View allAll Photos Tagged Small-Apartment
At Cantagalo slum he asked me to take their photo, but they was very serious and I ask them to smile. He smiled and she did that funny face. They were playing on the floor with that cardboard box behind them, as the box was a car or something like this. I spent hours inside this slum and, when I saw them again hours later, they was still playing with the box. Its crazy to imagine they are only few meters of the richest children of the city, or even of the country...
In Ipanema district is Cantagalo slum. Ipanema is one of the most valued districts of the city with human development index comparable to European countries. Here a small apartment can cost million dollars. Of course, the reality of the slums are different, having the worst human development index of the city... Finally this is starting to change after the State obtain to expel the drug gangs and implement many social activities in the place, as they did in some other slums.
Cantagalo slum, Ipanema district, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Have a good day! :¬)
This substantial Queen Anne house in the Warren-Prentis Historic District was built in 1891 for Judge Philip Van Zile. The architect was the prolific Almon Clother Varney, who designed apartments and single-family homes in the Cass Corridor/Midtown area. In addition to this structure, Van Zile also owned two small apartment buildings on West Forest. The Van Zile School on East Outer Drive was named after Judge Van Zile.
The building is a contributing property to the National Register and City of Detroit, Warren-Prentis Historic District.
November 28, 2010
MIA: I neglected to get my black 325 out of the cupboard : (
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This is the new 'earthquake proof' display. I loved the location of the collection on my other shelf but it was right beside the front door and after my husband took the Light Urban Search & Rescue Course he convinced me that there were a number of things we needed to do to earthquake proof our home more (more photos to come on our prep for that).
So, the Martha Stewart magazine collection got moved to the office and the cookbooks got moved to the other shelf in the kitchen and these sit on the other side of the wall on the dining/entrance area of our small apartment.
Hameau de la Reine - The Queen's Hamlet: Maison de la Reine et billard - Queen’s House and Billiard Room
The Queen's house and billiard room is situated in the middle of the Hamlet, and it is the largest and most important building. Its construction is innovative: two rustic buildings are connected by a covered gallery that is curved in a half-moon shape. A spiral staircase offers access to the second floor on one end of the house. These buildings included the Queen’s private chambers, as well as her salons and her parlors. The upper level comprises the petit salon, also known as the "room of the nobles", an anteroom in the form of a "Chinese cabinet" and the large living room with wood panelling hung with tapestries of Swiss style in embroidered wool. From the room's six windows, the Queen could easily control the work fields and activity of the hamlet. Access is via the staircase of the round tower. At the center of the room is a harpsichord which Marie Antoinette loved to play. On the ground floor, paved with single slabs of stone, the building includes a backgammon room and a dining room. The lyre-backed chairs in mahogany lined with green Morocco, were created by Georges Jacob. To the left, another building housing the billiard room is connected to the Queen's house by a wooden gallery decorated with trellises and twelve hundred St. Clement faience pots, marked in the blue figures of the Queen. Upstairs, a small apartment which seems to have been inhabited by the architect Richard Mique, has five rooms including a library. Despite the rustic appearance of facades, the interior finish and furnishings are luxurious and have been created by the carpenter Georges Jacob and the ébéniste Jean-Henri Riesener.
tel: 157 0568 5106, Email: robertsontim66@gmail.com (former email: suntala@wavecable.com )
QQ: 251886419
I was born and grew up in the nation of Peru (South America) where my parents worked as educators and in community development among various tribal groups. I grew up speaking English, Spanish and local village dialects.
I worked for three years as a Med Lab Tech in a rural hospital in Dandeldhura, Nepal. I worked under contract with the Nepalese national government. I also learned to speak, read and write the national language.
I have started, developed and managed my own business providing services to local clients and businesses for 20 years.
I traveled to several cities in China in 2011 to learn about Chinese universities and visit with English teachers and staff.
In the summer of 2012 I took a course at Beijing University of Language and Culture with China Academic Consortium to learn Chinese worldview. I also took field study trips to many historically important locations.
I taught English classes with Education Resources and Referrals, China in Shunyi Middle School near Beijing.
I enjoy travel, hiking, bicycling, reading about history of other cultures, learning, conversation and making friends.
I am 54 years old, in good physical health and single with three adult daughters from a previous marriage.
I am looking for a change of career and I hope to be able to teach EFL in China for several years. I want to learn Mandarin and I’m interested in earning a Master’s degree in a field studies course to improve my teaching ability.
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Mar 14 at 12:00 PM, from Tim Robertson
Dear Friends and Family,
Spring has arrived early in Fuyang this year bringing out the leaves on the willows by the river/canal by my apartment and the plum blossoms outside my backdoor. Some magnolias are already in bloom and the buds are swelling on the Metasequoias (Dawn Redwood) that are planted around the campus. I am fascinated by these trees as they have been called a “living fossil” because this species has remained unchanged (in morphological stasis) for the past 65 million years, according to paleo-botanists looking at their fossilized remains. Until 1948 it was thought have gone extinct over 5 million years ago, until it was discovered in this area of China. Although quite rare at that time, it has since become a popular ornamental tree. What makes it unique is that it sheds its needles during the winter months. This is a testimony to its previous habitat in northern Siberia and Canada where it became the dominant species due to its ability to survive the long dark winters without needles. Because the planet has cooled significantly since then, these trees can no longer grow so far north and can only survive at these latitudes where they no longer need to shed their needles. Maybe with “global warming” they will again be able to reclaim their former range.
This is the fourth week of classes and, having just received my textbook last week, I decided to continue on with using The Lion King as the source for dialogues, grammar and vocabulary. The words and story are simple enough for my students and the pictures and characters maintain their interest enough to read with feeling and enthusiasm the scripts that I transcribe for them each week. Having the whole class engaged and participating is a real challenge since many would rather sit passively as they are expected to do in their other classes. Just getting them to bring paper and pen to class to write down the new expressions and idioms is a real challenge so I have been taking my own note pads to class to show how I have been attempting to learn Mandarin. They have gotten used to my nontraditional approach and insistence that they take an active part in their own learning, and they much prefer it to the text book. Some other teachers have also been interested in finding out about what I do and why. Having taken all the course work for a degree in elementary education a few years ago, I am finding that much of what I learned about teaching techniques and learning styles using multicultural methods has been useful for teaching English at this level. I have also been told that the administration here approves, which I was unsure about, having been required to use the text book last year on the other campus.
I have been looking into other opportunities that I have been approached about to spread my influence beyond this campus. Last week I was invited to have dinner and meet the manager of the only “five star” hotel in Fuyang to discuss the possibility of training the staff, many of whom are interns from the local vocational college. They have also asked me to enjoy a dinner with their customers and engage them in informal conversation on a regular basis. At this point the details are somewhat unclear, but I did enjoy the excellent Indian food prepared by their chef from India. They put on a sumptuous buffet every weekend of different ethnic foods. Having acquired a taste for Indian food during my years in Nepal, I was glad to get a break from the local fare and my own cooking without having to pay for it. In fact, I will be paid to do it! I also would welcome the chance to chat with adults from this city so I can learn from them instead of having to talk to college age kids all of the time. So far, it has been an interesting experience and I am curious to see what will happen. I hope it does not detract from my commitment to my regular job, but it isn’t every day that I can eat roti prata with chopsticks.
I do enjoy teaching my classes and I like my students, but I am often distracted by the everyday irritations and insults of being a foreigner in a Chinese institution. I am constantly having to sort through the source of these frustrations in order to gain some insight. So far I have come up with six overlapping categories: 1. traditional Chinese culture; 2. political control; 3. general attitude toward foreigners; 4. my own personal idiosyncrasies, 5. the language gap and 6. everyday misunderstandings complicated by my own ignorance. Yesterday I ran into several of these while meeting with the college president in his office to request that our salaries be paid at the same time as all the other teachers in the college. We have been receiving payment three weeks later the rest of the faculty each month for no discernable reason. The explanation was that we are foreigners and it is traditional, but that did not happen on the other campus where I worked last year where I was paid at the same time as everyone else. It was with considerable difficulty that I managed to get the appointment with Greg, the other English teacher here and others administrators. I had hoped this absurdity would be quickly resolved by going over the head of my immediate supervisor to the top, but apparently not. The president said that it took three weeks to get the money transferred from the other campus (1 km away) to this one and asked that as foreigners, we should “respect their traditions.” Oh, well. At least we were able to get a copy of our contract, after many requests.
This is but one example of many I could give, and it is at times like these that I wonder whether I should sign another contract for next year at this college But I must remind myself daily that I am here for the students – not the party hacks, half-wits and hypocrites - and they are victimized by the system every day much more. In fact, my troubles seem rather small and petty in relation to what the average Chinese person has to deal with on a constant basis. I would like to think that my status as a foreigner would help me to avoid the disrespect that I feel coming from the administration, but I guess it averages out when I put all of my experiences together. I just can’t get used to being treated so well by most people here, but so poorly (in my view) by the people I work for. It does not seem to bother most Chinese who have come to accept the system the way it is because it is the only one they have ever known, there are no other alternatives and they have learned how to make the system work for them through cultivating special relationships (guanxi) to get what they want and need. It is the traditional Chinese way due to an absence of civil society that goes back thousands of years. This is best seen in the five relationships described that make up “filial piety” by Confucius which has become part of “socialism with Chinese characteristics.”
All these elements are interesting to see played out in everyday life even if they often make headaches for me. I have to constantly work at trying to figure out what is really going on because no one will say (or knows) the real reason. I guess the real reason for me to be here is that I feel a personal sense of calling. and here is where God has put me for now. Perhaps that will change at some point in the future but at present it is enough to have the privilege to live and teach these kids who are made in his image yet seem to know so little about him. In that category I am wealthy more than I know. It is uncanny how so many of my past experiences and education I have found to be useful in unexpected ways. It seems God has prepared me to do this work which he has also prepared in advance for me to do. God has brought me through the depths and continues to lead me through this” barren land.” I am finding his grace to be sufficient for me, even if the daily grind gets a bit too much at times. So often, when I feel stymied and limited a new chance will come to me that I had not anticipated or imagined. Even in a culture so tied up in ancient traditions, God is doing new things here and I just need him to open my eyes to see his work. In the process he is doing new things in me, even if they get a little uncomfortable. It may be harder, but this old dog can learn new tricks.
The spring weather has allowed me to get out on my bike to see the country side and relieve the tension and frustrations that build up inside. The recent snow and rain have turned the winter wheat fields a lush green and cleaned the air of the dust and coal particles that fill the air alternately in summer and winter. Since the leaves have not yet come out on the cotton wood trees planted along the roads and trails, it is possible to see much more than I will be able to see in a couple of weeks. Each season offers its own view of village life as the peasant farmers plant, cultivate and harvest their various crops year round. You may not think well of me for calling them peasants, but since they do not own their own land, are tied to it by their residential registration, must do work with their own hands and cannot afford machinery or hired laborers, that is an appropriate and accepted term. The government has been considering a reform of the hukou system that will allow migrant workers to take their children with them to the city, but as of now they must be left in the villages in order to be able to go to school. Even with the intensive agriculture, the small plots of land do not provide enough income without having to work in other jobs to earn enough cash. So much of the food is consumed by the producers that there is little left to sell, and the land cannot be leveraged for loans to start a business or buy an apartment in the city where the jobs are. Some of those abandoned children in the villages have become my students.
Tonight I will go to English corner on the other campus again. It is mostly the upper classmen who come to discuss various topics. They feel more confident and motivated than the first and second year students and they are feeling the pressure of preparing for life after college. Many hope to go on to graduate school if their comprehensive test score are high enough. Once accepted they will face an interview to show their ability to speak English, so they are motivated to learn as much as they can in the time they have left before graduation. Others are looking for jobs in the big city using their oral English skills and the ask me to help them write resumes to work with foreign trade and translation. Some are applying to graduate school in America or elsewhere abroad and ask me to help edit and correct their essays. (I generally do, unless they are downloaded from the internet or too incomprehensible.) And others just come to hear about the latest news from a foreigner’s perspective. Controversy can be useful to get past the usual shyness and reticence to express their own emotions and feelings as proud Chinese. If I am accused of being too negative on China, (they are only taught the positive) I tell them to ask me about my country and I will be willing to criticize it just as much for its crazy policies and politics. (Like, “I voted against the president, twice.” Response: “Was it because he is black? Answer, “But his mother was white, so I think he must be white, etc.) But I also tell them that it is just a means of getting them to talk about what matters to them instead of the usual trivial topics that come up every week. It seems natural to include my beliefs and where they come from in the process.
I hope to hear from you as well about what God is doing in your life these days and your insights into the mystery of God’s grace.
Thanks for your prayers.
Your fellow, faithful follower,
Tim
P.S: You can find and read the article that I cited and recommended to you in my last newsletter here:
www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2014/january-february/world-...
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From Tim Robertson, robertsontim66@gmail.com
Feb 16, 2014
Val-lantern's Day/Festival
Dear Friends and Family,
Last Friday was the final day of the 15-day Spring Festival which started on January 31. It is called the Lantern Festival and happened to fall on February 14 this year. Valentine’s Day is a popular import from the West and serves as a balance for Singles Day which falls on November 11 for obvious reasons. In this case filial piety (duty to one’s family) won out over romance - which is not a traditional Chinese practice. Only recently has love become a goal or a motivation for marriage for young people instead of a duty to follow the expectations and demands of one’s parents and ancestors. So Valentine’s Day has become widely observed as a means to assert individual happiness over pressure of traditional Confucian values. This clash or competition of eastern and western ideas and traditional celebrations is a sign that China is changing in visible external ways as well as invisible internal attitudes toward every aspect of life. It is a long term process that expresses itself in surprising ways.
Not having the means to celebrate the day in the American way I headed down to the local square to observe the local festivities. The entrance to the park was barricaded by carts selling fireworks, food and lanterns to the throngs of people spilling out onto the street. I pushed my way through the crowd with my bicycle hoping to find an isolated corner from which to enjoy the spectacle, but once I had entered the square I noticed that the celebrants were gathered around its perimeter with the center reserved for the firework displays. Indeed, the explosions were loud and intense enough to convince me I was in a combat zone if I had closed my eyes. Fountains spurted from the stone pavement, geysers thrust higher and bursts of sparks blossoming overhead were performing to a cacophony that escalated and merged to a general deafening roar and echoed off the surrounding buildings.
At the same time families with small children were lighting the paraffin fueled lanterns and holding them above their heads until the hot air inside generated enough lift to send them floating upward above the trees and sailing away on the breeze. As I followed their paths upward into the luminous smoky haze I saw hundreds of other glowing orbs ascending from all directions around the city and joining together with thousands of others in a continuous river of lights that flowed into the northwestern night sky. Occasional gusts of wind would cause some lanterns to tip and lose their upward momentum so that they gently descended to be caught and held aloft again for another attempted launch. Others would fail to attain enough altitude and got caught in the bare limbs of the trees where they continued to burn until a man with a long bamboo pole was able to bring them back to earth in an ignominious crash and extinction.
No one seemed at all concerned at the fire hazard such activities might engender or the danger to children as they ran and danced excitedly among the pyrotechnics. I set such concerns aside and constantly shifted my gaze from the greater flashes of lights below to the lesser glowing lights above and back again as the concert of sight and sound, light and darkness, color and shadowy figures filled me with awe. I found it amazing to think that such an event in this small city was being simultaneously carried out in millions of villages as well as the thousands of other small, medium-sized and big cities all over China without any apparent planning or coordination. And I wondered where the final destination would be for each lantern as they floated upward but would eventually lose altitude when the flames died and they came gently back to earth. The image stuck in my mind as I remembered Shakespeare’s description of life as “a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing.” Perhaps I am the one trying to tell that story to you and give it some significance.
That thought had also crept into my mind the previous day as I sat by the carriage window and watched dawn slowly illuminate the Chinese countryside as I rode the train from Shanghai to Fuyang. I had not slept much of the ten hour trip that began around midnight in the center of China’s biggest city of some 23 million souls. The landscape seemed as familiar as the wallpaper back home with a recurring pattern: some trees, a field, a pond, a village, a road, some trees, etc. for hundreds of kilometers. The pattern was occasionally interrupted by a coal fired power plant or a railway station where we would come to stop for a few minutes before rolling onward to the northwest and my destination. The passing bare ground was covered by a thin layer of snow. Conical burial mounds seemed to be randomly scattered over the darker fields of winter wheat that wait for spring to shoot up and bear a harvest among the graves. In the slanting rays of dawn the snow covered mounds seemed to glow as they pointed upward. Who were these people, how long ago did they live, how did they die . . . and what was their destiny? These are stories I cannot tell yet, God knows them and I believe he gives them significance.
The Chinese railway system is a wonder to behold as it runs around the clock all over the nation transporting millions of people each day. Spring Festival is the time of the largest annual migration of people in the world (about 250 million this year) and increasing every year. This is the one time when migrant workers and people who have moved to the city get time off for travel to visit their families and children in small villages and other cities. I had joined this massive flow of people in Los Angeles the day before as millions of Chinese also travel internationally these days to see their relatives. Since the fast trains that travel over 300 km an hour have not made it to Fuyang yet, I must take the slow train for Fuyang, which costs only $16 for the ten hour trip. My car is a sleeper with six bunks to a compartment without bedding or doors. I thanked American Airlines for the small blanket and pillow they gave me for the fourteen hour, 6,000 mile flight across the Pacific.
The car smells of spicy instant noodles, urine and sweat, but my nose adjusts so that I no longer notice except in the morning when smells and the slurping of noodles tells me most people are eating breakfast. Sleep does not come easily to me while I travel. Perhaps it’s the inner tension that comes while in motion, or the smells, snores and other noisy bodily functions from bodies lying so close by, along with the jolts, jostles, squeaks and shrieks of passing trains in the opposite directions. A sign on the WC: “No Occupying While Stabling.” Translation: Don’t use the toilet while in the station so that there will not be an excess of human waste left on the tracks there. The staff frequently lock the doors of the WCs while in the station so as to mitigate the problem. I prefer to use the facilities while the train is stopped because it is difficult to concentrate on hitting the hole in the floor while swaying with the motion of the train and balancing on the blocks provided to stand on above the pools of liquid on the floor. But I am glad that I can do it standing up. Stinky bathrooms are a problem almost everywhere in China, except for KFC and McDonalds – which might help to account for their popularity.
When I arrived in Shanghai last year I was met at the airport by someone from the school who took me to a hotel for the night and then drove the 400 km to Fuyang in a school owned car. This year I am able to find the subway at the airport, buy my ticket to the central railway station and buy a railway ticket to Fuyang by myself. It is the reverse trip I took about five weeks earlier at the end of the semester so I know where to go and what to do without having to ask any questions. Being able to take this trip without assistance is an example of the progress I have made in the past year. It shows me how much I have learned but how little I know and much less comprehend of this other world where I now live and work. It now feels a lot more like coming home and I am glad to arrive in my cramped 300 sq. foot apartment to recover from sleep deprivation and moving to this side of the planet to start a new semester.
Some differences between East and West become clearer but they also seem to blur and run together, mixing and interacting in new unpredictable ways. The last four weeks of travel to see family and friends in Sequim WA, Victoria BC, Stanton MI and Moorpark CA have kept me busy and given me a much needed break from teaching in Fuyang. While Miranda was in classes at Moorpark College I took the opportunity to drive a few miles to visit the Ronald Reagan Museum and Library for a few hours. It helped me to get back in touch with my American roots. Seeing the old Air Force One 27000 in its own pavilion along with Marine One helicopter along with visiting the grave site brought back his words about being a shining city on a hill for the rest of the world to see. His trajectory had brought him to rest there atop this hill. I wondered if that was still true. Do Americans still see America in that light or have they grown fearful of future decline and withdraw from engagement with the world?
I recently read a biography about Dr. Nelson Bell (father of Ruth Graham Bell). It tells how he decides to become a surgeon to serve in China, so in 1912 he enrolled in the Medical College in Richmond, VA. “When this leading state institution learned of his intention to be a medical missionary, they cancelled his tuition fees. ‘I never paid tuition the four years I was there. It was a voluntary action on their part; I never asked for it. I think they looked on it as a small contribution to medical missions.’” This book is titled A Foreign Devil in China and serves to show the changes of the past century. Foreigners are no longer called “Yang Guitze” or Foreign Devils, but a far more respectful title, “Laowai” which translates as Foreign Sir. But perhaps it is more telling how differently missionaries are seen today by institutions of higher learning or even Americans in general. After detailing his long and illustrious career as a surgeon in a mission hospital in China (and later on in America after they were forced to leave) the book ends by telling how Dr. Bell became one of the founders of Christianity Today magazine.
While in a public library I noticed the cover story of the current issue of Christianity Today: The World The Missionaries Made. The article is about an academic study setting out to show the impact of missionaries on the world today. It was exhaustively researched and published in The American Political Science Review – the discipline’s top journal. Sociologist Robert Woodbury is quoted as saying, “I was shocked. It was like an atom bomb. The impact of missions on global democracy was huge.” The article goes on to quote a noted historian, “Why did some countries become democratic, while other went the route of theocracy and dictatorship? Woodbury shows through devastatingly thorough analysis that conversionary Protestants are crucial to what makes a country democratic today. Not only is it another factor – it turns out to be the most important factor. It can’t be anything but startling for scholars of democracy.” Other quotes:
“In short: Want a blossoming democracy to day? The solution is simple – if you have a time machine: Send a 19th century missionary.”
“Looking back now, more than a century later, we see just how long that transformative difference can endure.”
For a better appreciation of what God has done through missionaries, I recommend reading the article.
So the long story comes full circle and continues to roll onward. I like to see the future of China through the lens of this article that was published in the magazine founded by a missionary to and from China. And I see myself as a very small part of that transformative process. I also like to think that is part of being a ”shining city on a hill” or “the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” Hebrews 11:10
Please keep on praying.
