the tall central pylon to be the primary support structure of the Statue’s interior and he would build what is perhaps the most celebrated structure in the world, the Eiffel Tower constructed in just 26 months for the Universal Exhibition of 1889 as a temporary structure. He topped it off with a weather station that same year. The « temporary structure » is still there and it was even the highest  building in the world until the construction of the Chrysler Building in New York in 1931.

Left: Portrait of Gustave Eiffel from Gustave Eiffel, La Tour de trois cents mètres, Paris, Société des imprimeries Lemercier, 1900 ©CAPA/MMF/Bérangère Lomont. Photo courtesy Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine. Handout via The Gourmet Gazette Right: Print of the bust of the Statue of Liberty during the Universal Exhibition of 1878. Anonymous. ©CAPA/MMF/DR. Photo courtesy Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine. Handout via The Gourmet Gazette 

Gustave Eiffel died on December 27th, 1923 at the age of 91. His legacy clearly lives on. The French post office has emitted stamps in his honor, Eiffel’s office on the top floor of the tower has recently been restored and can be visited, you can scan a QR code at the Tower for a superimposed reality visit into the world of Gustave Eiffel and the Association of the Descendants of Gustave Eiffel proposes debates, conferences and diverse exchanges revolving around the celebrated engineer. The Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine, the museum devoted to architecture and heritage and which sits directly across from the Eiffel Tower, held an exhibition (running until January 9th, 2024) dedicated to his architectural doings in Paris of which there were many. Monumental Tour which brings cultural heritage to life put on a resounding electronic music, sound and light show dedicated to Gustave in the heart of the Eiffel Tower on December 27th. Created by DJ and the producer who created the Monumental Tour concept, Michael Canitrot and with French actor Philippe Torreton in the role of the voice of Gustave Eiffel, it was broadcast on television and the social networks and can be watched on YouTube. This astounding production brings Gustave Eiffel and his tower to life. 

And the pioneering, building spirit of Gustave Eiffel lives on through the Eiffel Tower Foundation and the Eiffel Family’s association of his descendants. This year the Foundation of the Eiffel Tower Society held its fifth competition dedicated to urban renewal. This year the prize was awarded to three students in the fields of architecture and engineering for their project for the renovation of an existing urban complex. Mutatis Mutandis, a Building, Several Lives competition asked that participants submit a project  to reconvert a historic building complex of 8,000 square meters in the French suburb of Bagneux that belongs to the Société de la Tour Eiffel, outfitting it with myriad uses for work, leisure, services, businesses, show and hospitality. The jury was presided over by Myriam Larnaudie-Eiffel, the President of the Association of the Descendants of Gustave Eiffel. ©Trish Valicenti for The Gourmet Gazette. https://www.toureiffel.paris/en https://www.citedelarchitecture.fr/en https://monumental-tour.com/en/