Gustave Eiffel

Gustave Eiffel (December 15, 1832 – December 27, 1923), French architect.

 

Born Alexandre Gustave Eiffel in Dijon, Côte-d’Or, France, he is most famous for building the Eiffel Tower, built from 1887-1889 for the 1889 Paris Universal Exposition in Paris, France, as well as the armature for the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, USA. He also designed ironwork for bridges.

Gustave Eiffel also designed La Ruche in Paris, that would, like the Eiffel Tower, become a city landmark. A three-storey circular structure that looked more like a large beehive, it was created as a temporary structure for use as a wine rotunda at the Great Exposition of 1900.

In his later years Eiffel began to study aerodynamics.

Alexandre Gustave Eiffel died on December 27, 1923 in his mansion on Rue Rabelais in Paris and was interred in the Cimetiere de Levallois-Perret, in Paris.

In the 1980s an old restaurant and its supporting iron scaffolding midway up the tower was dismantled; this was purchased and reconstructed in New Orleans, Louisiana, originally as the Tour Eiffel Restaurant, more recently known as the Red Room.

In the year 2000, flashing lights and several high power searchlights were installed on the tower. Since then the light show has become a nightly event. The searchlights on top of the tower make it a beacon in Paris’ night sky.

At 19:20 on July 22, 2003, a fire occurred at the top of the tower in the broadcasting equipment room. The entire tower was evacuated; the fire was extinguished after forty minutes, and there were no reports of injuries.