God is blessing,
Tim
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from Dec 2013:
Dear Friends and Family,
Christmas is not an official holiday in China so I taught my regular classes and celebrated by presenting a special Christmas presentation of 20 carols, videos and stories. I invited the students to bring treats to share. (Favorite snacks are individual packages of spicy tofu and chickens feet) I provided small Mandarin oranges, White Rabbit candies and potato chips. I presented a variety of traditional American Christmas elements that fell into the sacred, secular, children’s and party/romantic genres. In that way I could show A Charlie Brown Christmas with Linus quoting the original story from the gospel of Luke and ask the students to sing along to Away in a Manger and O Holy Night. I also had video clips of Santa reading Twas the Night Before Christmas along with Rudolf, Frosty and Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree etc. I could have taken the day off from classes if I had wanted, but since everyone else is working that day and my small apartment can only accommodate ten students at a time, I decided it would be better to celebrate with my students all week long during their regularly scheduled classes. I had originally planned to have the students sign up to arrive in half hour shifts at my apartment but that would have taken about eight hours straight. I realized that even though it took several hours to download and arrange the materials from the internet, I could cover much more ground in the classroom than I would have been able to do as a public school teacher in America.
On the day after Christmas I asked my students if they were aware that it was a special day in China. I was surprised to learn that none of them were aware that December 26 was the 120th anniversary of the birth of Mao, the father of modern China. After informing them of it, they seemed impressed that I would know that little factoid but none seemed to be particularly impressed with the importance of the date. I also got the same response from several teachers. That little vignette illustrates the fact that however much the party professes loyalty to their founder, China is moving forward and not looking back for its political inspiration.
I was also impressed at the number of businesses selling and displaying Christmas decorations in this small city. I bought a two-foot-tall tree in the street market with lights for 20 RMB (>$3.00) along with a Santa hat, colorful garland and a small stuffed Santa to use in my classes. I also took them to the private pre-school classes that I teach on Fridays, since I have no college classes scheduled. I was surprised to see that the school had already put up a large decorated Christmas tree in the hallway along with illustrations of Santa Claus and crèches, complete with a baby Jesus (although I doubt that any of the kids were even aware of who the depicted baby was). All this is perhaps a sign that China is rebalancing their economy toward more of a domestic consumer market instead of relying so heavily on exporting all their manufactured goods abroad. But I was glad to put on my Santa cap and add to the impression that Christmas is an important international holiday with great cultural and historical significance for the Chinese too.
This past week has been busy with multiple invitations from students to class parties which can go on for several hours. I was taken completely by surprise while attending a class of my students from last year when they started chanting in my direction, “Sing! Sing! Sing! Sing!” I could only remember the words to Feliz Navidad and O Holy Night which I tried to sing without any musical accompaniment. I discovered that being cold and surrounded by students who were recording the event for God knows what, on their cell phone cameras, can have a deleterious effect on my ability to hold a tune and remember the lyrics. The next party, I came prepared with my USB drive in my pocket. When they suddenly announced I would be the next singer, I was able to plug it into the computer so that the words were displayed on the screen and the music covered my shaky voice. The students showed great appreciation for my effort, which I hope was not the worst performance that night. Karaoke is a staple of these parties and many student groups sang their selections by looking down at the lyrics on their cell phones and singing along to music videos they had recorded.
On Thanksgiving weekend the partners in business were able to sell the last of the custom made flying disks in the park near the street market next to the school. Afterwards we got together in my apartment and split up the proceeds. Although I had invested most of the money, we split the profits evenly so that each of us got 300 RMB or about $50. Considering we each put about 30 hours into the project, it was not a particularly lucrative enterprise, but it was worthwhile for the friendships, the fun and the many lessons I learned in the process. Perhaps I will do it again next semester if I can find some other investors who want to join in. By comparison I was able to earn the identical amount of money in 2 hours by giving a guest lecture at the Voc. Tech. College down the street that same week.
This past Saturday I was invited to be a judge at an English speech competition. Since I was only invited about two hours before, I was a bit unprepared for the experience of having to judge 37 primary school children on their memorized speeches. I found it impossible to be impartial and objective while watching those irresistibly cute China dolls recite their compositions with enthusiastic hand motions. The speeches were interspersed with songs and dance routines that included precocious renditions of the tango and Gangnam Style. The scoring was grueling. I was directed to sit in the middle seat of the front row between four other judges in the cold auditorium where I could barely fit my knees under the desk in front of me. The only source of heat came from numerous cups of tea we were served. Gripping my pen with gloved hands or writing with fingers stiffened with cold was a challenge. I found that by clapping vigorously during the periodic performances I could generate some heat to keep my hands warm enough keep up the pace of churning out my numerical evaluations. After two hours sitting on the cold hard seats without enough room to cross my legs I was looking for an excuse to displace the row of judges for a dash to the WC in the courtyard. Unfortunately, the post-contest awards ceremony required me, as an honored guest to present the participants and winners with their certificates and prizes on stage. I am afraid my smile for the cameras was more of a grimace of desperation by then.
I have gotten used to frequent requests by students and random strangers on the street who approach me camera in hand and ask to have a picture taken with me. Of course, I can never refuse without seeming somewhat petulant, so I just stand close to them with a silly grin on my face and pretend they are one of my closest friends in all the world. And they are always delighted to get a photo to send to their friends and family or post on the internet to show their privileged access to a foreigner. Sometimes after a couple of photos with two friends taking turns pushing the button, others appear and before I know it I have a line forming to one side to get their turn, either individually, or in groups, or both. This can happen in the shopping mall when the sales girls with nothing else to do approach me giggling waving their camera /cell phones. Or it can happen on Mt. Tai where groups of climbers stop to get a quick picture with me while I am resting at a small temple, which is somewhat ironic considering the options of what else is in view. I suppose I should be flattered that I am considered such an exotic oddity that they include me in their family vacation to visit a national monument. One time I was invited to an event in the park to “teach English” but it soon became clear the real purpose was publicity for the school. The head master lined me up between two people dressed as Mickey and Minni Mouse (sorry Disney) in front of a life sized plastic replica of a velociraptor (dinosaur) so each of the students would get a personal memento of the occasion. I felt like a plastic Ronald McDonald sitting on a park bench.
On Christmas day I chose to eat in the dining hall with the students. I usually arrive a little late to the cafeteria to avoid the crush of students getting their tray of rice and vegetables with bits of meat for flavor. Most of them get their food and eat it within ten minutes and leave without saying a word to anyone. I used to wonder how they could eat is so quickly using chopsticks. I soon realized most of them were using the metal soup spoons or just using the chopsticks to scoop the food off the tray and inhaling it without actually picking it up. When I get there for lunch a few minutes after 12:00, most of the students have already left and the tables have several small piles of bones or food that were shoved off the tray or spit out. I wander around looking for a “clean” table or wait for an employee to come by and wipe each table clear with the same cloth. On leaving the facility, it is customary to take ones tray to a cleaning stand where left overs are scraped into a slop bucket to be recycled to the pigs.
Two weeks ago I was finally able to sign a new contract for next semester and my foreign expert certificate has now been renewed until June. I am hoping that the residential permit will be processed this week so that my passport can be returned to me before my departure date on January 10th from Shanghai flying to Seattle via San Francisco. Although I had hoped I would get a contract for a whole year as before, I am glad that the new contract will expire at the end of this academic year, which will allow me to begin a new contract in the fall as is the normal practice. My current contract began in the middle of the academic year which led to numerous problems with interpreting and following its requirements. My switch to teaching on the east campus from the west campus where I taught last year was also a complicating factor. Since the other teacher on this campus will not be renewing his contract after this academic year, I expect that I will be able to renew another year-long contract at the end of the spring semester. If I had not been offered a new contract I was preparing to sign a contract with the Vocational Technical College about a kilometer away since they are currently looking to fill their only foreign teacher post for next semester. They did offer me a contract but I am reluctant to leave my students after only one semester and have to move again. (If anyone is interested in filling the position, I can provide details and an email address to send your resume.)
= = =
Tim Robertson's posts about his time as an English teacher in Anhui at the Fuyang Teachers College are uploaded at: www.flickr.com/photos/ray_mahoney/9114089397/in/photostream, www.flickr.com/photos/ray_mahoney/8302698850/in/photostream, www.flickr.com/photos/ray_mahoney/14217075257/in/photostream; www.flickr.com/photos/ray_mahoney/9012874492/
Bilder tagna inne i en liten lägenhet i Stockholm under coronakrisen 2020-21. Images shot from inside a small apartment in Stockholm during the corona crisis of 2020-21.
Built in 1892 by an unknown individual, this distinctive and ornate “wedding cake”-like eclectic Queen Anne and Romanesque Revival-style townhouse stands on Russell Street in the Mutter Gottes Historic District of Covington, Kentucky.
Prior to the construction of the house, according to an 1886 Sanborn Fire Insurance map, the site was home to a wooden duplex, likely built sometime around the mid-19th Century.
The house has a heavily detailed brick facade with decorative brick trim, polychromatic ceramic tiles featuring the busts of Roman emperors, arched two-over-two windows, and a three-tiered front bay window that transforms from being rectangular on the 1st floor, to trapezoidal on the 2nd floor, and semi-circular on the 3rd floor, with the one-over-one windows on this portion of the house featuring multi-colored semi-circular stained glass transoms
The house additionally features many intact historic elements inside, including the original staircase that stretches from the first floor side entrance up to the 3rd floor, original doors and trim throughout, and original tiles and fireplace surrounds on the 1st floor and 2nd floor.
The house, originally a single-family home, featured a garden to the side and several one-story wooden porches on the side and rear, as well as sheds in the backyard.
By the early 20th Century, the house became the home of former Wurlitzer Music Company employee and industrialist Albert B. Koett, born in 1863 in Weimar, Germany, whom founded the Kelley-Koett (Keleket) manufacturing company behind a previous residence on Bakewell Street, where Koett worked with J. Robert Kelley on his innovations to X-Ray machines.
Koett left Wurlitzer in 1905 to work full time with the Kelley-Koett Manufacturing Company with John Robert Kelley, as an innovator and industrialist, innovating the "Keleket" X-Ray machine, utilized widely throughout the United States by the 1920s. The company expanded to the point that it occupied a large building on 4th Street in Covington and an additional building on York Street in Cincinnati's West End.
While owned by Koett, the house was enlarged, adding a masonry addition atop the roof of the two-story rear ell, a wooden addition on the rear of the house over a rear porch, and a new front porch with a red tile roof and wire brick columns.
The house was divided up into several small apartment units in the mid-20th Century after Koett's death, leading to the addition of a metal fire escape to the side, and reconfiguration of the interior, with the house being purchased and rehabilitated in the mid-1980s, returning to usage a single-family home, with a one-bedroom apartment on the third floor.
Built in 1892 by an unknown individual, this distinctive and ornate “wedding cake”-like eclectic Queen Anne and Romanesque Revival-style townhouse stands on Russell Street in the Mutter Gottes Historic District of Covington, Kentucky.
Prior to the construction of the house, according to an 1886 Sanborn Fire Insurance map, the site was home to a wooden duplex, likely built sometime around the mid-19th Century.
The house has a heavily detailed brick facade with decorative brick trim, polychromatic ceramic tiles featuring the busts of Roman emperors, arched two-over-two windows, and a three-tiered front bay window that transforms from being rectangular on the 1st floor, to trapezoidal on the 2nd floor, and semi-circular on the 3rd floor, with the one-over-one windows on this portion of the house featuring multi-colored semi-circular stained glass transoms
The house additionally features many intact historic elements inside, including the original staircase that stretches from the first floor side entrance up to the 3rd floor, original doors and trim throughout, and original tiles and fireplace surrounds on the 1st floor and 2nd floor.
The house, originally a single-family home, featured a garden to the side and several one-story wooden porches on the side and rear, as well as sheds in the backyard.
By the early 20th Century, the house became the home of former Wurlitzer Music Company employee and industrialist Albert B. Koett, born in 1863 in Weimar, Germany, whom founded the Kelley-Koett (Keleket) manufacturing company behind a previous residence on Bakewell Street, where Koett worked with J. Robert Kelley on his innovations to X-Ray machines.
Koett left Wurlitzer in 1905 to work full time with the Kelley-Koett Manufacturing Company with John Robert Kelley, as an innovator and industrialist, innovating the "Keleket" X-Ray machine, utilized widely throughout the United States by the 1920s. The company expanded to the point that it occupied a large building on 4th Street in Covington and an additional building on York Street in Cincinnati's West End.
While owned by Koett, the house was enlarged, adding a masonry addition atop the roof of the two-story rear ell, a wooden addition on the rear of the house over a rear porch, and a new front porch with a red tile roof and wire brick columns.
The house was divided up into several small apartment units in the mid-20th Century after Koett's death, leading to the addition of a metal fire escape to the side, and reconfiguration of the interior, with the house being purchased and rehabilitated in the mid-1980s, returning to usage a single-family home, with a one-bedroom apartment on the third floor.
Joan and I recently returned from a vacation in Door County, WI. We rented a small apartment from a couple on their 37 acre property -- part wooded trails and part meadow. Each morning the couple's Golden Retriever, Buddy, would come to our screen door and look at me plaintively asking if Riley and Dice could come out to play. As soon as I opened the door the three of them would tear into the meadow and bound through the tall grass and wildflowers.
Built in 1892 by an unknown individual, this distinctive and ornate “wedding cake”-like eclectic Queen Anne and Romanesque Revival-style townhouse stands on Russell Street in the Mutter Gottes Historic District of Covington, Kentucky.
Prior to the construction of the house, according to an 1886 Sanborn Fire Insurance map, the site was home to a wooden duplex, likely built sometime around the mid-19th Century.
The house has a heavily detailed brick facade with decorative brick trim, polychromatic ceramic tiles featuring the busts of Roman emperors, arched two-over-two windows, and a three-tiered front bay window that transforms from being rectangular on the 1st floor, to trapezoidal on the 2nd floor, and semi-circular on the 3rd floor, with the one-over-one windows on this portion of the house featuring multi-colored semi-circular stained glass transoms
The house additionally features many intact historic elements inside, including the original staircase that stretches from the first floor side entrance up to the 3rd floor, original doors and trim throughout, and original tiles and fireplace surrounds on the 1st floor and 2nd floor.
The house, originally a single-family home, featured a garden to the side and several one-story wooden porches on the side and rear, as well as sheds in the backyard.
By the early 20th Century, the house became the home of former Wurlitzer Music Company employee and industrialist Albert B. Koett, born in 1863 in Weimar, Germany, whom founded the Kelley-Koett (Keleket) manufacturing company behind a previous residence on Bakewell Street, where Koett worked with J. Robert Kelley on his innovations to X-Ray machines.
Koett left Wurlitzer in 1905 to work full time with the Kelley-Koett Manufacturing Company with John Robert Kelley, as an innovator and industrialist, innovating the "Keleket" X-Ray machine, utilized widely throughout the United States by the 1920s. The company expanded to the point that it occupied a large building on 4th Street in Covington and an additional building on York Street in Cincinnati's West End.
While owned by Koett, the house was enlarged, adding a masonry addition atop the roof of the two-story rear ell, a wooden addition on the rear of the house over a rear porch, and a new front porch with a red tile roof and wire brick columns.
The house was divided up into several small apartment units in the mid-20th Century after Koett's death, leading to the addition of a metal fire escape to the side, and reconfiguration of the interior, with the house being purchased and rehabilitated in the mid-1980s, returning to usage a single-family home, with a one-bedroom apartment on the third floor.
The third-floor apartment of this townhouse was my home from 2020 to 2023, and is full of wonderful memories. I am now on my next chapter, attending Graduate School in Chicago.
Built in 1892 by an unknown individual, this distinctive and ornate “wedding cake”-like eclectic Queen Anne and Romanesque Revival-style townhouse stands on Russell Street in the Mutter Gottes Historic District of Covington, Kentucky.
Prior to the construction of the house, according to an 1886 Sanborn Fire Insurance map, the site was home to a wooden duplex, likely built sometime around the mid-19th Century.
The house has a heavily detailed brick facade with decorative brick trim, polychromatic ceramic tiles featuring the busts of Roman emperors, arched two-over-two windows, and a three-tiered front bay window that transforms from being rectangular on the 1st floor, to trapezoidal on the 2nd floor, and semi-circular on the 3rd floor, with the one-over-one windows on this portion of the house featuring multi-colored semi-circular stained glass transoms
The house additionally features many intact historic elements inside, including the original staircase that stretches from the first floor side entrance up to the 3rd floor, original doors and trim throughout, and original tiles and fireplace surrounds on the 1st floor and 2nd floor.
The house, originally a single-family home, featured a garden to the side and several one-story wooden porches on the side and rear, as well as sheds in the backyard.
By the early 20th Century, the house became the home of former Wurlitzer Music Company employee and industrialist Albert B. Koett, born in 1863 in Weimar, Germany, whom founded the Kelley-Koett (Keleket) manufacturing company behind a previous residence on Bakewell Street, where Koett worked with J. Robert Kelley on his innovations to X-Ray machines.
Koett left Wurlitzer in 1905 to work full time with the Kelley-Koett Manufacturing Company with John Robert Kelley, as an innovator and industrialist, innovating the "Keleket" X-Ray machine, utilized widely throughout the United States by the 1920s. The company expanded to the point that it occupied a large building on 4th Street in Covington and an additional building on York Street in Cincinnati's West End.
While owned by Koett, the house was enlarged, adding a masonry addition atop the roof of the two-story rear ell, a wooden addition on the rear of the house over a rear porch, and a new front porch with a red tile roof and wire brick columns.
The house was divided up into several small apartment units in the mid-20th Century after Koett's death, leading to the addition of a metal fire escape to the side, and reconfiguration of the interior, with the house being purchased and rehabilitated in the mid-1980s, returning to usage a single-family home, with a one-bedroom apartment on the third floor.
A few years ago, I got to see a 1:1500 scale model of London at the Building Centre there. It is a large scale model of the heart of the city in three dimensions, with representations of most buildings, landmarks, parks, the Thames, and the (at the time yet to be built) Olympic Park.
It's extremely impressive.
And it is as nothing compared to The Panorama at the Queens Museum of Art.
Here's two panorama photos to give a sense of the scale:
⁂
Quoting from the Museum’s page on the The Panorama of the City of New York:
The Panorama is the jewel in the crown of the collection of the Queens Museum of Art. Built by Robert Moses for the 1964 World’s Fair, in part as a celebration of the City’s municipal infrastructure, this 9,335 square foot architectural model includes every single building constructed before 1992 in all five boroughs; that is a total of 895,000 individual structures.
The Panorama was built by a team of 100 people working for the great architectural model makers Raymond Lester Associates in the three years before the opening of the 1964 World’s Fair. In planning the model, Lester Associates referred to aerial photographs, insurance maps, and a range of other City material; the Panorama had to be accurate, indeed the initial contract demanded less than one percent margin of error between reality and the model. The Panorama was one of the most successful attractions at the ‘64 Fair with a daily average of 1,400 people taking advantage of its 9 minute simulated helicopter ride around the City.
After the Fair the Panorama remained open to the public, its originally planned use as an urban planning tool seemingly forgotten. Until 1970 all of the changes in the City were accurately recreated in the model by Lester’s team. After 1970 very few changes were made until 1992, when again Lester Associates changed over 60,000 structures to bring it up-to-date.
In the Spring of 2009 the Museum launched its Adopt-A-Building program with the installation of the Panorama’s newest addition, Citi Field, to continue for the ongoing care and maintenance of this beloved treasure.
The Queens Museum of Art has a program giving you the opportunity to “purchase” NYC real estate on The Panorama of the City of New York for as low as $50. To learn how you can become involved click here.
We hope that you will take time to enjoy the Panorama of the City of New York.
The Panorama of the City of New York is sponsored by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and New York State Assembly members Mike Gianaris, Mark Weprin, Audrey Pheffer, Nettie Mayersohn and Ivan Lafayette, The New York Mets Foundation and the supporters of the Adopt-A-Building Program.
View the winning pictures from our Gala 2011 Panorama Picture Contest!
View pictures from our Gala 2011 Photo booth, May 12, 2011!
View pictures of the Panorama on its Flickr page
Add your own pictures to our Panorama Flickr Group!
⁂
Quoting now from The Panorama section in Wikipedia’s Queens Museum of Art article:
The best known permanent exhibition at the Queens Museum is the Panorama of the City of New York which was commissioned by Robert Moses for the 1964 World’s Fair. A celebration of the City’s municipal infrastructure, this 9,335-square-foot (867.2 m2) architectural model includes every single building constructed before 1992 in all five boroughs; that is a total of 895,000 individual structures. The Panorama was built by a team of 100 people working for the architectural model makers Raymond Lester Associates in the three years before the opening of the 1964 World’s Fair. The Panorama was one of the most successful attractions at the ’64 Fair with a daily average of 1,400 people taking advantage of its 9 minute simulated helicopter ride around the City. After the Fair the Panorama remained open to the public and until 1970 all of the changes in the City were accurately recreated in the model by Lester’s team. After 1970 very few changes were made until 1992, when again Lester Associates was hired to update the model to coincide with the re-opening of the museum. The model makers changed over 60,000 structures to bring it up-to-date.
In March 2009 the museum announced the intention to update the panorama on an ongoing basis. To raise funds and draw public attention the museum will allow individuals and developers to have accurate models made of buildings newer than the 1992 update created and added in exchange for a donation. Accurate models of smaller apartment buildings and private homes, now represented by generic models, can also be added. The twin towers of the World Trade Center will be replaced when the new buildings are created, the museum has chosen to allow them to remain until construction is complete rather than representing an empty hole. The first new buildings to be added was the new Citi Field stadium of the New York Mets. The model of the old Shea Stadium will continue to be displayed elsewhere in the museum.
