107TJ123-8-2009 LK VWD0011 Tradition Humanistic 6th Edition W:220mm x H:292mm 175L 115 Stora Enso M/A Magenta (V)Like the Crystal Palace, the
Eiffel Tower (Figure 30.27) origi-
nated as a novelty, but it soon
became emblematic of early mod-
ernism. The viewing tower con-
structed by the engineer Gustave
Eiffel (1832–1923) for the Paris
World Exhibition of 1889 is, in
essence, a tall (1064-foot-high)
cast-iron skeleton equipped with
elevators that offer visitors magnif-
icent aerial views of Paris.
Aesthetically, the tower linked the
architectural traditions of the past
with those of the future: its sweep-
ing curves, delicate tracery, and
dramatic verticality recall the glo-
ries of the Gothic cathedral, while
its majestic ironwork anticipates
the austere abstractions of
International Style architecture
(see chapter 32). Condemned as a
visual monstrosity when it was
first erected, the Eiffel Tower
emerged as a positive symbol of
the soaring confidence of the
industrial age. This landmark of
heroic materialism remained for
four decades (until the advent of
the American skyscraper) the
tallest structure in the world.
In an age of advancing industri-
alization, ornamental structures
such as the Crystal Palace and the
Eiffel Tower gave way to functional
ones. Inevitably, the skyscraper
would become the prime architec-
tural expression of modern corpo-
rate power and the urban scene. By
1850, there were seven American
cities with more than 100,000
inhabitants, and before 1900 the
populations of at least three of
these—New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago—swelled as
a result of the thousands of immigrants who came to live
and work in the metropolitan community. The physical
character of the premodern city, whose buildings were no
more than four stories high, changed enormously with the
construction of skyscrapers.
Multistoried vertical buildings were made possible by the
advancing technology of steel, a medium that was perfected
in 1856. Lighter, stronger, and more resilient than cast iron,
steel used as a frame could carry the entire weight of a struc-
ture, thus eliminating the need for solid weight-bearing
masonry walls. Steel made possible a whole new concept of
building design characterized by lighter materials, flat roofs,
and large windows. In 1868, the six-story Equitable Life
Insurance Building in New York City was the first office
structure to install an electric elevator. By the 1880s, archi-
tects and engineers united the new steel frame with the ele-
vator to raise structures more than ten stories. William Le
Baron Jenney (1832–1907) built the first all-steel-frame
skyscraper, the Home Insurance Building in Chicago,
which, ironically, hides its metal skeleton beneath a tradi-
tional-looking brick and masonry façade. It fell to his
successor, Louis Henry Sullivan (1856–1924), to design
multistory buildings, such as the Guaranty Building in
Buffalo (Figure 30.28), whose exteriors proudly reflect the
structural simplicity of their steel frames. “Form shouldFigure 30.27 GUSTAVE EIFFEL, Eiffel Tower, Paris, 1889.
Wrought iron on a reinforced concrete base, original height 984 ft.