引人注目的埃菲爾鐵塔
世界各地的人們都來(lái)到大約300米高，接近埃菲爾鐵塔頂端的地方涂鴉。日本人、巴西人、美國(guó)人在這塊冰冷的鐵上涂上自己的名字、喜好和政治觀點(diǎn)，使這有法蘭西色彩的紀(jì)念碑成為動(dòng)感世界的象征。
從塔上可以看到巴黎市的遠(yuǎn)景，但奇怪的是觀光者們寧愿花時(shí)間留下到此一游的痕跡，也不去觀賞風(fēng)景。但這些涂鴉者也引起了一個(gè)問題：為什么在建成114年后，埃菲爾鐵塔仍然這么受歡迎？盡管它在幾十年前就已經(jīng)不是世界上的建筑物了。
這個(gè)問題的答案就像那構(gòu)成90層的鐵塔的工程一樣復(fù)雜。一部分的理由是，毫無(wú)疑問，鐵塔是永不過時(shí)的。周期性的維護(hù)使得它永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)被腐蝕掉。埃菲爾鐵塔定期油漆，覆蓋那些涂鴉，但是它仍將繼續(xù)存在下去。
“埃菲爾是巴黎的象征，而巴黎又代表了法國(guó)。所以，埃菲爾十分具有象征性?！盚ugues Richard說(shuō)道。這位31歲的法國(guó)人保持著在19分零4秒的時(shí)間內(nèi)騎行車經(jīng)過747級(jí)臺(tái)階登上鐵塔上鐵塔二層的紀(jì)錄?！斑@是鐵娘子，能讓人產(chǎn)生靈感?！彼f(shuō)。
但是它能使人們產(chǎn)生怎樣的靈感呢？畢竟，鐵塔并沒有任何目的。1930年紐約的Chrysler大廈取代它成為世界上的建筑。但是電視和廣播信號(hào)仍然從塔頂發(fā)送出來(lái)，而Gustave Eiffel,這個(gè)狂熱的建造者利用它的高度進(jìn)行氣象學(xué)、空氣動(dòng)力學(xué)和無(wú)線電傳輸?shù)难芯?。他?2月臺(tái)票27日逝世，終年91歲。
本質(zhì)上來(lái)說(shuō)，鐵塔佇立在那兒本身就是一個(gè)靈感——它就像一張空白的畫布，任游客遐想。對(duì)于那些善于從技術(shù)角度考慮問題的人來(lái)說(shuō)，它是一個(gè)工程上的勝利；而對(duì)于戀人們來(lái)說(shuō)，它則象征著浪漫。
“這座塔將在我們所有的人離去后長(zhǎng)久存在?！卑７茽栬F塔管理公司的說(shuō)Isabelle Esnous。
Eiffel Is an Eyeful
Some 300 meters up, near the Eiffel Tower’s wind-whipped summit the world comes to scribble. Japanese, Brazilians. Americans—they graffiti their names, loves and politics on the cold iron—transforming the most French of monuments into symbol of a world on the move.
With Pairs laid out in miniature below, it seems strange that visitors would rather waste time marking their presence than admiring the view. But the graffiti also raises a question: Why, nearly 114 years after it was completed, and decades after it ceased to be the world’s tallest structure, is la Tour Eiffel still so popular?
The reasons are as complex as the iron work that graces a structure some 90 stories high. But part of the answer is, no doubt, its agelessness, regularly maintained, it should never rust away. Graffiti is regularly painted over, but the tower lives on.
“Eiffel represents Paris and Paris is France. It is very symbolic,” says Hugues Richard, a 31-year-old Frenchman who holds the record for cycling up to the tower’s second floor—747 steps in 19 minutes and 4 seconds, without touching the floor with his feet. “It’s iron lady, it inspires us,” he says.
But to what? After all, the tower doesn’t have a purpose. It ceased to be the world’s tallest in 1930 when the Chrysler Building went up in New York. Yes, television and radio signals are beamed from the top, and Gustave Eiffel, a frenetic builder who died on December 27, aged 91, used its height for conducting research into weather, aerodynamics and radio communication.
But in essence the tower inspires simply by being there---a blank canvas for visitors to make of it what they will. To the technically minded, it’s an engineering triumph. For lovers, it’s romantic.
“The tower will outlast all of us, and by a long way,” says Isabelle Esnous, whose company manages Eiffel Tower.