⁂
Quoting now from the explanatory sign at the exhibit:
THE PANORAMA OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK
The Panorama of the City of New York, the world's largest scale model of its time, was the creation of Robert Moses and Raymond Lester. Presented in the New York City Pavilion as the city’s premiere exhibit at the 1964/65 New York World’s Fair, it was intended afterwards to serve as an urban planning tool. Visitors experienced the Panorama from a simulated “helicopter” ride that travelled around perimeter or from a glass-enclosed balcony on the second floor, while news commentator Lowell Thomas provided audio commentary on “The City of Opportunity.” One of the “helicopter” cars is now on view in the Museum’s permanent exhibition, A Panoramic View: A History of the New York City Building and Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
Constructed at the Lester Associates workshop in Westchester, New York, the Panorama contains 273 separate sections, many of which are four-by-ten-foot rectangular panels. They are composed of Formica flakeboard topped with urethane foam slabs from which the typography was carved. Lester Associates’ staff consulted geological survey maps, aerial photographs, and books of City insurance maps, to accurately render the City’s streets, highways, parks, and buildings. Once the Panorama’s modules were completed at Lester Associates’ workshop, they were assembled on site in the New York City Building. It took more than 100 workers, three years to complete the model.
Built on a sale of 1:1,200 (1 inch equals 100 feet), the Panorama occupies 9.335 square feet and accurately replicates New York City including all 320 square miles of its five boroughs and 771 miles of shoreline, as well as the built environment. It includes miniature cars, boats, and an airplane landing and taking off at LaGuardia Airport.
The majority of the City’s buildings are presented by standardized model units made from wood and acrylic. Of more than 895,000 individual structures, 25,000 are custom-made to approximate landmarks such as skyscrapers, large factories, colleges, museums, and major churches. The amount of detail possible on most buildings is limited; at a scale of 1 inch to 100 feet, the model of the Empire State Building measures only 15 inches. The most accurate structures on the Panorama are its 35 major bridges, which are finely made of brass and shaped by a chemical milling process.
The model is color coded to indicate various types of land use. The dark green areas are parks. Parkways are also edged in dark green. Mint green sections are related to transportation including train and bus terminals. The pink rectangles that dot the City show the locations of recreational areas including playgrounds and tennis and basketball courts. Clusters of red buildings are indicative of publicly subsidized housing.
Red, blue, green, yellow, and white colored lights were installed on the surface of the Panorama in 1964 to identify structures housing City agencies relating to protection, education, health, recreation, commerce, welfare, and transportation. Overhead lights have been designed to run in a dawn to dusk cycle, and the nighttime effect is enhanced by ultraviolet paint, illuminated by blacklight.
In 1992, the City began a renovation of the Queens Museum of Art and the Panorama. Using their original techniques, Lester Associates updated the Panorama with 60,000 changes. In the current instalation, designed by Rafael Viñoly Architects, visitors follow the course of the original “helicopter” ride on an ascending ramp that enables them to experience the Panorama of the City of New York from Multiple Perspectives.
A few years ago, I got to see a 1:1500 scale model of London at the Building Centre there. It is a large scale model of the heart of the city in three dimensions, with representations of most buildings, landmarks, parks, the Thames, and the (at the time yet to be built) Olympic Park.
It's extremely impressive.
And it is as nothing compared to The Panorama at the Queens Museum of Art.
Here's two panorama photos to give a sense of the scale:
⁂
Quoting from the Museum’s page on the The Panorama of the City of New York:
The Panorama is the jewel in the crown of the collection of the Queens Museum of Art. Built by Robert Moses for the 1964 World’s Fair, in part as a celebration of the City’s municipal infrastructure, this 9,335 square foot architectural model includes every single building constructed before 1992 in all five boroughs; that is a total of 895,000 individual structures.
The Panorama was built by a team of 100 people working for the great architectural model makers Raymond Lester Associates in the three years before the opening of the 1964 World’s Fair. In planning the model, Lester Associates referred to aerial photographs, insurance maps, and a range of other City material; the Panorama had to be accurate, indeed the initial contract demanded less than one percent margin of error between reality and the model. The Panorama was one of the most successful attractions at the ‘64 Fair with a daily average of 1,400 people taking advantage of its 9 minute simulated helicopter ride around the City.
After the Fair the Panorama remained open to the public, its originally planned use as an urban planning tool seemingly forgotten. Until 1970 all of the changes in the City were accurately recreated in the model by Lester’s team. After 1970 very few changes were made until 1992, when again Lester Associates changed over 60,000 structures to bring it up-to-date.
In the Spring of 2009 the Museum launched its Adopt-A-Building program with the installation of the Panorama’s newest addition, Citi Field, to continue for the ongoing care and maintenance of this beloved treasure.
The Queens Museum of Art has a program giving you the opportunity to “purchase” NYC real estate on The Panorama of the City of New York for as low as $50. To learn how you can become involved click here.
We hope that you will take time to enjoy the Panorama of the City of New York.
The Panorama of the City of New York is sponsored by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and New York State Assembly members Mike Gianaris, Mark Weprin, Audrey Pheffer, Nettie Mayersohn and Ivan Lafayette, The New York Mets Foundation and the supporters of the Adopt-A-Building Program.
View the winning pictures from our Gala 2011 Panorama Picture Contest!
View pictures from our Gala 2011 Photo booth, May 12, 2011!
View pictures of the Panorama on its Flickr page
Add your own pictures to our Panorama Flickr Group!
⁂
Quoting now from The Panorama section in Wikipedia’s Queens Museum of Art article:
The best known permanent exhibition at the Queens Museum is the Panorama of the City of New York which was commissioned by Robert Moses for the 1964 World’s Fair. A celebration of the City’s municipal infrastructure, this 9,335-square-foot (867.2 m2) architectural model includes every single building constructed before 1992 in all five boroughs; that is a total of 895,000 individual structures. The Panorama was built by a team of 100 people working for the architectural model makers Raymond Lester Associates in the three years before the opening of the 1964 World’s Fair. The Panorama was one of the most successful attractions at the ’64 Fair with a daily average of 1,400 people taking advantage of its 9 minute simulated helicopter ride around the City. After the Fair the Panorama remained open to the public and until 1970 all of the changes in the City were accurately recreated in the model by Lester’s team. After 1970 very few changes were made until 1992, when again Lester Associates was hired to update the model to coincide with the re-opening of the museum. The model makers changed over 60,000 structures to bring it up-to-date.
In March 2009 the museum announced the intention to update the panorama on an ongoing basis. To raise funds and draw public attention the museum will allow individuals and developers to have accurate models made of buildings newer than the 1992 update created and added in exchange for a donation. Accurate models of smaller apartment buildings and private homes, now represented by generic models, can also be added. The twin towers of the World Trade Center will be replaced when the new buildings are created, the museum has chosen to allow them to remain until construction is complete rather than representing an empty hole. The first new buildings to be added was the new Citi Field stadium of the New York Mets. The model of the old Shea Stadium will continue to be displayed elsewhere in the museum.
⁂
Quoting now from the explanatory sign at the exhibit:
THE PANORAMA OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK
The Panorama of the City of New York, the world's largest scale model of its time, was the creation of Robert Moses and Raymond Lester. Presented in the New York City Pavilion as the city’s premiere exhibit at the 1964/65 New York World’s Fair, it was intended afterwards to serve as an urban planning tool. Visitors experienced the Panorama from a simulated “helicopter” ride that travelled around perimeter or from a glass-enclosed balcony on the second floor, while news commentator Lowell Thomas provided audio commentary on “The City of Opportunity.” One of the “helicopter” cars is now on view in the Museum’s permanent exhibition, A Panoramic View: A History of the New York City Building and Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
Constructed at the Lester Associates workshop in Westchester, New York, the Panorama contains 273 separate sections, many of which are four-by-ten-foot rectangular panels. They are composed of Formica flakeboard topped with urethane foam slabs from which the typography was carved. Lester Associates’ staff consulted geological survey maps, aerial photographs, and books of City insurance maps, to accurately render the City’s streets, highways, parks, and buildings. Once the Panorama’s modules were completed at Lester Associates’ workshop, they were assembled on site in the New York City Building. It took more than 100 workers, three years to complete the model.
Built on a sale of 1:1,200 (1 inch equals 100 feet), the Panorama occupies 9.335 square feet and accurately replicates New York City including all 320 square miles of its five boroughs and 771 miles of shoreline, as well as the built environment. It includes miniature cars, boats, and an airplane landing and taking off at LaGuardia Airport.
The majority of the City’s buildings are presented by standardized model units made from wood and acrylic. Of more than 895,000 individual structures, 25,000 are custom-made to approximate landmarks such as skyscrapers, large factories, colleges, museums, and major churches. The amount of detail possible on most buildings is limited; at a scale of 1 inch to 100 feet, the model of the Empire State Building measures only 15 inches. The most accurate structures on the Panorama are its 35 major bridges, which are finely made of brass and shaped by a chemical milling process.
The model is color coded to indicate various types of land use. The dark green areas are parks. Parkways are also edged in dark green. Mint green sections are related to transportation including train and bus terminals. The pink rectangles that dot the City show the locations of recreational areas including playgrounds and tennis and basketball courts. Clusters of red buildings are indicative of publicly subsidized housing.
Red, blue, green, yellow, and white colored lights were installed on the surface of the Panorama in 1964 to identify structures housing City agencies relating to protection, education, health, recreation, commerce, welfare, and transportation. Overhead lights have been designed to run in a dawn to dusk cycle, and the nighttime effect is enhanced by ultraviolet paint, illuminated by blacklight.
In 1992, the City began a renovation of the Queens Museum of Art and the Panorama. Using their original techniques, Lester Associates updated the Panorama with 60,000 changes. In the current instalation, designed by Rafael Viñoly Architects, visitors follow the course of the original “helicopter” ride on an ascending ramp that enables them to experience the Panorama of the City of New York from Multiple Perspectives.
new pix to the kramat of sheik yussuf of macassar
faure/macassar, western cape- kramat of sheikh yussuf
A Kramat is a shrine or mausoleum that has been built over the burial place of a Muslim who's particular piety and practice of the teachings of Islam is recognised by the community. I have been engaged in documenting these sites around Cape Town over several visits at different times over the last few years. They range widely from graves marked by an edge of stones to more elaborate tombs sheltered by buildings of various styles. They are cultural markers that speak of a culture was shaped by life at the Cape and that infuses Cape Town at large.
In my searches used the guide put out by the Cape Masaar Society as a basic guide to locate some recognised sites. Even so some were not that easy to find.
In the context of the Muslims at the Cape, historically the kramats represented places of focus for the faithful and were/are often places of local pilgrimage. When the Dutch and the VOC (United East India Company aka Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie) set up a refuelling station and a settlement at the Cape, Muslims from their territories in the East Indies and Batavia were with them from the start as soldiers, slaves and 'Vryswarten'; (freemen). As the settlement established itself as a colony the Cape became a useful place to banish political opponents from the heart of their eastern empire. Some exiles were of royal lineage and there were also scholars amongst them. One of the most well known of these exiles was Sheik Yusuf who was cordially received by Govenor van der Stel as befitted his rank (he and his entourage where eventually housed on an estate away from the main settlement so that he was less likely to have an influence over the local population), others were imprisoned for a time both in Cape Town and on Robben island. It is said that the first Koran in the Cape was first written out from memory by Sheik Yusuf after his arrival. There were several Islamic scholars in his retinue and these men encouraged something of an Islamic revival amoung the isolated community. Their influence over the enslaved “Malay” population who were already nominally Muslim was considerable and through the ministrations of other teachers to the underclasses the influence of Islam became quite marked. As political opponents to the governing powers the teachers became focus points for escaped slaves in the outlying areas.
Under the VOC it was forbidden to practice any other faith other than Christianity in public which meant that there was no provision for mosques or madrasas. The faith was maintained informally until the end of the C18th when plans were made for the first mosque and promises of land to be granted for a specific burial ground in the Bo Kaap were given in negotiations for support against an imminent British invasion. These promises were honoured by the British after their victory.
There is talk of a prophecy of a protective circle of Islam that would surround Cape Town. I cannot find the specifics of this prophecy but the 27 kramats of the “Auliyah” or friends of Allah, as these honoured individuals are known, do form a loose circle of saints. Some of the Auliyah are credited with miraculous powers in legends that speak of their life and works. Within the folk tradition some are believed to be able to intercede on behalf of supplicants (even though this more part of a mystical philosophy (keramat) and is not strictly accepted in mainstream contemporary Islamic teaching) and even today some visitors may offer special prayers at their grave sites in much the same way as Christians might direct prayer at the shrine of a particular saint.
photographer's note-
sheikh yussuf was the brother of the king of Goa (Gowa) with it's capital of Makassar. yussuf fought in battles against the Dutch and was eventually captured. he was transferred to the cape of good hope in 1693. he died in 1699. he had 2 wives, 2 concubines, 12 children and 14 male and female slaves.
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Die Kramat van Sjeg Yusuf, Faure
Die Kramat1 van Sjeg Yusuf (Abadin Tadia Tjoessoep)2 op 'n klein heuwel naby die mond van die Eersterivier in Makassar, Faure, is 'n terrein waarheen Kaapse Moslems oor die laaste drie eeue pelgrimstogte onderneem. Yusuf is op 23 April 1699 oorlede en op die heuwel begrawe. Volgens predikant en skrywer, Francois Valentyn (1666-1727), wat sy graf in 1705 besoek het, was dit "een cierlyke Mohammedaansch tombe, wat van zeer hoog opgezette steenen, verheerlykt was".3 Dit is nie heeltemal duidelik of hy van 'n hoog opgeboude graf of 'n struktuur daaroor praat nie.
Dié tombe moes mettertyd veranderings en verbouings het en volgens Biskop Patrick Griffith (1798-1862) wat dit meer as 'n eeu later op 25 Januarie 1839 besoek het, het dit heel anders daar uitgesien...
and proceeded to a Mr Cloete's where we took horses and road (sic) to a Malay Mosque [i.e. the kramat] situated on the summit of a hill, to which we ascended by a rude Stone Stair Case, rather Circular and partly cut out of Limestone rock, by an hundred steps. We left our horses below tied to the door of a Caravansery where the Pilgrims who come every year from Cape Town and all around, lodge while they go thro' their devotions. Both Lodging House and Mosque are at present deserted and we cd. only see the Exterior of both. The Mosque has a small Mineret (sic) in the centre and contains the Tomb of some Prince and Priest of the Sect. The Building is square and low with a portico: the windows are screened within and all that could be seen through some chinks in the walls was some drapery. A curious sight, however, exists outside: graves covered with white Clothes, five or six of which graves are enclosed together with a low wall round them; two or three more are apart; each has a round black stone at the head round which a Malay handkerchief is tied, with another black stone at foot, represents the feet, so that with the white sheet over the body, one wd. imagine at first view that it was a corpse was directly before him, the representation of it is so like reality. These White cloths (of calico) are renewed every year and we found some sixty or more rotten ones under each of the last white Coverings."1
Die terrein is in 1862 deur die imam van die Jamia-moskee in Chiappinistraat, Abdol Wahab, aangekoop,5 maar die gebou het tot vroeg in die 20ste eeu bewaar gebly, hoewel dit by verskeie geleenthede klein veranderings en herstelwerk moes ondergaan het.
Die Oostenrykse wetenskaplike, diplomaat en ontdekkingsreisiger, Karl Ritter von Scherzer (1821-1903) het die Kaap in Oktober 1857 aan boord die Novara, op 'n omseilingstog van die wêreld, aangedoen. Hy het die volgende waardevolle beskrywing, deurdrenk met sy eie voor- en afkeure, nagelaat:
"The following morning we drove to a hill, ahout a mile and a half distant from Zandvliet, known as Macassar Downs, on which is the spot of interment, (Krammat or Brammat), of a Malay prophet.
This individual, so honoured in death, was, if we are to believe the Malays, a direct descendant of Mahomet, named Sheikh Joseph, who, expelled from Batavia by the Dutch Government for political reasons, settled in the colony about a century and a half ago, and died and was buried in the neighbourhood of Zandvliet. An especial deputation came over from Malacca to Cape Colony to fetch away the corpse of the defunct prophet, for conveyance to the land of his birth; but at the disinterment it happened that the little finger of the prophet, in spite of the most persevering research, could nowhere be found. This circumstance appeared to those simple believers sufficient reason for erecting a monument over the spot in which the finger of a Malay prophet lay hid from view. Even to this day the Malays from time to time perform a pilgrimage to the Colony and celebrate their religious ceremonies at the Mausoleum. Four followers of the prophet are buried with him, two of them Mahometan priests, who are regarded with much veneration by the Malays.
An extensive flight of stone steps leads to the tomb, the exterior of which is very insignificant, and, but for a small pointed turret, hardly differs from an ordinary dwelling-house. On entering, a low-roofed vault is visible, a sort of front outhouse, which rather disfigures the facade, and much more resembles a cellar than the portal of a Mausoleum. Above the arch of this vault an Arabic inscription has been engraved with a stylus but this is so painted over in brick colour that it has already become almost illegible. Judging by the few words that have been deciphered, it seems to consist of the first propositions of the Koran.
The inner room, provided on two sides with modern glazed windows at irregular intervals, is about the size of an ordinary room of 12 feet long, 9 wide, and 7 high (3.66m long, 2.74 wide, and 2.13 high). In the middle rises the monument, to which access is had by some more brick steps. Immense quantities of unwashed white linen cloth are heaped upon it, which seem occasionally sprinkled with a brown odoriferous liquid (dupa). As at the head of Sheikh Joseph, so at his feet several figures, resembling those in enamel used to ornament tarts, are drawn upon the linen cloth with the overflowings of the unguent. These have undoubtedly been formed accidentally, and it appears wrong and unfair to attribute to them any more recondite significance. The monument rests upon four wooden pillars, with pyramidal pinnacles or ornaments, and is richly decorated with fine white muslin, which gives to the whole very much the appearance of an old-fashioned English "fourposter," with its costly drapery and curtains. While the curtains are spread out all around, several small green and white bannerets stand at the upper and lower end of the sarcophagus. The whole interior is, as it were, impregnated with the incense which devout Malay pilgrims from time to time burn here, especially after the forty days' fast (Ramadan), or leave behind upon the steps of the tomb in flasks or in paper-boxes. On such occasions, they always bring wax-candles and linen cloth as an offering, with the latter of which they deck the tomb afresh, so that a perfect mountain of white linen rises above the stone floor. During their devotions they unceasingly kiss this white mass of stuff, and as they are continually chewing tobacco, this filthy habit produces disgustingly loathsome stains.
On the same hill which boasts the tomb of Sheikh Joseph, there are also, in ground that is common property, nine other graves of eminent Malays, enclosed with carefully-selected stones, and likewise covered over with large broad strips of bleached linen cloth, protected by stones from any injury by weather or violence. At the head and foot of each individual interred, is a single stone of larger size. Formerly the black inhabitants of the neighbourhood made use of this store of linen cloth to make shirts for themselves, without further thought upon the propriety of the matter. Latterly, however, a shrewd Malay priest spread a report that one of these ebony linen stealers had lost all the fingers off one hand, since which the graves of those departed worthies remain inviolate and unprofaned.
At the foot of the hill are some small half-fallen-in buildings, near a large hall, painted white, red, and yellow, consisting of a small apartment and a kitchen, the whole in a most dirty, neglected, and desolate condition. At this point the Moslems must have accomplished certain prayers, before they can climb the hill and proceed to visit the tomb. Over the door of this singular house of prayer some words are likewise engraved in the Arabic character, which, however, are now entirely illegible.
On quitting the Malay Krammat, we next undertook a tolerably difficult walk to the Downs or sand-dunes, which at this point extend along the entire coast line, on which the wax-berry shrub, as already mentioned, grows wild in vast quantities, and visibly prevents the further encroachments of the moving sand. The Eerst Rivier (First River) may be regarded as the limit of demarcation between the sand-dunes and the soil adapted for vegetation."6
'n Britse joernalis en historikus, Ian Duncan Colvin (1877-1938), beskryf sy besoek aan die Kramat vyftig jaar later in die begin van die 20ste eeu:
"It was in springtime that we made the pilgrimage, in October, the springtime of the south... We passed through cow-scented pasture and the cornlands of Zandvliet, and so towards the sea, guided by the white star of the tomb.
It stands upon a sandstone rock which the Eerste River bends round on its way to the sea, and you can hear the breakers roaring, though unseen behind the sand-dunes. A little wooden bridge crosses the river beside the drift... On the farther side the little hill rises steeply, and under it nestles a row of very ancient and dilapidated cottages. One of them is used as a stable by the pilgrims and another as a mosque, and upon its porch you will see a little notice in English that 'women are not allowed inside the church', a warning signed with all the weight and authority of the late Haji Abdul Kalil... Inside, this little chapel is touchingly primitive and simple, with blue sky showing through the thatched roof, and a martin's nest plastered on the ceiling of the little alcove. Between these cottages and the stream is a field of sweet marjoram, no doubt grown for the service of the shrine, and the way up the hill is made easy by a flight of steps build perhaps centuries ago, and ruinous with age. With their white balustrades, and overgrown as they are with grass and wild-flowers, they are very beautiful, and in pilgrimage-time we may suppose them bright with Malays ascending and descending. We mounted them to the top, where they open on a little courtyard roughly paved and encinctured by a low white wall. On the farther side, opposite the top of the stairs, is the tomb itself, a little white building with an archway leading into a porch. Beyond is a door, of the sort common in Cape farm-houses, divided into two across the middle. Of course, we did not dare to open it and peep inside; but I am told by a Mahomedan friend that the inner tomb is of white stucco with four pillars of a pleasant design. It is upholstered in bright-coloured plush, and copies of the Koran lie open upon it. The inside of the room is papered in the best Malay fashion, and over the window is a veil of tinselled green gauze. From the roof several ostrich eggs hang on strings, and altogether it is the gayest and brightest little shrine. The ostrich eggs hanging on their strings made me think of a much more splendid tomb which Akbar, the first greatest of the Moguls, build for his friend Selim Chisti, a humble ascetic, in the centre of the mosque at Fatehpur Sikri.7 If any of my readers have made a pilgrimage to that wonderful deserted city, they will remember the tomb build of fretted marble, white and delicate as lace, in the centre of the great silent mosque of red sandstone – surely the finest testimonial to disinterested and spiritual friendship that exists in the world. And, if they look inside, they will recollect that around the inner shrine of mother o’pearl hang ostrich eggs just as they hang in Sheik Joseph’s tomb on the Cape Flats. But this digression is only to show that the Malay of Cape Town knows what is proper to the ornamentation of kramats. The shrine is tended with pious care, kept clean and white by the good Malays – a people of whom it may be said truly that they hold cleanliness as a virtue next to godliness."8
Hierdie beskrywing kom ooreen met dié van Scherzer en 'n foto in die Elliot-versameling in die Kaapse argief. Die minaret wat deur Biskop Griffith genoem en deur Scherzer geïllustreer is, en moontlik van hout gemaak was, het intussen verdwyn.
In 1925 het die Indiese filantroop, Hadji Sulaiman Sjah Mohamed Ali, opdrag vir 'n nuwe tombe gegee en is die huidige vierkantige en gekoepelde Moghul- of Delhi-inspireerde struktuur opgerig. Die argitek was F.K. KENDALL wat van 1896 tot 1918 in vennootskap met Herbert BAKER praktiseer het.
Die kramat vorm deel van die sogenaamde beskermende "Heilige Sirkel van Islam" wat strek van die kramatte teen die hange van Seinheuwel bo die klipgroef waar die eerste openbare Moslemgebede aan die Kaap gehou is, deur die kramatte op die rug van die heuwel en die kramat van Sjeg Noorul Mubeen by Oudekraal, en om die berg na die kramatte van Constantia, Faure, Robbeneiland, terug na Seinheuwel.
Sjeg Yusuf van Makassar (1626-1699)
Sjeg Yusuf (Abadin Tadia Tjoesoep) is in 1626 te Gowa by Makassar (Mangkasara), op die suidwestelike punt van die Sulawesi-eiland (voorheen Celebes) langs die Straat van Makassar, gebore. Toe die Portugese dit vroeg in die sestiende eeu bereik het, was dit 'n besige handelshawe waar Arabiese, Indiese, Javaanse, Maleise Siamese en Chinese skepe aangedoen en hulle produkte geruil en verkoop het. Met die koms van die Nederlanders, wat die speseryhandel wou monopoliseer en Britse deelname daaraan wou stuit, is die tradisie van vrye handel aan die begin van die 17de eeu omvergewerp. Nadat hulle die fort van Makassar ingeneem het, is dit herbou en as Fort Rotterdam herdoop. Van hier het hulle die vestings van die Sultan van Gowa geteiken.
Toe hy agtien jaar oud was, het Yusuf op 'n pelgrims- en studietog na Mekka vertrek waar hy verskeie jare deurgebring het. Met sy terugkeer het hy die Nederlanders in Makassar vermy en hom in Bantam in Wes-Java aan die hof van Sultan Ageng (Abulfatah Agung, 1631-1695) as onderwyser en geestelike rigter gevestig. Hy het die sultan se seuns onderrig en met een van sy dogters getrou. Hy was deeglik in die Shari'ah (Moslem kode en godsdienstige wet) onderlê en diep betrokke by die mistieke aspekte van sy geloof met die gevolg dat sy reputasie as 'n vrome persoon en heilige kenner en geleerde vinnig versprei het.
Hoewel die Nederlanders die handel op Java beheer het, het Bantam 'n sterk mate van onafhanklikheid behou. Yusuf was 'n vurige teenstander van die VOC en het en ook 'n rebellie teen die Europeërs gelei toe 'n ouer vredesooreenkoms tussen hulle in 1656 gebreek is. 'n Nuwe ooreenkoms is in 1659 bereik, maar 'n interne tweestryd in die Sultanaat het in die VOC se kraam gepas. Die sultan se seun, later as Sultan Hadji bekend, het met die hulle saamgespan teen sy vader en jonger broer wat voorkeur aan die Britse en Deense handelaars gegee het. Die breuk het in 1680 gekom toe Ageng oorlog teen Batavia (Jakarta) verklaar het. Hadji het 'n opstand teen sy vader gelei wat Ageng tot sy woning beperk het. Hoewel sy volgelinge teruggeveg het, het die Nederlanders Hadji te hulp gesnel en is Ageng na die hooglande verdryf waar hy in Maart 1683 oorgegee het. Hierna is hy na Batavia geneem waar hy oorlede is.
Yusuf het die verset voortgesit en is eers teen die einde van 1683 gevange geneem waarna hy ook na Batavia geneem is. Sy invloed in die Moslemgemeenskap van die VOC se hoofkwartier in die Ooste, waar hy as heilige vereer is, asook die aandrang op sy vrystelling deur die vorste van Gowa (Makassar) – wat toe bondgenote van die VOC was – het daartoe gelei dat Yusuf en sy gevolg eers na Ceylon (Sri Lanka) en daarna na die Kaap verban is. Sjeg Yusuf en sy "aanhang", soos in die notules van die Politieke Raad aangedui is, het op 31 Maart 1694 aan boord die Voetboog in Tafelbaai aangekom. Hier is hulle gul deur goewerneur Simon van der Stel ontvang, maar in die Kasteel gehou totdat daar in Junie besluit is om hulle na die mond van die Eersterivier, wat oor die plaas Zandvliet van ds P. Kalden uitgekyk het, te stuur.9
Hier in die duine, wat later as Makassar en Makassarstrand bekend sou word, het Yusuf en sy gevolg hulle gevestig. Volgens oorlewering was dit die eerste sentrum van Islam en Islamitiese onderrig in Suid-Afrika en het die terrein 'n sakrosante ereplek gebly na Yusuf se afsterwe op 23 April 1699 en sy begrafnis op die heuwel. Hoewel sommige skrywers nie oortuig is dat ook Yusuf se oorskot na die Ooste terug is nie, argumenteer André van Rensburg dat dit wel gebeur het.
"Hoewel 'n aanvanklike versoek van 31 Desember 1701 dat Yusuf se oorskot opgegrawe en na Indonesië gestuur word, geweier is, is in 'n verslag van 26 Februarie 1703 deur die Here XVII gelas dat die sjeg se naasbestaandes en sy oorskot na Indonesië weggebring moes word.
Op 26 Februarie 1704 het die amptelike geskrewe instruksies van die VOC in die Kaap aangekom. Die weduwee van Yusuf, hul jong kinders en ander lede van sy gevolg moes toegelaat word om na Indonesië terug te keer.
Daar is ook bepaal dat die oorskot van Yusuf onopsigtelik opgegrawe moes word sodat die naasbestaandes dit kon saamneem. Voorsorg moes egter getref word dat ander Oosterse bannelinge nie ontsnap deur voor te gee dat hulle naasbestaandes van sjeg Yusuf is nie."10
Die gevolg van Sjeg Yusuf het op 5 Oktober 1704 aan boord van De Spiegel uit Tafelbaai met sy oorskot vertrek en op 10 Desember in Batavia anker gegooi. Hierna is sy hulle na Makassar waar sy oorskot op 6 April 1705 op Lakiung in Ujung Pandang herbegrawe is. Bo-oor Yusuf se nuwe graf is 'n kramat of ko'bang deur die Chinese bouer Dju Kian Kiu opgerig. Ook hierdie Kramat word druk deur pelgrims besoek.
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Kramat is die algemeen Kaapse term vir die tombe van 'n [Moslem] heilige of Wali van Allah; in Urdu verwys karamat of keramat na die wonderwerking van 'n heilige, soms word dit ook as sinoniem vir heilige gebruik.
Die meer algemeen gebruikte spelling word hier in plaas van die erkende Afrikaanse "Joesoef" gebruik.
Raidt, E.H. 1971. François Valentyn Beshryvinge van de Kaap der Goede Hoop met de zaaken daar toe behoorende. Kaapstad: Van Riebeeck Vereniging, Vol. 1, p. 198.
Brain, J.S. (ed.). 1988. The Cape diary of bishop Patrick Raymond Griffith for the years 1837-1839. Cape Town: Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference, pp. 189-90.
Aktekantoor, Kaapstad, Akte 6/3/1862, no. 121.
Scherzer, K. 1861. Narrative of the circumnavigation of the globe by the Austrian frigate Novara, (commodore b. Von Wullerstorf-Urbair,): undertaken by order of the imperial government, in the years l857,1858, & 1859. London: Saunders, Otley & Co, pp. 244-248.
Seremoniële hoofstad [Fatehpur = stad van oorwinning] van 1569 tot 1574 deur die Mughale Keiser Akbar (1542-1605) by Sikri, die hermitage van sy spirituele gids, Sjeg Salim Chisti, opgerig. Die tombe wat deur Colvin beskryf word, is deur Shah Jahan (1592-1666) herbou.
Colvin, I.D. 1909. Romance of Empire, South Africa. London: TC & EL Jack, pp. 16168.
Böeseken, A.J. 1961. Resolusies van die Politieke Raad III 1681-1707. Kaapstad: Argiefkomitee, p. 283 (14.06.1694).
Van Rensburg, A. & Van Bart, M. 2004. Waar rus Sjeg Yusuf: van die Kaap tot in Makassar. Kultuurkroniek, Bylae by Die Burger, 10 Julie, pp. 12-13
Van Rensburg, A. & Van Bart, M. 2004. Waar rus Sjeg Yusuf: van die Kaap tot in Makassar. Kultuurkroniek, Bylae by Die Burger, 10 Julie, p.13.
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Schalk W le Roux, Gordonsbaai, Februarie 2013
See also Van Bart, M. & Van Rensburg A.
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Wording on Minaret:
IN MEMORY OF
SHEIKH YUSUF
MARTYR & HERO
OF BANTAM
1629 - 1699
THIS MINARET
WAS ERECTED BY
HAJEE SULLAIMAN
SHAHMAHOMED
IN THE REIGN OF
KING GEORGE V
MAY 1925
_____________________
THIS MEMORIAL WAS UNVEILED
19TH DECEMBER 1925 BY
SIR FREDERIC DE WAAL
KCMG:LLD:FIRST ADMINISTRATOR
OF THE CAPE PROVINCE
IN THE YEAR WHEN THIS
DISTRICT WAS VISITED BY
HIS ROYAL HIGNESS
THE PRINCE OF WALES
4TH MAY 1925
_____________________
THE "DARGAN" OF ASHBAT
[COMPANIONS] OF SAINT SHEIKH YUSSUF
[GALERAN TUANSE] OF MACASSAR.
_____
HERE LIE THE REMAINS OF FOUR OF FORTY-NINE
FAITHFUL FOLLOWERS WHO AFTER SERVING
IN THE BANTAM WAR OF 1682-83, ARRIVED WITH
SHEIKH YUSSUF AT THE CAPE FROM CEYLON,
IN THE SHIP "VOETBOOG" IN THE YEAR 1694.
_____
THIS COMMEMORATION TABLET WAS ERECTED
DURING THE GREAT WAR ON 8 JANUARY 1918.
BY HAJEE SULLAIMAN SHAHMAHOMED.
SENIOR TRUSTEE.
Wording on plaque:
PRESIDENT SOEHARTO
OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
VISITED THIS SHRINE ON 21 NOVEMBER 1997
TO PAY RESPECT TO THE LATE SHEIKH YUSSUF OF
MACASSAR UPON WHOM THE TITLE OF NATIONAL
HERO WAS CONFERRED BY THE INDONESIAN GOVERNMENT
ON 7 AUGUST 1995
Writings about this Kramat of Sheikh Yusuf
Davids, Achmat. 1980. The Mosques of Bo-Kaap - A social history of Islam at the Cape. Athlone, Cape: The South African Institute of Arabic and Islamic Research. pp 37-40.
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De Bosdari, C. 1971. Cape Dutch Houses and Farms. Cape Town: AA Balkema. pp 73.
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De Kock, WJ. 1976. Suid-Afrikaanse biografiese woordeboek : Deel 1. Kaapstad: RGN/Tafelberg. pp 429-430.
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Du Plessis, Izak David. 1944. The Cape Malays. Cape Town: Maskew Miller. pp 4-7.
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Jaffer, M. 2001. Guide to the Kramats of the Western Cape. Cape Town: Cape Mazaar (Kramat) Society. pp 17-19.
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Jaffer, Mansoor. 1996. Guide to the Kramats of the Western Cape. Cape Town: Cape Mazaar Kramat Society. pp 17.
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Le Roux, SW. 1992. Vormgewende invloede op die ontwikkeling van moskee-argitektuur binne die Heilige Sirkel aan die Kaap tot 1950 . Pretoria: PhD-verhandeling: Universiteit van Pretoria. pp 201-202.
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Oxley, John. 1992. Places of Worship in South Africa. Halfway House: Southern Book Publishers. pp 63-64.
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Potgieter, DJ (Editor-in-chief). 1975. Standard Encyclopaedia of South Africa [SESA] Volume 11 Tur-Zwe. Cape Town: Nasou. pp 567.
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Potgieter, DJ (Editor-in-chief). 1972. Standard Encyclopaedia of South Africa [SESA] Volume 6 Hun-Lit. Cape Town: Nasou. pp 454-455.
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Rhoda, E. 2010. Hajee Sullaiman Shahmahomed and the shrine of Shayk Yusuf of Macassar at Faure. : Unpublished manuscript.
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Van Selms, A. Joesoef, Sjeik: in De Kock, WJ. 1976. Suid-Afrikaanse biografiese woordeboek : Deel 1: pp 429-430
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Shaykh Yusuf was born at Macassar in 1626. He was also known as Abadin Tadia Tjoessoep. He was of noble birth, a maternal nephew of King Biset of Goa. He studied in Arabia under the tutelage of several pious teachers.
When Shaykh Yusuf arrives at the Cape, on the Voetboeg, he was royally welcomed by Governor Simon van de Stel. His Indonesian background necessitated that he and his 49 followers be settled well away from Cape Town. They were housed on the farm Zandvliet, near the mouth of the Eeste River, in the general area now called Macassar. He received an allowance of 12rix dollars from the Cape authorities for support of himself and his party. At Zandvliet Shaykh Yusuf’s settlement soon became a sanctuary for fugitive slaves. It was here that the first cohesive Muslim community in S.A. was established. The first settlement of Muslims in South Africa was a vibrant one, despite its isolation. It was from here that the message of Islam was disseminated to the slave community living in Cape Town. When Shaykh Yusuf died on 23 May 1699, he was buried on the hill overlooking Macassar at Faure. A shrine was constructed over his grave. Over the years this shrine has been rebuilt and renewed. Today it remains a place of pilgrimage.
“I see that you guys are like a separate group on this bench. You are not part of the same group up there by the monument. Are you homeless?”
“Yeah. You see, here is where all the young people hang out, all the people who are homeless. Every one one of them who was up there before it started to rain is homeless. Maybe one or two are not. Out of 30 or 40.”
“Really? I always thought that they were just high school or college kids, or just young people who like to hang out there, chat and go home.”
“No, they are homeless. They just don’t look homeless, because here…like New York, they have a lot more travellers so you can tell…Even though they may seem older but they are young. Like a lot of the traveller kids are anywhere from 16 to 20.
“”When you say ‘traveller’you mean that they might go to Florida, stay there for awhile, then Colorado, then…”
“Yeah. We travel, but we don’t travel as far. We just came back from New York. But we don’t travel in the same way. Like we would..we work up enough money in order to travel comfortably. I wanna travel like, you know, the way some of the others travel just for the experience of it, because I know it’s sort of a different homelessness experience, but I prefer right now this. I know that something I wanna do is actually go out and be out there, actually out there the same way—train hopping and stuff, get a little dirty for awhile. And that’s just to experience it. I am young so I can still do it. The older you get, the harder it’s gonna be, either due to health issues or because you are just not able to get out of that rut. At a certain age you just can’t get out.”
“Ok, but aren’t you afraid that, if you try it, because that lifestyle is more adventurous, you might find yourself liking it a lot, and thinking that it’s all you wanna do? That this is the truth and the everything else—society and all—is fake?’
I think about it a lot. Because we live outside of society. And certain parts of society just couldn’t accept us. This is why we stick together and we see it as a way to connect with other people who are similar to us. We don’t only wanna be normal. What is ‘normal’? If you take away the definition of ‘normal’ then it just doesn’t really matter anymore. Then everybody is normal. Everybody. There is no ‘ok, this person is normal and this person is not, because they don’t fit society’s standards.’ For most of my life, at least with my family, I didn’t fit with their views. I was able to hang out with every single group of people, because I don’t fit anyone’s strict stereotype. I can talk to everyone. I can be friends with anyone. I am not like ‘Oh, this guy’s a poser, because he doesn’t do this. Or this guy’s more real because he does this. Because I can just accept people for who they really are. And not everyone can do this. Which is where a lot of judgment comes from. In New York, when you sit on the sidewalk, or you’re sitting on a bench, or when…Like here you can tell which people are homeless, if you have money, because they are just not like that. In New York, people don’t even look at you. Like if you sit on the side or panhandle, to try to get a little extra money so you can either eat or go back to another city where you have a little more support from either friends or family, and…people don’t even look at you. At all. The first time I “spanged,’ which is ‘spare change’ put together, I realized that I really am living outside of society right now. I am pretty sure that if my parents knew, actually knew what I was going through, they would be like “Oh, you need to come back home then,’ but I…didn’t really wanna do that, because I have issues with my family.”
“Just one thing…when you say that they don’t look at you, do you mean that they’ve become so accustomed to such scenes that they don’t notice you, or you mean that they don’t give you money, or…”
“No, they literally walk by you. They walk by you in such a way that…it’s a fake way of sort of ignoring people. You can always tell when they’re acting, when they turn their heads ever so slightly, and it’s not a real head turnaway. It’s a very slight turnaway. It’s like I’m right here and they turn slightly that way, as if not to see you. Or they’re wearing headphones. We call them “bum blockers.” But it’s ok, because they wouldn’t be able to hear us any way. You know, ‘Hey, spare change, anything helps, any food, any…’ A lot of people won’t even acknowledge you. At all. In the slightest bit. And there are times when certain people look at you, like, you get on the elevator, and ok, you haven’t been able to shower, because you didn’t get to go to the drop-in center, which is a place where you can wash your clothes, get a shower and get a hot meal, and…they look at you, and it’s such a look of disgust that I’ve rarely had people look at me like that. I’ve been in a few situations in my life, where it seemed like a person hated me. And…those people had a reason. When I was sometimes in New York, those people had no reason to look as they should hate me, and they gave me such a look…But I can accept that, because as a person, I know that they won’t understand, because they just don’t see the world the way I see it. I can understand them, because I can put myself in their shoes. And half the time I’ve been in their shoes, because I didn’t grow up in a ghetto. A lot of the kids around here have been poor all their lives. I haven’t been poor all my life.”
“Can I ask you something? If someone were to offer you a job in a store or somewhere else, 9 to 5, or 12 to 10, that doesn’t pay a lot, but it’s enough to rent a small apartment and just get by, would you take that, or do you think that it’s not the life you want, or you are smarter than that, or we need a more fundamental social change or a re-evaluation of our lifestyle or…?”
“It would have to pay an extraordinary amount of money. Only because I don’t want that. I want to live my life the way I think I should live my life and not the way other people think I should live it. If they offer you a job it’s because they want you to live that ‘normal,’ what they would ‘normal’ 9 to 5 life. And I don’t see that as normal. Most of your time is spent working. You spend a third of your life working, a third sleeping, and that only leaves you a third to actually do stuff.”
“Actually, many people, especially in large cities, have 2 or more jobs. I’ve had different jobs working 100 hours a week.”
“Wow, yeah, well…so you understand what that’s like. I’ve had three jobs before. That was when I was living with my family. And I still didn’t really have money. The main reason was that I was wasting on stuff, but the fact of the matter is that I didn’t have time to do anything else. I stopped martial arts at that time. I had been doing martial arts for most of my life. I actually turned to parkour because tai chi and kickboxing were expensive. I can do parkour without any money. All I need are the shoes on my feet. I can actually do it barefoot… All I need is a pair of underwear, because I’m pretty sure that society doesn’t want me running around naked.”
“Do you think that there is a common thread in the stories of most of the kids around here? Do most come from broken families? Is there another common factor? Are they all individual stories?”
“They are all individual stories, but most come from sadder backgrounds. I know a few that come from very sad backgrounds. I am one of the few that doesn’t come from a sad background. Some choose to leave, the same way I did. I moved out on my own, on purpose, with the intent of keeping an apartment, but…it didn’t work out, and I was ok with that. But the fact that I don’t want to go back puts me on the same path with many of those kids. But many of them were abused, or had really bad lives. But…I deserve better than this. I’m not gonna let it defeat me. You know, I had it pretty well off, but I felt at times that I didn’t need to be treated certain ways or that…I…I didn’t come from a broken home, but it wasn’t the best of homes, either. It wasn’t the best of times all the time…Ok, we’re gonna start going because it’s raining heavily, but we’re here all the time.”
faure/macassar, western cape- kramat of sheikh yussuf
A Kramat is a shrine or mausoleum that has been built over the burial place of a Muslim who's particular piety and practice of the teachings of Islam is recognised by the community. I have been engaged in documenting these sites around Cape Town over several visits at different times over the last few years. They range widely from graves marked by an edge of stones to more elaborate tombs sheltered by buildings of various styles. They are cultural markers that speak of a culture was shaped by life at the Cape and that infuses Cape Town at large.
In my searches used the guide put out by the Cape Masaar Society as a basic guide to locate some recognised sites. Even so some were not that easy to find.
In the context of the Muslims at the Cape, historically the kramats represented places of focus for the faithful and were/are often places of local pilgrimage. When the Dutch and the VOC (United East India Company aka Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie) set up a refuelling station and a settlement at the Cape, Muslims from their territories in the East Indies and Batavia were with them from the start as soldiers, slaves and 'Vryswarten'; (freemen). As the settlement established itself as a colony the Cape became a useful place to banish political opponents from the heart of their eastern empire. Some exiles were of royal lineage and there were also scholars amongst them. One of the most well known of these exiles was Sheik Yusuf who was cordially received by Govenor van der Stel as befitted his rank (he and his entourage where eventually housed on an estate away from the main settlement so that he was less likely to have an influence over the local population), others were imprisoned for a time both in Cape Town and on Robben island. It is said that the first Koran in the Cape was first written out from memory by Sheik Yusuf after his arrival. There were several Islamic scholars in his retinue and these men encouraged something of an Islamic revival amoung the isolated community. Their influence over the enslaved “Malay” population who were already nominally Muslim was considerable and through the ministrations of other teachers to the underclasses the influence of Islam became quite marked. As political opponents to the governing powers the teachers became focus points for escaped slaves in the outlying areas.