世界各地的人們都來(lái)到大約300米高，接近埃菲爾鐵塔頂端的地方涂鴉。日本人、巴西人、美國(guó)人在這塊冰冷的鐵上涂上自己的名字、喜好和政治觀點(diǎn)，使這有法蘭西色彩的紀(jì)念碑成為動(dòng)感世界的象征。
從塔上可以看到巴黎市的遠(yuǎn)景，但奇怪的是觀光者們寧愿花時(shí)間留下到此一游的痕跡，也不去觀賞風(fēng)景。但這些涂鴉者也引起了一個(gè)問題：為什么在建成114年后，埃菲爾鐵塔仍然這么受歡迎？盡管它在幾十年前就已經(jīng)不是世界上的建筑物了。
這個(gè)問題的答案就像那構(gòu)成90層的鐵塔的工程一樣復(fù)雜。一部分的理由是，毫無(wú)疑問，鐵塔是永不過時(shí)的。周期性的維護(hù)使得它永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)被腐蝕掉。埃菲爾鐵塔定期油漆，覆蓋那些涂鴉，但是它仍將繼續(xù)存在下去。
“埃菲爾是巴黎的象征，而巴黎又代表了法國(guó)。所以，埃菲爾十分具有象征性?！盚ugues Richard說(shuō)道。這位31歲的法國(guó)人保持著在19分零4秒的時(shí)間內(nèi)騎行車經(jīng)過747級(jí)臺(tái)階登上鐵塔上鐵塔二層的紀(jì)錄?！斑@是鐵娘子，能讓人產(chǎn)生靈感?！彼f(shuō)。
但是它能使人們產(chǎn)生怎樣的靈感呢？畢竟，鐵塔并沒有任何目的。1930年紐約的Chrysler大廈取代它成為世界上的建筑。但是電視和廣播信號(hào)仍然從塔頂發(fā)送出來(lái)，而Gustave Eiffel,這個(gè)狂熱的建造者利用它的高度進(jìn)行氣象學(xué)、空氣動(dòng)力學(xué)和無(wú)線電傳輸?shù)难芯?。他?2月臺(tái)票27日逝世，終年91歲。
本質(zhì)上來(lái)說(shuō)，鐵塔佇立在那兒本身就是一個(gè)靈感——它就像一張空白的畫布，任游客遐想。對(duì)于那些善于從技術(shù)角度考慮問題的人來(lái)說(shuō)，它是一個(gè)工程上的勝利；而對(duì)于戀人們來(lái)說(shuō)，它則象征著浪漫。
“這座塔將在我們所有的人離去后長(zhǎng)久存在?！卑７茽栬F塔管理公司的說(shuō)Isabelle Esnous。
Eiffel Is an Eyeful
Some 300 meters up, near the Eiffel Tower’s wind-whipped summit the world comes to scribble. Japanese, Brazilians. Americans—they graffiti their names, loves and politics on the cold iron—transforming the most French of monuments into symbol of a world on the move.
With Pairs laid out in miniature below, it seems strange that visitors would rather waste time marking their presence than admiring the view. But the graffiti also raises a question: Why, nearly 114 years after it was completed, and decades after it ceased to be the world’s tallest structure, is la Tour Eiffel still so popular?
The reasons are as complex as the iron work that graces a structure some 90 stories high. But part of the answer is, no doubt, its agelessness, regularly maintained, it should never rust away. Graffiti is regularly painted over, but the tower lives on.
“Eiffel represents Paris and Paris is France. It is very symbolic,” says Hugues Richard, a 31-year-old Frenchman who holds the record for cycling up to the tower’s second floor—747 steps in 19 minutes and 4 seconds, without touching the floor with his feet. “It’s iron lady, it inspires us,” he says.
But to what? After all, the tower doesn’t have a purpose. It ceased to be the world’s tallest in 1930 when the Chrysler Building went up in New York. Yes, television and radio signals are beamed from the top, and Gustave Eiffel, a frenetic builder who died on December 27, aged 91, used its height for conducting research into weather, aerodynamics and radio communication.
But in essence the tower inspires simply by being there---a blank canvas for visitors to make of it what they will. To the technically minded, it’s an engineering triumph. For lovers, it’s romantic.
“The tower will outlast all of us, and by a long way,” says Isabelle Esnous, whose company manages Eiffel Tower.