Under the VOC it was forbidden to practice any other faith other than Christianity in public which meant that there was no provision for mosques or madrasas. The faith was maintained informally until the end of the C18th when plans were made for the first mosque and promises of land to be granted for a specific burial ground in the Bo Kaap were given in negotiations for support against an imminent British invasion. These promises were honoured by the British after their victory.
There is talk of a prophecy of a protective circle of Islam that would surround Cape Town. I cannot find the specifics of this prophecy but the 27 kramats of the “Auliyah” or friends of Allah, as these honoured individuals are known, do form a loose circle of saints. Some of the Auliyah are credited with miraculous powers in legends that speak of their life and works. Within the folk tradition some are believed to be able to intercede on behalf of supplicants (even though this more part of a mystical philosophy (keramat) and is not strictly accepted in mainstream contemporary Islamic teaching) and even today some visitors may offer special prayers at their grave sites in much the same way as Christians might direct prayer at the shrine of a particular saint.
photographer's note-
sheikh yussuf was the brother of the king of Goa (Gowa) with it's capital of Makassar. yussuf fought in battles against the Dutch and was eventually captured. he was transferred to the cape of good hope in 1693. he died in 1699. he had 2 wives, 2 concubines, 12 children and 14 male and female slaves.
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Die Kramat van Sjeg Yusuf, Faure
Die Kramat1 van Sjeg Yusuf (Abadin Tadia Tjoessoep)2 op 'n klein heuwel naby die mond van die Eersterivier in Makassar, Faure, is 'n terrein waarheen Kaapse Moslems oor die laaste drie eeue pelgrimstogte onderneem. Yusuf is op 23 April 1699 oorlede en op die heuwel begrawe. Volgens predikant en skrywer, Francois Valentyn (1666-1727), wat sy graf in 1705 besoek het, was dit "een cierlyke Mohammedaansch tombe, wat van zeer hoog opgezette steenen, verheerlykt was".3 Dit is nie heeltemal duidelik of hy van 'n hoog opgeboude graf of 'n struktuur daaroor praat nie.
Dié tombe moes mettertyd veranderings en verbouings het en volgens Biskop Patrick Griffith (1798-1862) wat dit meer as 'n eeu later op 25 Januarie 1839 besoek het, het dit heel anders daar uitgesien...
and proceeded to a Mr Cloete's where we took horses and road (sic) to a Malay Mosque [i.e. the kramat] situated on the summit of a hill, to which we ascended by a rude Stone Stair Case, rather Circular and partly cut out of Limestone rock, by an hundred steps. We left our horses below tied to the door of a Caravansery where the Pilgrims who come every year from Cape Town and all around, lodge while they go thro' their devotions. Both Lodging House and Mosque are at present deserted and we cd. only see the Exterior of both. The Mosque has a small Mineret (sic) in the centre and contains the Tomb of some Prince and Priest of the Sect. The Building is square and low with a portico: the windows are screened within and all that could be seen through some chinks in the walls was some drapery. A curious sight, however, exists outside: graves covered with white Clothes, five or six of which graves are enclosed together with a low wall round them; two or three more are apart; each has a round black stone at the head round which a Malay handkerchief is tied, with another black stone at foot, represents the feet, so that with the white sheet over the body, one wd. imagine at first view that it was a corpse was directly before him, the representation of it is so like reality. These White cloths (of calico) are renewed every year and we found some sixty or more rotten ones under each of the last white Coverings."1
Die terrein is in 1862 deur die imam van die Jamia-moskee in Chiappinistraat, Abdol Wahab, aangekoop,5 maar die gebou het tot vroeg in die 20ste eeu bewaar gebly, hoewel dit by verskeie geleenthede klein veranderings en herstelwerk moes ondergaan het.
Die Oostenrykse wetenskaplike, diplomaat en ontdekkingsreisiger, Karl Ritter von Scherzer (1821-1903) het die Kaap in Oktober 1857 aan boord die Novara, op 'n omseilingstog van die wêreld, aangedoen. Hy het die volgende waardevolle beskrywing, deurdrenk met sy eie voor- en afkeure, nagelaat:
"The following morning we drove to a hill, ahout a mile and a half distant from Zandvliet, known as Macassar Downs, on which is the spot of interment, (Krammat or Brammat), of a Malay prophet.
This individual, so honoured in death, was, if we are to believe the Malays, a direct descendant of Mahomet, named Sheikh Joseph, who, expelled from Batavia by the Dutch Government for political reasons, settled in the colony about a century and a half ago, and died and was buried in the neighbourhood of Zandvliet. An especial deputation came over from Malacca to Cape Colony to fetch away the corpse of the defunct prophet, for conveyance to the land of his birth; but at the disinterment it happened that the little finger of the prophet, in spite of the most persevering research, could nowhere be found. This circumstance appeared to those simple believers sufficient reason for erecting a monument over the spot in which the finger of a Malay prophet lay hid from view. Even to this day the Malays from time to time perform a pilgrimage to the Colony and celebrate their religious ceremonies at the Mausoleum. Four followers of the prophet are buried with him, two of them Mahometan priests, who are regarded with much veneration by the Malays.
An extensive flight of stone steps leads to the tomb, the exterior of which is very insignificant, and, but for a small pointed turret, hardly differs from an ordinary dwelling-house. On entering, a low-roofed vault is visible, a sort of front outhouse, which rather disfigures the facade, and much more resembles a cellar than the portal of a Mausoleum. Above the arch of this vault an Arabic inscription has been engraved with a stylus but this is so painted over in brick colour that it has already become almost illegible. Judging by the few words that have been deciphered, it seems to consist of the first propositions of the Koran.
The inner room, provided on two sides with modern glazed windows at irregular intervals, is about the size of an ordinary room of 12 feet long, 9 wide, and 7 high (3.66m long, 2.74 wide, and 2.13 high). In the middle rises the monument, to which access is had by some more brick steps. Immense quantities of unwashed white linen cloth are heaped upon it, which seem occasionally sprinkled with a brown odoriferous liquid (dupa). As at the head of Sheikh Joseph, so at his feet several figures, resembling those in enamel used to ornament tarts, are drawn upon the linen cloth with the overflowings of the unguent. These have undoubtedly been formed accidentally, and it appears wrong and unfair to attribute to them any more recondite significance. The monument rests upon four wooden pillars, with pyramidal pinnacles or ornaments, and is richly decorated with fine white muslin, which gives to the whole very much the appearance of an old-fashioned English "fourposter," with its costly drapery and curtains. While the curtains are spread out all around, several small green and white bannerets stand at the upper and lower end of the sarcophagus. The whole interior is, as it were, impregnated with the incense which devout Malay pilgrims from time to time burn here, especially after the forty days' fast (Ramadan), or leave behind upon the steps of the tomb in flasks or in paper-boxes. On such occasions, they always bring wax-candles and linen cloth as an offering, with the latter of which they deck the tomb afresh, so that a perfect mountain of white linen rises above the stone floor. During their devotions they unceasingly kiss this white mass of stuff, and as they are continually chewing tobacco, this filthy habit produces disgustingly loathsome stains.
On the same hill which boasts the tomb of Sheikh Joseph, there are also, in ground that is common property, nine other graves of eminent Malays, enclosed with carefully-selected stones, and likewise covered over with large broad strips of bleached linen cloth, protected by stones from any injury by weather or violence. At the head and foot of each individual interred, is a single stone of larger size. Formerly the black inhabitants of the neighbourhood made use of this store of linen cloth to make shirts for themselves, without further thought upon the propriety of the matter. Latterly, however, a shrewd Malay priest spread a report that one of these ebony linen stealers had lost all the fingers off one hand, since which the graves of those departed worthies remain inviolate and unprofaned.
At the foot of the hill are some small half-fallen-in buildings, near a large hall, painted white, red, and yellow, consisting of a small apartment and a kitchen, the whole in a most dirty, neglected, and desolate condition. At this point the Moslems must have accomplished certain prayers, before they can climb the hill and proceed to visit the tomb. Over the door of this singular house of prayer some words are likewise engraved in the Arabic character, which, however, are now entirely illegible.
On quitting the Malay Krammat, we next undertook a tolerably difficult walk to the Downs or sand-dunes, which at this point extend along the entire coast line, on which the wax-berry shrub, as already mentioned, grows wild in vast quantities, and visibly prevents the further encroachments of the moving sand. The Eerst Rivier (First River) may be regarded as the limit of demarcation between the sand-dunes and the soil adapted for vegetation."6
'n Britse joernalis en historikus, Ian Duncan Colvin (1877-1938), beskryf sy besoek aan die Kramat vyftig jaar later in die begin van die 20ste eeu:
"It was in springtime that we made the pilgrimage, in October, the springtime of the south... We passed through cow-scented pasture and the cornlands of Zandvliet, and so towards the sea, guided by the white star of the tomb.
It stands upon a sandstone rock which the Eerste River bends round on its way to the sea, and you can hear the breakers roaring, though unseen behind the sand-dunes. A little wooden bridge crosses the river beside the drift... On the farther side the little hill rises steeply, and under it nestles a row of very ancient and dilapidated cottages. One of them is used as a stable by the pilgrims and another as a mosque, and upon its porch you will see a little notice in English that 'women are not allowed inside the church', a warning signed with all the weight and authority of the late Haji Abdul Kalil... Inside, this little chapel is touchingly primitive and simple, with blue sky showing through the thatched roof, and a martin's nest plastered on the ceiling of the little alcove. Between these cottages and the stream is a field of sweet marjoram, no doubt grown for the service of the shrine, and the way up the hill is made easy by a flight of steps build perhaps centuries ago, and ruinous with age. With their white balustrades, and overgrown as they are with grass and wild-flowers, they are very beautiful, and in pilgrimage-time we may suppose them bright with Malays ascending and descending. We mounted them to the top, where they open on a little courtyard roughly paved and encinctured by a low white wall. On the farther side, opposite the top of the stairs, is the tomb itself, a little white building with an archway leading into a porch. Beyond is a door, of the sort common in Cape farm-houses, divided into two across the middle. Of course, we did not dare to open it and peep inside; but I am told by a Mahomedan friend that the inner tomb is of white stucco with four pillars of a pleasant design. It is upholstered in bright-coloured plush, and copies of the Koran lie open upon it. The inside of the room is papered in the best Malay fashion, and over the window is a veil of tinselled green gauze. From the roof several ostrich eggs hang on strings, and altogether it is the gayest and brightest little shrine. The ostrich eggs hanging on their strings made me think of a much more splendid tomb which Akbar, the first greatest of the Moguls, build for his friend Selim Chisti, a humble ascetic, in the centre of the mosque at Fatehpur Sikri.7 If any of my readers have made a pilgrimage to that wonderful deserted city, they will remember the tomb build of fretted marble, white and delicate as lace, in the centre of the great silent mosque of red sandstone – surely the finest testimonial to disinterested and spiritual friendship that exists in the world. And, if they look inside, they will recollect that around the inner shrine of mother o’pearl hang ostrich eggs just as they hang in Sheik Joseph’s tomb on the Cape Flats. But this digression is only to show that the Malay of Cape Town knows what is proper to the ornamentation of kramats. The shrine is tended with pious care, kept clean and white by the good Malays – a people of whom it may be said truly that they hold cleanliness as a virtue next to godliness."8
Hierdie beskrywing kom ooreen met dié van Scherzer en 'n foto in die Elliot-versameling in die Kaapse argief. Die minaret wat deur Biskop Griffith genoem en deur Scherzer geïllustreer is, en moontlik van hout gemaak was, het intussen verdwyn.
In 1925 het die Indiese filantroop, Hadji Sulaiman Sjah Mohamed Ali, opdrag vir 'n nuwe tombe gegee en is die huidige vierkantige en gekoepelde Moghul- of Delhi-inspireerde struktuur opgerig. Die argitek was F.K. KENDALL wat van 1896 tot 1918 in vennootskap met Herbert BAKER praktiseer het.
Die kramat vorm deel van die sogenaamde beskermende "Heilige Sirkel van Islam" wat strek van die kramatte teen die hange van Seinheuwel bo die klipgroef waar die eerste openbare Moslemgebede aan die Kaap gehou is, deur die kramatte op die rug van die heuwel en die kramat van Sjeg Noorul Mubeen by Oudekraal, en om die berg na die kramatte van Constantia, Faure, Robbeneiland, terug na Seinheuwel.
Sjeg Yusuf van Makassar (1626-1699)
Sjeg Yusuf (Abadin Tadia Tjoesoep) is in 1626 te Gowa by Makassar (Mangkasara), op die suidwestelike punt van die Sulawesi-eiland (voorheen Celebes) langs die Straat van Makassar, gebore. Toe die Portugese dit vroeg in die sestiende eeu bereik het, was dit 'n besige handelshawe waar Arabiese, Indiese, Javaanse, Maleise Siamese en Chinese skepe aangedoen en hulle produkte geruil en verkoop het. Met die koms van die Nederlanders, wat die speseryhandel wou monopoliseer en Britse deelname daaraan wou stuit, is die tradisie van vrye handel aan die begin van die 17de eeu omvergewerp. Nadat hulle die fort van Makassar ingeneem het, is dit herbou en as Fort Rotterdam herdoop. Van hier het hulle die vestings van die Sultan van Gowa geteiken.
Toe hy agtien jaar oud was, het Yusuf op 'n pelgrims- en studietog na Mekka vertrek waar hy verskeie jare deurgebring het. Met sy terugkeer het hy die Nederlanders in Makassar vermy en hom in Bantam in Wes-Java aan die hof van Sultan Ageng (Abulfatah Agung, 1631-1695) as onderwyser en geestelike rigter gevestig. Hy het die sultan se seuns onderrig en met een van sy dogters getrou. Hy was deeglik in die Shari'ah (Moslem kode en godsdienstige wet) onderlê en diep betrokke by die mistieke aspekte van sy geloof met die gevolg dat sy reputasie as 'n vrome persoon en heilige kenner en geleerde vinnig versprei het.
Hoewel die Nederlanders die handel op Java beheer het, het Bantam 'n sterk mate van onafhanklikheid behou. Yusuf was 'n vurige teenstander van die VOC en het en ook 'n rebellie teen die Europeërs gelei toe 'n ouer vredesooreenkoms tussen hulle in 1656 gebreek is. 'n Nuwe ooreenkoms is in 1659 bereik, maar 'n interne tweestryd in die Sultanaat het in die VOC se kraam gepas. Die sultan se seun, later as Sultan Hadji bekend, het met die hulle saamgespan teen sy vader en jonger broer wat voorkeur aan die Britse en Deense handelaars gegee het. Die breuk het in 1680 gekom toe Ageng oorlog teen Batavia (Jakarta) verklaar het. Hadji het 'n opstand teen sy vader gelei wat Ageng tot sy woning beperk het. Hoewel sy volgelinge teruggeveg het, het die Nederlanders Hadji te hulp gesnel en is Ageng na die hooglande verdryf waar hy in Maart 1683 oorgegee het. Hierna is hy na Batavia geneem waar hy oorlede is.
Yusuf het die verset voortgesit en is eers teen die einde van 1683 gevange geneem waarna hy ook na Batavia geneem is. Sy invloed in die Moslemgemeenskap van die VOC se hoofkwartier in die Ooste, waar hy as heilige vereer is, asook die aandrang op sy vrystelling deur die vorste van Gowa (Makassar) – wat toe bondgenote van die VOC was – het daartoe gelei dat Yusuf en sy gevolg eers na Ceylon (Sri Lanka) en daarna na die Kaap verban is. Sjeg Yusuf en sy "aanhang", soos in die notules van die Politieke Raad aangedui is, het op 31 Maart 1694 aan boord die Voetboog in Tafelbaai aangekom. Hier is hulle gul deur goewerneur Simon van der Stel ontvang, maar in die Kasteel gehou totdat daar in Junie besluit is om hulle na die mond van die Eersterivier, wat oor die plaas Zandvliet van ds P. Kalden uitgekyk het, te stuur.9
Hier in die duine, wat later as Makassar en Makassarstrand bekend sou word, het Yusuf en sy gevolg hulle gevestig. Volgens oorlewering was dit die eerste sentrum van Islam en Islamitiese onderrig in Suid-Afrika en het die terrein 'n sakrosante ereplek gebly na Yusuf se afsterwe op 23 April 1699 en sy begrafnis op die heuwel. Hoewel sommige skrywers nie oortuig is dat ook Yusuf se oorskot na die Ooste terug is nie, argumenteer André van Rensburg dat dit wel gebeur het.
"Hoewel 'n aanvanklike versoek van 31 Desember 1701 dat Yusuf se oorskot opgegrawe en na Indonesië gestuur word, geweier is, is in 'n verslag van 26 Februarie 1703 deur die Here XVII gelas dat die sjeg se naasbestaandes en sy oorskot na Indonesië weggebring moes word.
Op 26 Februarie 1704 het die amptelike geskrewe instruksies van die VOC in die Kaap aangekom. Die weduwee van Yusuf, hul jong kinders en ander lede van sy gevolg moes toegelaat word om na Indonesië terug te keer.
Daar is ook bepaal dat die oorskot van Yusuf onopsigtelik opgegrawe moes word sodat die naasbestaandes dit kon saamneem. Voorsorg moes egter getref word dat ander Oosterse bannelinge nie ontsnap deur voor te gee dat hulle naasbestaandes van sjeg Yusuf is nie."10
Die gevolg van Sjeg Yusuf het op 5 Oktober 1704 aan boord van De Spiegel uit Tafelbaai met sy oorskot vertrek en op 10 Desember in Batavia anker gegooi. Hierna is sy hulle na Makassar waar sy oorskot op 6 April 1705 op Lakiung in Ujung Pandang herbegrawe is. Bo-oor Yusuf se nuwe graf is 'n kramat of ko'bang deur die Chinese bouer Dju Kian Kiu opgerig. Ook hierdie Kramat word druk deur pelgrims besoek.
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Kramat is die algemeen Kaapse term vir die tombe van 'n [Moslem] heilige of Wali van Allah; in Urdu verwys karamat of keramat na die wonderwerking van 'n heilige, soms word dit ook as sinoniem vir heilige gebruik.
Die meer algemeen gebruikte spelling word hier in plaas van die erkende Afrikaanse "Joesoef" gebruik.
Raidt, E.H. 1971. François Valentyn Beshryvinge van de Kaap der Goede Hoop met de zaaken daar toe behoorende. Kaapstad: Van Riebeeck Vereniging, Vol. 1, p. 198.
Brain, J.S. (ed.). 1988. The Cape diary of bishop Patrick Raymond Griffith for the years 1837-1839. Cape Town: Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference, pp. 189-90.
Aktekantoor, Kaapstad, Akte 6/3/1862, no. 121.
Scherzer, K. 1861. Narrative of the circumnavigation of the globe by the Austrian frigate Novara, (commodore b. Von Wullerstorf-Urbair,): undertaken by order of the imperial government, in the years l857,1858, & 1859. London: Saunders, Otley & Co, pp. 244-248.
Seremoniële hoofstad [Fatehpur = stad van oorwinning] van 1569 tot 1574 deur die Mughale Keiser Akbar (1542-1605) by Sikri, die hermitage van sy spirituele gids, Sjeg Salim Chisti, opgerig. Die tombe wat deur Colvin beskryf word, is deur Shah Jahan (1592-1666) herbou.
Colvin, I.D. 1909. Romance of Empire, South Africa. London: TC & EL Jack, pp. 16168.
Böeseken, A.J. 1961. Resolusies van die Politieke Raad III 1681-1707. Kaapstad: Argiefkomitee, p. 283 (14.06.1694).
Van Rensburg, A. & Van Bart, M. 2004. Waar rus Sjeg Yusuf: van die Kaap tot in Makassar. Kultuurkroniek, Bylae by Die Burger, 10 Julie, pp. 12-13
Van Rensburg, A. & Van Bart, M. 2004. Waar rus Sjeg Yusuf: van die Kaap tot in Makassar. Kultuurkroniek, Bylae by Die Burger, 10 Julie, p.13.
________________________________
Schalk W le Roux, Gordonsbaai, Februarie 2013
See also Van Bart, M. & Van Rensburg A.
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Wording on Minaret:
IN MEMORY OF
SHEIKH YUSUF
MARTYR & HERO
OF BANTAM
1629 - 1699
THIS MINARET
WAS ERECTED BY
HAJEE SULLAIMAN
SHAHMAHOMED
IN THE REIGN OF
KING GEORGE V
MAY 1925
_____________________
THIS MEMORIAL WAS UNVEILED
19TH DECEMBER 1925 BY
SIR FREDERIC DE WAAL
KCMG:LLD:FIRST ADMINISTRATOR
OF THE CAPE PROVINCE
IN THE YEAR WHEN THIS
DISTRICT WAS VISITED BY
HIS ROYAL HIGNESS
THE PRINCE OF WALES
4TH MAY 1925
_____________________
THE "DARGAN" OF ASHBAT
[COMPANIONS] OF SAINT SHEIKH YUSSUF
[GALERAN TUANSE] OF MACASSAR.
_____
HERE LIE THE REMAINS OF FOUR OF FORTY-NINE
FAITHFUL FOLLOWERS WHO AFTER SERVING
IN THE BANTAM WAR OF 1682-83, ARRIVED WITH
SHEIKH YUSSUF AT THE CAPE FROM CEYLON,
IN THE SHIP "VOETBOOG" IN THE YEAR 1694.
_____
THIS COMMEMORATION TABLET WAS ERECTED
DURING THE GREAT WAR ON 8 JANUARY 1918.
BY HAJEE SULLAIMAN SHAHMAHOMED.
SENIOR TRUSTEE.
Wording on plaque:
PRESIDENT SOEHARTO
OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
VISITED THIS SHRINE ON 21 NOVEMBER 1997
TO PAY RESPECT TO THE LATE SHEIKH YUSSUF OF
MACASSAR UPON WHOM THE TITLE OF NATIONAL
HERO WAS CONFERRED BY THE INDONESIAN GOVERNMENT
ON 7 AUGUST 1995
Writings about this Kramat of Sheikh Yusuf
Davids, Achmat. 1980. The Mosques of Bo-Kaap - A social history of Islam at the Cape. Athlone, Cape: The South African Institute of Arabic and Islamic Research. pp 37-40.
_______________________________________________
De Bosdari, C. 1971. Cape Dutch Houses and Farms. Cape Town: AA Balkema. pp 73.
_______________________________________________
De Kock, WJ. 1976. Suid-Afrikaanse biografiese woordeboek : Deel 1. Kaapstad: RGN/Tafelberg. pp 429-430.
_______________________________________________
Du Plessis, Izak David. 1944. The Cape Malays. Cape Town: Maskew Miller. pp 4-7.
_______________________________________________
Jaffer, M. 2001. Guide to the Kramats of the Western Cape. Cape Town: Cape Mazaar (Kramat) Society. pp 17-19.
_______________________________________________
Jaffer, Mansoor. 1996. Guide to the Kramats of the Western Cape. Cape Town: Cape Mazaar Kramat Society. pp 17.
_______________________________________________
Le Roux, SW. 1992. Vormgewende invloede op die ontwikkeling van moskee-argitektuur binne die Heilige Sirkel aan die Kaap tot 1950 . Pretoria: PhD-verhandeling: Universiteit van Pretoria. pp 201-202.
_______________________________________________
Oxley, John. 1992. Places of Worship in South Africa. Halfway House: Southern Book Publishers. pp 63-64.
_______________________________________________
Potgieter, DJ (Editor-in-chief). 1975. Standard Encyclopaedia of South Africa [SESA] Volume 11 Tur-Zwe. Cape Town: Nasou. pp 567.
_______________________________________________
Potgieter, DJ (Editor-in-chief). 1972. Standard Encyclopaedia of South Africa [SESA] Volume 6 Hun-Lit. Cape Town: Nasou. pp 454-455.
_______________________________________________
Rhoda, E. 2010. Hajee Sullaiman Shahmahomed and the shrine of Shayk Yusuf of Macassar at Faure. : Unpublished manuscript.
_______________________________________________
Van Selms, A. Joesoef, Sjeik: in De Kock, WJ. 1976. Suid-Afrikaanse biografiese woordeboek : Deel 1: pp 429-430
________________________________________
Shaykh Yusuf was born at Macassar in 1626. He was also known as Abadin Tadia Tjoessoep. He was of noble birth, a maternal nephew of King Biset of Goa. He studied in Arabia under the tutelage of several pious teachers.
When Shaykh Yusuf arrives at the Cape, on the Voetboeg, he was royally welcomed by Governor Simon van de Stel. His Indonesian background necessitated that he and his 49 followers be settled well away from Cape Town. They were housed on the farm Zandvliet, near the mouth of the Eeste River, in the general area now called Macassar. He received an allowance of 12rix dollars from the Cape authorities for support of himself and his party. At Zandvliet Shaykh Yusuf’s settlement soon became a sanctuary for fugitive slaves. It was here that the first cohesive Muslim community in S.A. was established. The first settlement of Muslims in South Africa was a vibrant one, despite its isolation. It was from here that the message of Islam was disseminated to the slave community living in Cape Town. When Shaykh Yusuf died on 23 May 1699, he was buried on the hill overlooking Macassar at Faure. A shrine was constructed over his grave. Over the years this shrine has been rebuilt and renewed. Today it remains a place of pilgrimage.
kramat of shaykh yusuf of makassar, macassar/faure, western cape
the buidling was designed by franklin kaye kendall
**********
A Kramat is a shrine or mausoleum that has been built over the burial place of a Muslim who's particular piety and practice of the teachings of Islam is recognised by the community. I have been engaged in documenting these sites around Cape Town over several visits at different times over the last few years. They range widely from graves marked by an edge of stones to more elaborate tombs sheltered by buildings of various styles. They are cultural markers that speak of a culture was shaped by life at the Cape and that infuses Cape Town at large.
In my searches used the guide put out by the Cape Masaar Society as a basic guide to locate some recognised sites. Even so some were not that easy to find.
In the context of the Muslims at the Cape, historically the kramats represented places of focus for the faithful and were/are often places of local pilgrimage. When the Dutch and the VOC (United East India Company aka Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie) set up a refuelling station and a settlement at the Cape, Muslims from their territories in the East Indies and Batavia were with them from the start as soldiers, slaves and 'Vryswarten'; (freemen). As the settlement established itself as a colony the Cape became a useful place to banish political opponents from the heart of their eastern empire. Some exiles were of royal lineage and there were also scholars amongst them. One of the most well known of these exiles was Sheik Yusuf who was cordially received by Govenor van der Stel as befitted his rank (he and his entourage where eventually housed on an estate away from the main settlement so that he was less likely to have an influence over the local population), others were imprisoned for a time both in Cape Town and on Robben island. It is said that the first Koran in the Cape was first written out from memory by Sheik Yusuf after his arrival. There were several Islamic scholars in his retinue and these men encouraged something of an Islamic revival amoung the isolated community. Their influence over the enslaved “Malay” population who were already nominally Muslim was considerable and through the ministrations of other teachers to the underclasses the influence of Islam became quite marked. As political opponents to the governing powers the teachers became focus points for escaped slaves in the outlying areas.
Under the VOC it was forbidden to practice any other faith other than Christianity in public which meant that there was no provision for mosques or madrasas. The faith was maintained informally until the end of the C18th when plans were made for the first mosque and promises of land to be granted for a specific burial ground in the Bo Kaap were given in negotiations for support against an imminent British invasion. These promises were honoured by the British after their victory.
There is talk of a prophecy of a protective circle of Islam that would surround Cape Town. I cannot find the specifics of this prophecy but the 27 kramats of the “Auliyah” or friends of Allah, as these honoured individuals are known, do form a loose circle of saints. Some of the Auliyah are credited with miraculous powers in legends that speak of their life and works. Within the folk tradition some are believed to be able to intercede on behalf of supplicants (even though this more part of a mystical philosophy (keramat) and is not strictly accepted in mainstream contemporary Islamic teaching) and even today some visitors may offer special prayers at their grave sites in much the same way as Christians might direct prayer at the shrine of a particular saint.
photographer's note-
sheikh yussuf was the brother of the king of Goa (Gowa) with it's capital of Makassar. yussuf fought in battles against the Dutch and was eventually captured. he was transferred to the cape of good hope in 1693. he died in 1699. he had 2 wives, 2 concubines, 12 children and 14 male and female slaves.
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Die Kramat van Sjeg Yusuf, Faure
Die Kramat1 van Sjeg Yusuf (Abadin Tadia Tjoessoep)2 op 'n klein heuwel naby die mond van die Eersterivier in Makassar, Faure, is 'n terrein waarheen Kaapse Moslems oor die laaste drie eeue pelgrimstogte onderneem. Yusuf is op 23 April 1699 oorlede en op die heuwel begrawe. Volgens predikant en skrywer, Francois Valentyn (1666-1727), wat sy graf in 1705 besoek het, was dit "een cierlyke Mohammedaansch tombe, wat van zeer hoog opgezette steenen, verheerlykt was".3 Dit is nie heeltemal duidelik of hy van 'n hoog opgeboude graf of 'n struktuur daaroor praat nie.
Dié tombe moes mettertyd veranderings en verbouings het en volgens Biskop Patrick Griffith (1798-1862) wat dit meer as 'n eeu later op 25 Januarie 1839 besoek het, het dit heel anders daar uitgesien...
and proceeded to a Mr Cloete's where we took horses and road (sic) to a Malay Mosque [i.e. the kramat] situated on the summit of a hill, to which we ascended by a rude Stone Stair Case, rather Circular and partly cut out of Limestone rock, by an hundred steps. We left our horses below tied to the door of a Caravansery where the Pilgrims who come every year from Cape Town and all around, lodge while they go thro' their devotions. Both Lodging House and Mosque are at present deserted and we cd. only see the Exterior of both. The Mosque has a small Mineret (sic) in the centre and contains the Tomb of some Prince and Priest of the Sect. The Building is square and low with a portico: the windows are screened within and all that could be seen through some chinks in the walls was some drapery. A curious sight, however, exists outside: graves covered with white Clothes, five or six of which graves are enclosed together with a low wall round them; two or three more are apart; each has a round black stone at the head round which a Malay handkerchief is tied, with another black stone at foot, represents the feet, so that with the white sheet over the body, one wd. imagine at first view that it was a corpse was directly before him, the representation of it is so like reality. These White cloths (of calico) are renewed every year and we found some sixty or more rotten ones under each of the last white Coverings."1
Die terrein is in 1862 deur die imam van die Jamia-moskee in Chiappinistraat, Abdol Wahab, aangekoop,5 maar die gebou het tot vroeg in die 20ste eeu bewaar gebly, hoewel dit by verskeie geleenthede klein veranderings en herstelwerk moes ondergaan het.
Die Oostenrykse wetenskaplike, diplomaat en ontdekkingsreisiger, Karl Ritter von Scherzer (1821-1903) het die Kaap in Oktober 1857 aan boord die Novara, op 'n omseilingstog van die wêreld, aangedoen. Hy het die volgende waardevolle beskrywing, deurdrenk met sy eie voor- en afkeure, nagelaat:
"The following morning we drove to a hill, ahout a mile and a half distant from Zandvliet, known as Macassar Downs, on which is the spot of interment, (Krammat or Brammat), of a Malay prophet.
This individual, so honoured in death, was, if we are to believe the Malays, a direct descendant of Mahomet, named Sheikh Joseph, who, expelled from Batavia by the Dutch Government for political reasons, settled in the colony about a century and a half ago, and died and was buried in the neighbourhood of Zandvliet. An especial deputation came over from Malacca to Cape Colony to fetch away the corpse of the defunct prophet, for conveyance to the land of his birth; but at the disinterment it happened that the little finger of the prophet, in spite of the most persevering research, could nowhere be found. This circumstance appeared to those simple believers sufficient reason for erecting a monument over the spot in which the finger of a Malay prophet lay hid from view. Even to this day the Malays from time to time perform a pilgrimage to the Colony and celebrate their religious ceremonies at the Mausoleum. Four followers of the prophet are buried with him, two of them Mahometan priests, who are regarded with much veneration by the Malays.
An extensive flight of stone steps leads to the tomb, the exterior of which is very insignificant, and, but for a small pointed turret, hardly differs from an ordinary dwelling-house. On entering, a low-roofed vault is visible, a sort of front outhouse, which rather disfigures the facade, and much more resembles a cellar than the portal of a Mausoleum. Above the arch of this vault an Arabic inscription has been engraved with a stylus but this is so painted over in brick colour that it has already become almost illegible. Judging by the few words that have been deciphered, it seems to consist of the first propositions of the Koran.
The inner room, provided on two sides with modern glazed windows at irregular intervals, is about the size of an ordinary room of 12 feet long, 9 wide, and 7 high (3.66m long, 2.74 wide, and 2.13 high). In the middle rises the monument, to which access is had by some more brick steps. Immense quantities of unwashed white linen cloth are heaped upon it, which seem occasionally sprinkled with a brown odoriferous liquid (dupa). As at the head of Sheikh Joseph, so at his feet several figures, resembling those in enamel used to ornament tarts, are drawn upon the linen cloth with the overflowings of the unguent. These have undoubtedly been formed accidentally, and it appears wrong and unfair to attribute to them any more recondite significance. The monument rests upon four wooden pillars, with pyramidal pinnacles or ornaments, and is richly decorated with fine white muslin, which gives to the whole very much the appearance of an old-fashioned English "fourposter," with its costly drapery and curtains. While the curtains are spread out all around, several small green and white bannerets stand at the upper and lower end of the sarcophagus. The whole interior is, as it were, impregnated with the incense which devout Malay pilgrims from time to time burn here, especially after the forty days' fast (Ramadan), or leave behind upon the steps of the tomb in flasks or in paper-boxes. On such occasions, they always bring wax-candles and linen cloth as an offering, with the latter of which they deck the tomb afresh, so that a perfect mountain of white linen rises above the stone floor. During their devotions they unceasingly kiss this white mass of stuff, and as they are continually chewing tobacco, this filthy habit produces disgustingly loathsome stains.
On the same hill which boasts the tomb of Sheikh Joseph, there are also, in ground that is common property, nine other graves of eminent Malays, enclosed with carefully-selected stones, and likewise covered over with large broad strips of bleached linen cloth, protected by stones from any injury by weather or violence. At the head and foot of each individual interred, is a single stone of larger size. Formerly the black inhabitants of the neighbourhood made use of this store of linen cloth to make shirts for themselves, without further thought upon the propriety of the matter. Latterly, however, a shrewd Malay priest spread a report that one of these ebony linen stealers had lost all the fingers off one hand, since which the graves of those departed worthies remain inviolate and unprofaned.
At the foot of the hill are some small half-fallen-in buildings, near a large hall, painted white, red, and yellow, consisting of a small apartment and a kitchen, the whole in a most dirty, neglected, and desolate condition. At this point the Moslems must have accomplished certain prayers, before they can climb the hill and proceed to visit the tomb. Over the door of this singular house of prayer some words are likewise engraved in the Arabic character, which, however, are now entirely illegible.
On quitting the Malay Krammat, we next undertook a tolerably difficult walk to the Downs or sand-dunes, which at this point extend along the entire coast line, on which the wax-berry shrub, as already mentioned, grows wild in vast quantities, and visibly prevents the further encroachments of the moving sand. The Eerst Rivier (First River) may be regarded as the limit of demarcation between the sand-dunes and the soil adapted for vegetation."6
'n Britse joernalis en historikus, Ian Duncan Colvin (1877-1938), beskryf sy besoek aan die Kramat vyftig jaar later in die begin van die 20ste eeu:
"It was in springtime that we made the pilgrimage, in October, the springtime of the south... We passed through cow-scented pasture and the cornlands of Zandvliet, and so towards the sea, guided by the white star of the tomb.
It stands upon a sandstone rock which the Eerste River bends round on its way to the sea, and you can hear the breakers roaring, though unseen behind the sand-dunes. A little wooden bridge crosses the river beside the drift... On the farther side the little hill rises steeply, and under it nestles a row of very ancient and dilapidated cottages. One of them is used as a stable by the pilgrims and another as a mosque, and upon its porch you will see a little notice in English that 'women are not allowed inside the church', a warning signed with all the weight and authority of the late Haji Abdul Kalil... Inside, this little chapel is touchingly primitive and simple, with blue sky showing through the thatched roof, and a martin's nest plastered on the ceiling of the little alcove. Between these cottages and the stream is a field of sweet marjoram, no doubt grown for the service of the shrine, and the way up the hill is made easy by a flight of steps build perhaps centuries ago, and ruinous with age. With their white balustrades, and overgrown as they are with grass and wild-flowers, they are very beautiful, and in pilgrimage-time we may suppose them bright with Malays ascending and descending. We mounted them to the top, where they open on a little courtyard roughly paved and encinctured by a low white wall. On the farther side, opposite the top of the stairs, is the tomb itself, a little white building with an archway leading into a porch. Beyond is a door, of the sort common in Cape farm-houses, divided into two across the middle. Of course, we did not dare to open it and peep inside; but I am told by a Mahomedan friend that the inner tomb is of white stucco with four pillars of a pleasant design. It is upholstered in bright-coloured plush, and copies of the Koran lie open upon it. The inside of the room is papered in the best Malay fashion, and over the window is a veil of tinselled green gauze. From the roof several ostrich eggs hang on strings, and altogether it is the gayest and brightest little shrine. The ostrich eggs hanging on their strings made me think of a much more splendid tomb which Akbar, the first greatest of the Moguls, build for his friend Selim Chisti, a humble ascetic, in the centre of the mosque at Fatehpur Sikri.7 If any of my readers have made a pilgrimage to that wonderful deserted city, they will remember the tomb build of fretted marble, white and delicate as lace, in the centre of the great silent mosque of red sandstone – surely the finest testimonial to disinterested and spiritual friendship that exists in the world. And, if they look inside, they will recollect that around the inner shrine of mother o’pearl hang ostrich eggs just as they hang in Sheik Joseph’s tomb on the Cape Flats. But this digression is only to show that the Malay of Cape Town knows what is proper to the ornamentation of kramats. The shrine is tended with pious care, kept clean and white by the good Malays – a people of whom it may be said truly that they hold cleanliness as a virtue next to godliness."8
Hierdie beskrywing kom ooreen met dié van Scherzer en 'n foto in die Elliot-versameling in die Kaapse argief. Die minaret wat deur Biskop Griffith genoem en deur Scherzer geïllustreer is, en moontlik van hout gemaak was, het intussen verdwyn.
In 1925 het die Indiese filantroop, Hadji Sulaiman Sjah Mohamed Ali, opdrag vir 'n nuwe tombe gegee en is die huidige vierkantige en gekoepelde Moghul- of Delhi-inspireerde struktuur opgerig. Die argitek was F.K. KENDALL wat van 1896 tot 1918 in vennootskap met Herbert BAKER praktiseer het.
Die kramat vorm deel van die sogenaamde beskermende "Heilige Sirkel van Islam" wat strek van die kramatte teen die hange van Seinheuwel bo die klipgroef waar die eerste openbare Moslemgebede aan die Kaap gehou is, deur die kramatte op die rug van die heuwel en die kramat van Sjeg Noorul Mubeen by Oudekraal, en om die berg na die kramatte van Constantia, Faure, Robbeneiland, terug na Seinheuwel.
Sjeg Yusuf van Makassar (1626-1699)
Sjeg Yusuf (Abadin Tadia Tjoesoep) is in 1626 te Gowa by Makassar (Mangkasara), op die suidwestelike punt van die Sulawesi-eiland (voorheen Celebes) langs die Straat van Makassar, gebore. Toe die Portugese dit vroeg in die sestiende eeu bereik het, was dit 'n besige handelshawe waar Arabiese, Indiese, Javaanse, Maleise Siamese en Chinese skepe aangedoen en hulle produkte geruil en verkoop het. Met die koms van die Nederlanders, wat die speseryhandel wou monopoliseer en Britse deelname daaraan wou stuit, is die tradisie van vrye handel aan die begin van die 17de eeu omvergewerp. Nadat hulle die fort van Makassar ingeneem het, is dit herbou en as Fort Rotterdam herdoop. Van hier het hulle die vestings van die Sultan van Gowa geteiken.
Toe hy agtien jaar oud was, het Yusuf op 'n pelgrims- en studietog na Mekka vertrek waar hy verskeie jare deurgebring het. Met sy terugkeer het hy die Nederlanders in Makassar vermy en hom in Bantam in Wes-Java aan die hof van Sultan Ageng (Abulfatah Agung, 1631-1695) as onderwyser en geestelike rigter gevestig. Hy het die sultan se seuns onderrig en met een van sy dogters getrou. Hy was deeglik in die Shari'ah (Moslem kode en godsdienstige wet) onderlê en diep betrokke by die mistieke aspekte van sy geloof met die gevolg dat sy reputasie as 'n vrome persoon en heilige kenner en geleerde vinnig versprei het.
Hoewel die Nederlanders die handel op Java beheer het, het Bantam 'n sterk mate van onafhanklikheid behou. Yusuf was 'n vurige teenstander van die VOC en het en ook 'n rebellie teen die Europeërs gelei toe 'n ouer vredesooreenkoms tussen hulle in 1656 gebreek is. 'n Nuwe ooreenkoms is in 1659 bereik, maar 'n interne tweestryd in die Sultanaat het in die VOC se kraam gepas. Die sultan se seun, later as Sultan Hadji bekend, het met die hulle saamgespan teen sy vader en jonger broer wat voorkeur aan die Britse en Deense handelaars gegee het. Die breuk het in 1680 gekom toe Ageng oorlog teen Batavia (Jakarta) verklaar het. Hadji het 'n opstand teen sy vader gelei wat Ageng tot sy woning beperk het. Hoewel sy volgelinge teruggeveg het, het die Nederlanders Hadji te hulp gesnel en is Ageng na die hooglande verdryf waar hy in Maart 1683 oorgegee het. Hierna is hy na Batavia geneem waar hy oorlede is.
Yusuf het die verset voortgesit en is eers teen die einde van 1683 gevange geneem waarna hy ook na Batavia geneem is. Sy invloed in die Moslemgemeenskap van die VOC se hoofkwartier in die Ooste, waar hy as heilige vereer is, asook die aandrang op sy vrystelling deur die vorste van Gowa (Makassar) – wat toe bondgenote van die VOC was – het daartoe gelei dat Yusuf en sy gevolg eers na Ceylon (Sri Lanka) en daarna na die Kaap verban is. Sjeg Yusuf en sy "aanhang", soos in die notules van die Politieke Raad aangedui is, het op 31 Maart 1694 aan boord die Voetboog in Tafelbaai aangekom. Hier is hulle gul deur goewerneur Simon van der Stel ontvang, maar in die Kasteel gehou totdat daar in Junie besluit is om hulle na die mond van die Eersterivier, wat oor die plaas Zandvliet van ds P. Kalden uitgekyk het, te stuur.9
Hier in die duine, wat later as Makassar en Makassarstrand bekend sou word, het Yusuf en sy gevolg hulle gevestig. Volgens oorlewering was dit die eerste sentrum van Islam en Islamitiese onderrig in Suid-Afrika en het die terrein 'n sakrosante ereplek gebly na Yusuf se afsterwe op 23 April 1699 en sy begrafnis op die heuwel. Hoewel sommige skrywers nie oortuig is dat ook Yusuf se oorskot na die Ooste terug is nie, argumenteer André van Rensburg dat dit wel gebeur het.
"Hoewel 'n aanvanklike versoek van 31 Desember 1701 dat Yusuf se oorskot opgegrawe en na Indonesië gestuur word, geweier is, is in 'n verslag van 26 Februarie 1703 deur die Here XVII gelas dat die sjeg se naasbestaandes en sy oorskot na Indonesië weggebring moes word.
Op 26 Februarie 1704 het die amptelike geskrewe instruksies van die VOC in die Kaap aangekom. Die weduwee van Yusuf, hul jong kinders en ander lede van sy gevolg moes toegelaat word om na Indonesië terug te keer.
Daar is ook bepaal dat die oorskot van Yusuf onopsigtelik opgegrawe moes word sodat die naasbestaandes dit kon saamneem. Voorsorg moes egter getref word dat ander Oosterse bannelinge nie ontsnap deur voor te gee dat hulle naasbestaandes van sjeg Yusuf is nie."10
Die gevolg van Sjeg Yusuf het op 5 Oktober 1704 aan boord van De Spiegel uit Tafelbaai met sy oorskot vertrek en op 10 Desember in Batavia anker gegooi. Hierna is sy hulle na Makassar waar sy oorskot op 6 April 1705 op Lakiung in Ujung Pandang herbegrawe is. Bo-oor Yusuf se nuwe graf is 'n kramat of ko'bang deur die Chinese bouer Dju Kian Kiu opgerig. Ook hierdie Kramat word druk deur pelgrims besoek.
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Kramat is die algemeen Kaapse term vir die tombe van 'n [Moslem] heilige of Wali van Allah; in Urdu verwys karamat of keramat na die wonderwerking van 'n heilige, soms word dit ook as sinoniem vir heilige gebruik.
Die meer algemeen gebruikte spelling word hier in plaas van die erkende Afrikaanse "Joesoef" gebruik.
Raidt, E.H. 1971. François Valentyn Beshryvinge van de Kaap der Goede Hoop met de zaaken daar toe behoorende. Kaapstad: Van Riebeeck Vereniging, Vol. 1, p. 198.
Brain, J.S. (ed.). 1988. The Cape diary of bishop Patrick Raymond Griffith for the years 1837-1839. Cape Town: Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference, pp. 189-90.
Aktekantoor, Kaapstad, Akte 6/3/1862, no. 121.
Scherzer, K. 1861. Narrative of the circumnavigation of the globe by the Austrian frigate Novara, (commodore b. Von Wullerstorf-Urbair,): undertaken by order of the imperial government, in the years l857,1858, & 1859. London: Saunders, Otley & Co, pp. 244-248.
Seremoniële hoofstad [Fatehpur = stad van oorwinning] van 1569 tot 1574 deur die Mughale Keiser Akbar (1542-1605) by Sikri, die hermitage van sy spirituele gids, Sjeg Salim Chisti, opgerig. Die tombe wat deur Colvin beskryf word, is deur Shah Jahan (1592-1666) herbou.
Colvin, I.D. 1909. Romance of Empire, South Africa. London: TC & EL Jack, pp. 16168.
Böeseken, A.J. 1961. Resolusies van die Politieke Raad III 1681-1707. Kaapstad: Argiefkomitee, p. 283 (14.06.1694).
Van Rensburg, A. & Van Bart, M. 2004. Waar rus Sjeg Yusuf: van die Kaap tot in Makassar. Kultuurkroniek, Bylae by Die Burger, 10 Julie, pp. 12-13
Van Rensburg, A. & Van Bart, M. 2004. Waar rus Sjeg Yusuf: van die Kaap tot in Makassar. Kultuurkroniek, Bylae by Die Burger, 10 Julie, p.13.
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Schalk W le Roux, Gordonsbaai, Februarie 2013
See also Van Bart, M. & Van Rensburg A.
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Wording on Minaret:
IN MEMORY OF
SHEIKH YUSUF
MARTYR & HERO
OF BANTAM
1629 - 1699
THIS MINARET
WAS ERECTED BY
HAJEE SULLAIMAN
SHAHMAHOMED
IN THE REIGN OF
KING GEORGE V
MAY 1925
_____________________
THIS MEMORIAL WAS UNVEILED
19TH DECEMBER 1925 BY
SIR FREDERIC DE WAAL
KCMG:LLD:FIRST ADMINISTRATOR
OF THE CAPE PROVINCE
IN THE YEAR WHEN THIS
DISTRICT WAS VISITED BY
HIS ROYAL HIGNESS
THE PRINCE OF WALES
4TH MAY 1925
_____________________
THE "DARGAN" OF ASHBAT
[COMPANIONS] OF SAINT SHEIKH YUSSUF
[GALERAN TUANSE] OF MACASSAR.
_____
HERE LIE THE REMAINS OF FOUR OF FORTY-NINE
FAITHFUL FOLLOWERS WHO AFTER SERVING
IN THE BANTAM WAR OF 1682-83, ARRIVED WITH
SHEIKH YUSSUF AT THE CAPE FROM CEYLON,
IN THE SHIP "VOETBOOG" IN THE YEAR 1694.
_____
THIS COMMEMORATION TABLET WAS ERECTED
DURING THE GREAT WAR ON 8 JANUARY 1918.
BY HAJEE SULLAIMAN SHAHMAHOMED.
SENIOR TRUSTEE.
Wording on plaque:
PRESIDENT SOEHARTO
OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
VISITED THIS SHRINE ON 21 NOVEMBER 1997
TO PAY RESPECT TO THE LATE SHEIKH YUSSUF OF
MACASSAR UPON WHOM THE TITLE OF NATIONAL
HERO WAS CONFERRED BY THE INDONESIAN GOVERNMENT
ON 7 AUGUST 1995
Writings about this Kramat of Sheikh Yusuf
Davids, Achmat. 1980. The Mosques of Bo-Kaap - A social history of Islam at the Cape. Athlone, Cape: The South African Institute of Arabic and Islamic Research. pp 37-40.
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De Bosdari, C. 1971. Cape Dutch Houses and Farms. Cape Town: AA Balkema. pp 73.
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De Kock, WJ. 1976. Suid-Afrikaanse biografiese woordeboek : Deel 1. Kaapstad: RGN/Tafelberg. pp 429-430.
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Du Plessis, Izak David. 1944. The Cape Malays. Cape Town: Maskew Miller. pp 4-7.
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Jaffer, M. 2001. Guide to the Kramats of the Western Cape. Cape Town: Cape Mazaar (Kramat) Society. pp 17-19.
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Jaffer, Mansoor. 1996. Guide to the Kramats of the Western Cape. Cape Town: Cape Mazaar Kramat Society. pp 17.
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Le Roux, SW. 1992. Vormgewende invloede op die ontwikkeling van moskee-argitektuur binne die Heilige Sirkel aan die Kaap tot 1950 . Pretoria: PhD-verhandeling: Universiteit van Pretoria. pp 201-202.
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Oxley, John. 1992. Places of Worship in South Africa. Halfway House: Southern Book Publishers. pp 63-64.
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Potgieter, DJ (Editor-in-chief). 1975. Standard Encyclopaedia of South Africa [SESA] Volume 11 Tur-Zwe. Cape Town: Nasou. pp 567.
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Potgieter, DJ (Editor-in-chief). 1972. Standard Encyclopaedia of South Africa [SESA] Volume 6 Hun-Lit. Cape Town: Nasou. pp 454-455.
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Rhoda, E. 2010. Hajee Sullaiman Shahmahomed and the shrine of Shayk Yusuf of Macassar at Faure. : Unpublished manuscript.
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Van Selms, A. Joesoef, Sjeik: in De Kock, WJ. 1976. Suid-Afrikaanse biografiese woordeboek : Deel 1: pp 429-430
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Shaykh Yusuf was born at Macassar in 1626. He was also known as Abadin Tadia Tjoessoep. He was of noble birth, a maternal nephew of King Biset of Goa. He studied in Arabia under the tutelage of several pious teachers.
When Shaykh Yusuf arrives at the Cape, on the Voetboeg, he was royally welcomed by Governor Simon van de Stel. His Indonesian background necessitated that he and his 49 followers be settled well away from Cape Town. They were housed on the farm Zandvliet, near the mouth of the Eeste River, in the general area now called Macassar. He received an allowance of 12rix dollars from the Cape authorities for support of himself and his party. At Zandvliet Shaykh Yusuf’s settlement soon became a sanctuary for fugitive slaves. It was here that the first cohesive Muslim community in S.A. was established. The first settlement of Muslims in South Africa was a vibrant one, despite its isolation. It was from here that the message of Islam was disseminated to the slave community living in Cape Town. When Shaykh Yusuf died on 23 May 1699, he was buried on the hill overlooking Macassar at Faure. A shrine was constructed over his grave. Over the years this shrine has been rebuilt and renewed. Today it remains a place of pilgrimage.
Built in 1892 by an unknown individual, this distinctive and ornate “wedding cake”-like eclectic Queen Anne and Romanesque Revival-style townhouse stands on Russell Street in the Mutter Gottes Historic District of Covington, Kentucky.
Prior to the construction of the house, according to an 1886 Sanborn Fire Insurance map, the site was home to a wooden duplex, likely built sometime around the mid-19th Century.
The house has a heavily detailed brick facade with decorative brick trim, polychromatic ceramic tiles featuring the busts of Roman emperors, arched two-over-two windows, and a three-tiered front bay window that transforms from being rectangular on the 1st floor, to trapezoidal on the 2nd floor, and semi-circular on the 3rd floor, with the one-over-one windows on this portion of the house featuring multi-colored semi-circular stained glass transoms
The house additionally features many intact historic elements inside, including the original staircase that stretches from the first floor side entrance up to the 3rd floor, original doors and trim throughout, and original tiles and fireplace surrounds on the 1st floor and 2nd floor.
The house, originally a single-family home, featured a garden to the side and several one-story wooden porches on the side and rear, as well as sheds in the backyard.
By the early 20th Century, the house became the home of former Wurlitzer Music Company employee and industrialist Albert B. Koett, born in 1863 in Weimar, Germany, whom founded the Kelley-Koett (Keleket) manufacturing company behind a previous residence on Bakewell Street, where Koett worked with J. Robert Kelley on his innovations to X-Ray machines.
Koett left Wurlitzer in 1905 to work full time with the Kelley-Koett Manufacturing Company with John Robert Kelley, as an innovator and industrialist, innovating the "Keleket" X-Ray machine, utilized widely throughout the United States by the 1920s. The company expanded to the point that it occupied a large building on 4th Street in Covington and an additional building on York Street in Cincinnati's West End.
While owned by Koett, the house was enlarged, adding a masonry addition atop the roof of the two-story rear ell, a wooden addition on the rear of the house over a rear porch, and a new front porch with a red tile roof and wire brick columns.
The house was divided up into several small apartment units in the mid-20th Century after Koett's death, leading to the addition of a metal fire escape to the side, and reconfiguration of the interior, with the house being purchased and rehabilitated in the mid-1980s, returning to usage a single-family home, with a one-bedroom apartment on the third floor.
20 QUESTIONS WITH ACAMONCHI. EYE CANDY MAGAZINE
1. How many people are currently members of the Acamonchi posse?
Officially we are Havok from San Diego, Shente and Rafa DRO from Tijuana, Enrique Minjares from Ensenada, and myself. We have close ties with other people like ESM Artificial, Pop Lab both from Vancouver Canada, Alex Assunto from Los Angeles and Noam Kerr from Salamanca Spain. Anybody who is honest and willing to represent Acamonchi is more than welcome as a member.
2. What does a typical day consist of for an Acamonchi?
It all depends if I stayed up doing computer stuff or Acamonchi art the night before. I have a very irregular time pattern, and I'm a night person usually and that's when my creative energy hits it's limit. Morning time; I usually help my wife to get her day up and running, then I go check my email, play with the cat, jump on the shower, check email, eat cereal, fruit and drink juice or I go out and get a bagel. I start making calls, check email or send pending packages out. I'll go to the studio for few hours then come back home check email and get lunch. Then, it's back to the studio or stay at home doing computer stuff (graphics or uploading shit on the server), make some more calls, check email, wait for wife to get home. We get dinner, check email, watch the Simpsons and King of the Hill together, maybe some PBS. Talk and cuddle for few hours, then when she's about to sleep I give her a good foot massage so she can relax and sleep well. I get back to check email, to work ie paintings, graphics etc. I also like to go out with friends, and go somewhere and skateboard.
If I'm in Mexico I go out and bomb as much as I can. (stickers, posters or stencils) If for some reason I miss my chances, I get friends to bomb for me.
3. After viewing your website, I noticed that there are female artists in your group (How fucking cool is that?) - That's not very typical of urban street art. How many are there?
Really? I use female characters for my graphics, but the only picture I remember having with a girl, might be my friend Martha Elisa, who helped me paste while I was taking pictures, she was part of Acamonchi for that particular installation. I usually keep Acamonchi as open and supportive of other individuals as possible. I have a bunch of female friends who are very talented artists like Andi Brandenburg, Lori Dee, Angeles Moreno, Gaby Nunez, Ana C. Ramos, Duende, Julie Peasley, Melody Owen and Monica Peon they all kick ass. I don't believe in all that sexist crap but I probably find easier to work with guys.
4. List the Acamonchi favorites types of food and beverage.
Mexican, Italian, Indian, Middle-Eastern, Mediterranean, Asian.. my wife cooks marvelous.. We're vegetarians. We eat vegan at home for the most part, but we do eat cheese and eggs, especially when we travel or hang around with non-vegetarians, I don't usually talk to much about it or make a big deal. We support local farmers and we buy organic produce and organic products whenever is possible.
I drink Coca Cola or Red Bull because they help me concentrate and I become more productive when I'm working late at night. I tend to drink a lots water to prevent dehydration from sugar and caffeine. I'd drink green tea but the taste of it is awful.
5. List some of your influences.
Nick Blinko (the guy from Rudimentary Peni), Pushead, Andy warhol, Ray Johnson, Seth Tobocman, the Surrealists, Dada, Fluxus, Mail Art, Primitive art, Mexican folk art, the Muralists, Church of Subgenious, Punk, fanzines, skateboarding, Industrial Culture and Cyberpunk, B-Movies, street art, graffiti etc.
6. You guys do some serious postering. Do you prefer wheatpaste or
glue? or other?
Wheat paste is probably the most efficient thing to use for bills, If I'm running out of it I use Elmers glue diluted with water.
7. What do you listen to when not out postering or dropping
stenciled-art around town?
I tend to support my friends, The Nortec Collective, also keep an eye for new upcoming Mexican bands, especially the Tijuana scene. I really like electronic music. Right now I'm mostly into djs, breaks, drum and bass, I also go back and forth to the stuff I used to listen when I was a teenager weather it's cheesy heavy metal, 80s, or even hard core and punk rock. I recently got again into the british wave of punk stuff I used to listen like Discharge, Subhumans, Uk Subs, Rudimentary Peni, Crass and all those neat bands related to the Crass family. I think they're were amazing back then, I find them really inspiring even today. I personally hate to death all that prefab type punk shit that came in the 90s, just as much I dislike bad techno. I also like jazz and bossanova as well. I try to be open with my musical taste and I listen depending on the mood. Wouldn't be rare to find me listening stuff like Anti Pop Consortium, Pepe Deluxe or the Dub Pistols either.
8. If you could choose only one image to represent Acamonchi, what would it be and why?
(The ONLY stencil or poster image you would ever be allowed to use and represent you)
I guess it would be the basic Colosio face. It tells a lot of my background. Colosio was assasinated in Tijuana, his face will keep on reminding people how powerless you can be as a citizen, it doesn't matter if you're running for president, you can't stop your own party from shooting you in front of thousand eyes. Plus, there will be no justice if you get killed. I also think that Colosio's followers created a myth and for them he was like a true martyr that died for the sins he didn't get to commit. So much of that mystery cult still around in people's subconcious mind in Mexico, especially the North. I like using his image in my works, and then taking all the political association out of it. Then he is just a funny looking guy that is often sadly mistaken for Saddam Hussein or somebody else.
9. Are all of the Acamonchis from Tijuandiego?
San Diego, Tijuana, Ensenada, Mexico City and Salamanca Spain and Vancouver Canada.
10. List ten words that best describe your environment?
We live on a very diverse neighborhood, lots of gay people and all that comes with the rainbow culture (Mad dykes with Mullets too). Sometimes it can be really sketch with a couple of ghetto birds flying all over the hood. We live on a small apartment, and I usually create my own atmosphere between our place and the studio and whatever comes in between with family, friends, artists etc. We travel a lot so we're exposed to different environments, and we accept things and people as they come and go.
11. Raul Velasco or Regis Philbin? Why?
(Note to readers: Raul Velasco was a popular culture icon in Mexico that hosted a long-time running variety show called "Siempre en Domingo")
Raul Velasco, he sucks.. I think he's pretty pathetic. In 1994 I visited Guanajuato Mexico, in the state of Leon and I cursed the land by saying: "I can't fucking belive this amazing place also gave birth to that son of a bitch.."
12. Shakira or Britney? Why?
Can't you pull a better question? lack of imagination my friend, Let me say they both suck regardless of where they coming from. Please give me somebody who is more interesting to talk about, How about taking Julieta Venegas or Dolores O'Riordan from the Cranberries instead?! I met Julieta when she used to play with "Tijuana NO" back in 1991, she was very cute and very shy, I think Dolores O'Riordan is pretty hot too, loved her short black hairdo the freckles and her blue eyes. I don't care Dolores is not popular anymore, I still like her. I often wonder what does she looks now.
13. I know from your website that Acamonchi means "to piggy back" and that there is no particular reason for choosing that name
- but what would have been your second choice?
I don't know.. but Eye Candy wouldn't be for sure.
14. What is the most common stereotype Acamonchi encounter being
Mexican guerilla artists/visionaries?
Most people think I'm into drugs of some kind. Heavy drinking and/or that I'm a party animal. Some kids also think I'm into gangs and often make gang references. Girls think I'm available when I'm by myself at the artshows and feel free to flirt even If I keep my wedding ring at all the times, I guess the most common thing for anybody to think about Acamonchi would be that I have a lot of free time on my hands. When in fact, I don't do drugs or drink and I don't have time to party. I'm also happily married. Gangs? no thanks.. Don't need one as I'm pretty confident about myself and I'm pretty busy for the most part.
15. How could you best disspell that?
By talking to them straight up and being honest. Kids can fool around and talk shit, but my work and my actions talk even louder. I keep it real. I prove myself with action, no more no less. I work hard with Acamonchi and I always find time to support others that needs me.
16. Have any of the Acamonchis ever been busted for their criminal art activities?
Havok is been busted a couple of times for graffiti related crimes but that was few years ago. Shente had some trouble in Tijuana, not much that good $20.00 can't fix. . I've been really careful about hitting spots, I feel pretty lucky so far. I have a couple of friends that are lawyers and I keep their names in mind if I ever get into trouble.
For legal status reasons I do not do any graffiti related stuff in the US. I strictly keep all my street art activities in Mexico. I also think it is where they need it the most. In the US, Acamonchi is more about an art project at the fine art and gallery level.
17. Who is your most beloved Mexican pop-culture icon/personality?
(Please explain why for our gringo readership).
Wrestling is such a cliche now, so I'll pass from the Lucha Libre subject. I like El Mago Frank a lot, he's the guy that appears with "En Familia con Chabelo" Sunday morning show, he's a silly magician with a dumb white rabbit. He's pretty tacky. I even have a poster of him on my wall. I also like Kaliman, the comics and the movies, he's some sort of a Mexican super hero. The story is based on a Middle- Eastern guy that has supernatural powers. Think of Kaliman as Superman with a turban. Kaliman is a must for the Mex-kitsch enthusiast.
18. Same as question #17, only American.
Bob Dobbs of Church of Subgenious. If you don't know who he is, you deserve a Mullet haircut, if you have a Mullet already, then a hard kick in the butt with steel toe boot will do.
19. Eyecandy magazine is considered somewhat of a "dirty and perverted old man" in our town, because of our underground subject matter. Oh yeah, and ocassionally we do photoshoots of individuals in various states of undress - erotic photography and exhibitionists who want to be featured in our magazine (we see nothing wrong with nudity) - Any ideas on how we can influence our audience/town on how to fucking relax and not be so conservative and uptight?
I watch porn sometimes, It helps me understand sexuality and other people's lifestyles. I like observing everything and I really find it fascinating for the human behaviors. When I used to work at Black Market Visual Communications in downtown San Diego, I used to see homeless people having sex and other crazy shit on the street, I remember laughing at those kind of random little surprises. I've also seen homeless taking a dump in public places, so between being grossed out and insanely curiousity I'd say I get a kick out of it.
As long they don't shit in our alley entrace or they try to force me or my wife to get engaged in their activities, it's all up to them. After all, those individuals are part of everyday life. You can't tell then how to live their lifes. I guess they also deserve to have their pictures taken, so you can always show it to your kids and say, look son; this is what will happen to you if you don't go to school blah blah crap like that.
20. THE BIG FINALE: Would you be willing to send us the most visual
"eyecandy" photo - that you can think of - of the Acamonchi posse?
(If it really kicks ass, we'll put you on our cover!)
Neat.. I'll choose some of the digital flicks I've taking lately from the studio or the new Acamonchi works.
Very small apartment "dining" room. Distortion on the left due to shooting at 16mm to make the room feel a bit larger and grab a bit more walls to show the space.
HDR blend of 3 exposures.
The Eiffel Tower (French: La Tour Eiffel, nickname La dame de fer, the iron lady) is an iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris, named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Erected in 1889 as the entrance arch to the 1889 World's Fair, it has become both a global cultural icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. The tower is the tallest structure in Paris and the most-visited paid monument in the world; 7.1 million people ascended it in 2011. The third level observatory's upper platform is at 279.11 m the highest accessible to public in the European Union and the highest in Europe as long as the platform of the Ostankino Tower, at 360 m, remains closed as a result of the fire of August 2000. The tower received its 250 millionth visitor in 2010.
The tower stands 320 metres (1,050 ft) tall, about the same height as an 81-storey building. During its construction, the Eiffel Tower surpassed the Washington Monument to assume the title of the tallest man-made structure in the world, a title it held for 41 years, until the Chrysler Building in New York City was built in 1930. However, because of the addition, in 1957, of the antenna atop the Eiffel Tower, it is now taller than the Chrysler Building. Not including broadcast antennas, it is the second-tallest structure in France, after the Millau Viaduct.
The tower has three levels for visitors. Tickets can be purchased to ascend, by stairs or lift (elevator), to the first and second levels. The walk from ground level to the first level is over 300 steps, as is the walk from the first to the second level. The third and highest level is accessible only by lift - stairs exist but they are not usually open for public use. Both the first and second levels feature restaurants.
The tower has become the most prominent symbol of both Paris and France, often in the establishing shot of films set in the city.
History
Origin
First drawing of the Eiffel Tower by Maurice Koechlin
The design of the Eiffel Tower was originated by Maurice Koechlin and Émile Nouguier, two senior engineers who worked for the Compagnie des Establissments Eiffel after discussion about a suitable centrepiece for the proposed 1889 Exposition Universelle, a World's Fair which would celebrate the centennial of the French Revolution. In May 1884 Koechlin, working at his home, made an outline drawing of their scheme, described by him as "a great pylon, consisting of four lattice girders standing apart at the base and coming together at the top, joined together by metal trusses at regular intervals". Initially Eiffel himself showed little enthusiasm, but he did sanction further study of the project, and the two engineers then asked Stephen Sauvestre, the head of company's architectural department, to contribute to the design. Sauvestre added decorative arches to the base, a glass pavilion to the first level and other embellishments. This enhanced version gained Eiffel's support, and he bought the rights to the patent on the design which Koechlin, Nougier and Sauvestre had taken out, and the design was exhibited at the Exhibition of Decorative Arts in the autumn of 1884 under the company name. On 30 March 1885 Eiffel read a paper on the project to the Société des Ingiénieurs Civils: after discussing the technical problems and emphasising the practical uses of the tower, he finished his talk by saying that the tower would symbolise "not only the art of the modern engineer, but also the century of Industry and Science in which we are living, and for which the way was prepared by the great scientific movement of the eighteenth century and by the Revolution of 1789, to which this monument will be built as an expression of France's gratitude."
Little happened until the beginning of 1886, when Jules Grévy was re-elected as President and Édouard Lockroy was appointed as Minister for Trade. A budget for the Exposition was passed and on 1 May Lockroy announced an alteration to the terms of the open competition which was being held for a centerpiece for the exposition, which effectively made the choice of Eiffel's design a foregone conclusion: all entries had to include a study for a 300 m (980 ft) four-sided metal tower on the Champ de Mars. On 12 May a commission was set up to examine Eiffel's scheme and its rivals and on 12 June it presented its decision, which was that all the proposals except Eiffel's were either impractical or insufficiently worked out. After some debate about the exact site for the tower, a contract was finally signed on 8 January 1887. This was signed by Eiffel acting in his own capacity rather than as the representative of his company, and granted him one and a half million francs toward the construction costs: less than a quarter of the estimated cost of six and a half million francs. Eiffel was to receive all income from the commercial exploitation of the tower during the exhibition and for the following twenty years. Eiffel later established a separate company to manage the tower, putting up half the necessary capital himself.
The "Artists Protest"
Caricature of Gustave Eiffel comparing the Eiffel tower to the Pyramids.
The projected tower had been a subject of some controversy, attracting criticism both from those who did not believe that it was feasible and also from those who objected on artistic grounds. Their objections were an expression of a longstanding debate about relationship between architecture and engineering. This came to a head as work began at the Champ de Mars: A "Committee of Three Hundred" (one member for each metre of the tower's height) was formed, led by the prominent architect Charles Garnier and including some of the most important figures of the French arts establishment, including Adolphe Bouguereau, Guy de Maupassant, Charles Gounod and Jules Massenet: a petition was sent to Charles Alphand, the Minister of Works and Commissioner for the Exposition, and was published by Le Temps.
"We, writers, painters, sculptors, architects and passionate devotees of the hitherto untouched beauty of Paris, protest with all our strength, with all our indignation in the name of slighted French taste, against the erection…of this useless and monstrous Eiffel Tower … To bring our arguments home, imagine for a moment a giddy, ridiculous tower dominating Paris like a gigantic black smokestack, crushing under its barbaric bulk Notre Dame, the Tour Saint-Jacques, the Louvre, the Dome of les Invalides, the Arc de Triomphe, all of our humiliated monuments will disappear in this ghastly dream. And for twenty years … we shall see stretching like a blot of ink the hateful shadow of the hateful column of bolted sheet metal"
Gustave Eiffel responded to these criticisms by comparing his tower to the Egyptian Pyramids : "My tower will be the tallest edifice ever erected by man. Will it not also be grandiose in its way ? And why would something admirable in Egypt become hideous and ridiculous in Paris ?" These criticisms were also masterfully dealt with by Édouard Lockroy in a letter of support written to Alphand, ironically saying "Judging by the stately swell of the rhythms, the beauty of the metaphors, the elegance of its delicate and precise style, one can tell that …this protest is the result of collaboration of the most famous writers and poets of our time", and going on to point out that the protest was irrelevant since the project had been decided upon months before and was already under construction. Indeed, Garnier had been a member of the Tower Commission that had assessed the various proposals, and had raised no objection. Eiffel was similarly unworried, pointing out to a journalist that it was premature to judge the effect of the tower solely on the basis of the drawings, that the Champ de Mars was distant enough from the monuments mentioned in the protest for there to be little risk of the tower overwhelming them, and putting the aesthetic argument for the Tower: "Do not the laws of natural forces always conform to the secret laws of harmony?"
Some of the protestors were to change their minds when the tower was built: others remained unconvinced. Guy de Maupassant[20] supposedly ate lunch in the Tower's restaurant every day. When asked why, he answered that it was the one place in Paris where one could not see the structure. Today, the Tower is widely considered to be a striking piece of structural art.
Construction
Foundations of the Eiffel Tower
Eiffel Tower under construction between 1887 and 1889
Work on the foundations started in January 1887. Those for the east and south legs were straightforward, each leg resting on four 2 m (6.6 ft) concrete slabs, one for each of the principal girders of each leg but the other two, being closer to the river Seine were more complicated: each slab needed two piles installed by using compressed-air caissons 15 m (49 ft) long and 6 m (20 ft) in diameter driven to a depth of 22 m (72 ft)[21] to support the concrete slabs, which were 6 m (20 ft) thick. Each of these slabs supported a block built of limestone each with an inclined top to bear a supporting shoe for the ironwork. Each shoe was anchored into the stonework by a pair of bolts 10 cm (4 in) in diameter and 7.5 m (25 ft) long. The foundations were complete by 30 June and the erection of the ironwork began. The very visible work on-site was complemented by the enormous amount of exacting preparatory work that was entailed: the drawing office produced 1,700 general drawings and 3,629 detailed drawings of the 18,038 different parts needed:
The task of drawing the components was complicated by the complex angles involved in the design and the degree of precision required: the position of rivet holes was specified to within 0.1 mm (0.04 in) and angles worked out to one second of arc. The finished components, some already riveted together into sub-assemblies, arrived on horse-drawn carts from the factory in the nearby Parisian suburb of Levallois-Perret and were first bolted together, the bolts being replaced by rivets as construction progressed. No drilling or shaping was done on site: if any part did not fit it was sent back to the factory for alteration. In all there were 18,038 pieces of puddle iron using two and a half million rivets.
At first the legs were constructed as cantilevers but about halfway to the first level construction was paused in order to construct a substantial timber scaffold. This caused a renewal of the concerns about the structural soundness of the project, and sensational headlines such as "Eiffel Suicide!" and "Gustave Eiffel has gone mad: he has been confined in an Asylum" appeared in the popular press. At this stage a small "creeper" crane was installed in each leg, designed to move up the tower as construction progressed and making use of the guides for the lifts which were to be fitted in each leg. The critical stage of joining the four legs at the first level was complete by March 1888. Although the metalwork had been prepared with the utmost precision, provision had been made to carry out small adjustments in order to precisely align the legs: hydraulic jacks were fitted to the shoes at the base of each leg, each capable of exerting a force of 800 tonnes, and in addition the legs had been intentionally constructed at a slightly steeper angle than necessary, being supported by sandboxes on the scaffold.
No more than three hundred workers were employed on site, and because Eiffel took safety precautions, including the use of movable stagings, guard-rails and screens, only one man died during construction.
Inauguration and the 1889 Exposition
The 1889 Exposition Universelle for which the Eiffel Tower was built
The main structural work was completed at the end of March 1889 and on the 31st Eiffel celebrated this by leading a group of government officials, accompanied by representatives of the press, to the top of the tower. Since the lifts were not yet in operation, the ascent was made by foot, and took over an hour, Eiffel frequently stopping to make explanations of various features. Most of the party chose to stop at the lower levels, but a few, including Nouguier, Compagnon, the President of the City Council and reporters from Le Figaro and Le Monde Illustré completed the climb. At 2.35 Eiffel hoisted a large tricolore, to the accompaniment of a 25-gun salute fired from the lower level. There was still work to be done, particularly on the lifts and the fitting out of the facilities for visitors, and the tower was not opened to the public until nine days after the opening of the Exposition on 6 May, and even then the lifts had not been completed.
The tower was an immediate success with the public, and lengthy queues formed to make the ascent. Tickets cost 2 francs for the first level, 3 for the second and 5 for the top, with half-price admission on Sundays, and by the end of the exhibition there had been nearly two million visitors.
Eiffel had a permit for the tower to stand for 20 years; it was to be dismantled in 1909, when its ownership would revert to the City of Paris. The City had planned to tear it down (part of the original contest rules for designing a tower was that it could be easily demolished) but as the tower proved valuable for communication purposes, it was allowed to remain after the expiry of the permit. In the opening weeks of the First World War the powerful radio transmitters using the tower were used to jam German communications, seriously hindering their advance on Paris and contributing to the Allied victory at the First Battle of the Marne.
Subsequent events
10 September 1889 Thomas Edison visited the tower. He signed the guestbook with the following message— To M Eiffel the Engineer the brave builder of so gigantic and original specimen of modern Engineering from one who has the greatest respect and admiration for all Engineers including the Great Engineer the Bon Dieu, Thomas Edison.
19 October 1901 Alberto Santos-Dumont in his Dirigible No.6 won a 10,000-franc prize offered by Henri Deutsch de la Meurthe for the first person to make a flight from St Cloud to the Eiffel tower and back in less than half an hour.
1910 Father Theodor Wulf measured radiant energy at the top and bottom of the tower. He found more at the top than expected, incidentally discovering what are today known as cosmic rays.[28]
4 February 1912 Austrian tailor Franz Reichelt died after jumping 60 metres from the first deck of Eiffel tower with his home-made parachute.
1914 A radio transmitter located in the tower jammed German radio communications during the lead-up to the First Battle of the Marne.
1925 The con artist Victor Lustig "sold" the tower for scrap metal on two separate, but related occasions.
1930 The tower lost the title of the world's tallest structure when the Chrysler Building was completed in New York City.
1925 to 1934 Illuminated signs for Citroën adorned three of the tower's four sides, making it the tallest advertising space in the world at the time.
1940–1944 Upon the German occupation of Paris in 1940, the lift cables were cut by the French so that Adolf Hitler would have to climb the steps to the summit. The parts to repair them were allegedly impossible to obtain because of the war. In 1940 German soldiers had to climb to the top to hoist the swastika[citation needed], but the flag was so large it blew away just a few hours later, and was replaced by a smaller one. When visiting Paris, Hitler chose to stay on the ground. It was said that Hitler conquered France, but did not conquer the Eiffel Tower. A Frenchman scaled the tower during the German occupation to hang the French flag. In August 1944, when the Allies were nearing Paris, Hitler ordered General Dietrich von Choltitz, the military governor of Paris, to demolish the tower along with the rest of the city. Von Choltitz disobeyed the order. Some say Hitler was later persuaded to keep the tower intact so it could later be used for communications. The lifts of the Tower were working normally within hours of the Liberation of Paris.
3 January 1956 A fire damaged the top of the tower.
1957 The present radio antenna was added to the top.
1980s A restaurant and its supporting iron scaffolding midway up the tower was dismantled; it was purchased and reconstructed on St. Charles Avenue and Josephine Street in the Garden District of New Orleans, Louisiana, by entrepreneurs John Onorio and Daniel Bonnot, originally as the Tour Eiffel Restaurant, later as the Red Room and now as the Cricket Club (owned by the New Orleans Culinary Institute). The restaurant was re-assembled from 11,000 pieces that crossed the Atlantic in a 40-foot (12 m) cargo container.
31 March 1984 Robert Moriarty flew a Beechcraft Bonanza through the arches of the tower.
1987 A.J. Hackett made one of his first bungee jumps from the top of the Eiffel Tower, using a special cord he had helped develop. Hackett was arrested by the Paris police upon reaching the ground.
27 October 1991 Thierry Devaux, along with mountain guide Hervé Calvayrac, performed a series of acrobatic figures of bungee jumping (not allowed) from the second floor of the Tower. Facing the Champ de Mars, Thierry Devaux was using an electric winch between each figure to go back up. When firemen arrived, he stopped after the sixth bungee jump.
New Year's Eve 1999 The Eiffel Tower played host to Paris's Millennium Celebration. On this occasion, flashing lights and four high-power searchlights were installed on the tower, and fireworks were set off all over it. An exhibition above a cafeteria on the first floor commemorates this event. Since then, the light show has become a nightly event. The searchlights on top of the tower make it a beacon in Paris's night sky, and the 20,000 flash bulbs give the tower a sparkly appearance every hour on the hour.
28 November 2002 The tower received its 200,000,000th guest.
2004 The Eiffel Tower began hosting an ice skating rink on the first floor each winter.
Design of the tower
Material
The Eiffel Tower from below
The puddle iron structure of the Eiffel Tower weighs 7,300 tonnes, while the entire structure, including non-metal components, is approximately 10,000 tonnes. As a demonstration of the economy of design, if the 7,300 tonnes of the metal structure were melted down it would fill the 125-metre-square base to a depth of only 6 cm (2.36 in), assuming the density of the metal to be 7.8 tonnes per cubic metre. Depending on the ambient temperature, the top of the tower may shift away from the sun by up to 18 cm (7.1 in) because of thermal expansion of the metal on the side facing the sun.
Wind considerations
At the time the tower was built many people were shocked by its daring shape. Eiffel was criticised for the design and accused of trying to create something artistic, or inartistic according to the viewer, without regard to engineering. Eiffel and his engineers, however, as experienced bridge builders, understood the importance of wind forces and knew that if they were going to build the tallest structure in the world they had to be certain it would withstand the wind. In an interview reported in the newspaper Le Temps, Eiffel said:
Now to what phenomenon did I give primary concern in designing the Tower? It was wind resistance. Well then! I hold that the curvature of the monument's four outer edges, which is as mathematical calculation dictated it should be […] will give a great impression of strength and beauty, for it will reveal to the eyes of the observer the boldness of the design as a whole.[37]
Researchers have found that Eiffel used empirical and graphical methods accounting for the effects of wind rather than a specific mathematical formula. Careful examination of the tower shows a basically exponential shape; actually two different exponentials, the lower section overdesigned to ensure resistance to wind forces. Several mathematical explanations have been proposed over the years for the success of the design; the most recent is described as a nonlinear integral equation based on counterbalancing the wind pressure on any point on the tower with the tension between the construction elements at that point. As a demonstration of the tower's effectiveness in wind resistance, it sways only 6–7 cm (2–3 in) in the wind.
Accommodation
When built, the first level contained two restaurants: an "Anglo-American Bar", and a 250 seat theatre. A 2.6 m (8 ft 6 in) promenade ran around the outside.
On the second level, the French newspaper Le Figaro had an office and a printing press, where a special souvenir edition, Le Figaro de la Tour, was produced. There was also a pâtisserie.
On the third level were laboratories for various experiments and a small apartment reserved for Gustave Eiffel to entertain guests. This is now open to the public, complete with period decorations and lifelike models of Gustave and some guests.
Engraved names
Gustave Eiffel engraved on the tower seventy-two names of French scientists, engineers and other notable people. This engraving was painted over at the beginning of the twentieth century but restored in 1986–1987 by the Société Nouvelle d'exploitation de la Tour Eiffel, a company contracted to operate business related to the Tower.
Maintenance
Maintenance of the tower includes applying 50 to 60 tonnes of paint every seven years to protect it from rust. The height of the Eiffel Tower varies by 15 cm due to temperature.
Aesthetic considerations
In order to enhance the impression of height, three separate colours of paint are used on the tower, with the darkest on the bottom and the lightest at the top. On occasion the colour of the paint is changed; the tower is currently painted a shade of bronze. On the first floor there are interactive consoles hosting a poll for the colour to use for a future session of painting.
The only non-structural elements are the four decorative grillwork arches, added in Stephen Sauvestre's sketches, which served to reassure visitors that the structure was safe, and to frame views of other nearby architecture.
One of the great Hollywood movie clichés is that the view from a Parisian window always includes the tower. In reality, since zoning restrictions limit the height of most buildings in Paris to 7 storeys, only a very few of the taller buildings have a clear view of the tower.
Popularity
More than 200,000,000 people have visited the tower since its construction in 1889, including 6,719,200 in 2006. The tower is the most-visited paid monument in the world.
Passenger lifts
Ground to the second level
The original lifts (elevators) to the first and second floors were provided by two companies. Both companies had to overcome many technical obstacles as neither company (or indeed any company) had experience with installing lifts climbing to such heights with large loads. The slanting tracks with changing angles further complicated the problems. The East and West lifts were supplied by the French company Roux Combaluzier Lepape, using hydraulically powered chains and rollers. The North and South lifts were provided by the American company Otis using car designs similar to the original installation but using an improved hydraulic and cable scheme. The French lifts had a very poor performance and were replaced with the current installations in 1897 (West Pillar) and 1899 (East Pillar) by Fives-Lille using an improved hydraulic and rope scheme. Both of the original installations operated broadly on the principle of the Fives-Lille lifts.
The Fives-Lille lifts from ground level to the first and second levels are operated by cables and pulleys driven by massive water-powered pistons. The hydraulic scheme was somewhat unusual for the time in that it included three large counterweights of 200 tonnes each sitting on top of hydraulic rams which doubled up as accumulators for the water. As the lifts ascend the inclined arc of the pillars, the angle of ascent changes. The two lift cabs are kept more or less level and indeed are level at the landings. The cab floors do take on a slight angle at times between landings.
The principle behind the lifts is similar to the operation of a block and tackle but in reverse. Two large hydraulic rams (over 1 metre diameter) with a 16 metre travel are mounted horizontally in the base of the pillar which pushes a carriage (the French word for it translates as chariot and this term will be used henceforth to distinguish it from the lift carriage) with 16 large triple sheaves mounted on it. There are 14 similar sheaves mounted statically. Six wire ropes are rove back and forth between the sheaves such that each rope passes between the 2 sets of sheaves 7 times. The ropes then leave the final sheaves on the chariot and pass up through a series of guiding sheaves to above the second floor and then through a pair of triple sheaves back down to the lift carriage again passing guiding sheaves.
This arrangement means that the lift carriage, complete with its cars and passengers, travels 8 times the distance that the rams move the chariot, the 128 metres from the ground to the second floor. The force exerted by the rams also has to be 8 times the total weight of the lift carriage, cars and passengers, plus extra to account for various losses such as friction. The hydraulic fluid was water, normally stored in three accumulators, complete with counterbalance weights. To make the lift ascend, water was pumped using an electrically driven pump from the accumulators to the two rams. Since the counterbalance weights provided much of the pressure required, the pump only had to provide the extra effort. For the descent, it was only necessary to allow the water to flow back to the accumulators using a control valve. The lifts were operated by an operator perched precariously underneath the lift cars. His position (with a dummy operator) can still be seen on the lifts today.
The Fives-Lille lifts were completely upgraded in 1986 to meet modern safety requirements and to make the lifts easier to operate. A new computer-controlled system was installed which completely automated the operation. One of the three counterbalances was taken out of use, and the cars were replaced with a more modern and lighter structure. Most importantly, the main driving force was removed from the original water pump such that the water hydraulic system provided only a counterbalancing function. The main driving force was transferred to a 320 kW electrically driven oil hydraulic pump which drives a pair of hydraulic motors on the chariot itself, thus providing the motive power. The new lift cars complete with their carriage and a full 92 passenger load weigh 22 tonnes.
Owing to elasticity in the ropes and the time taken to get the cars level with the landings, each lift in normal service takes an average of 8 minutes and 50 seconds to do the round trip, spending an average of 1 minute and 15 seconds at each floor. The average journey time between floors is just 1 minute.
The original Otis lifts in the North and South pillars in their turn proved to be inferior to the new (in 1899) French lifts and were scrapped from the South pillar in 1900 and from the North pillar in 1913 after failed attempts to repower them with an electric motor. The North and South pillars were to remain without lifts until 1965 when increasing visitor numbers persuaded the operators to install a relatively standard and modern cable hoisted system in the north pillar using a cable-hauled counterbalance weight, but hoisted by a block and tackle system to reduce its travel to one third of the lift travel. The counterbalance is clearly visible within the structure of the North pillar. This latter lift was upgraded in 1995 with new cars and computer controls.
The South pillar acquired a completely new fairly standard electrically driven lift in 1983 to serve the Jules Verne restaurant. This was also supplied by Otis. A further four-ton service lift was added to the South pillar in 1989 by Otis to relieve the main lifts when moving relatively small loads or even just maintenance personnel.
The East and West hydraulic (water) lift works are on display and, at least in theory, are open to the public in a small museum located in base of the East and West tower, which is somewhat hidden from public view. Because the massive mechanism requires frequent lubrication and attention, public access is often restricted. However, when open, the wait times are much less than the other, more popular, attractions. The rope mechanism of the North tower is visible to visitors as they exit from the lift.
Second to the third level
The original spiral stairs to the third floor which were only 80 centimetres wide. Note also the small service lift in the background.
The original lifts from the second to the third floor were also of a water-powered hydraulic design supplied by Léon Edoux. Instead of using a separate counterbalance, the two lift cars counterbalanced each other. A pair of 81-metre-long hydraulic rams were mounted on the second level reaching nearly halfway up to the third level. A lift car was mounted on top of the rams. Ropes ran from the top of this car up to a sheave on the third level and back down to a second car. The result of this arrangement was that each car only travelled half the distance between the second and third levels and passengers were required to change lifts halfway walking between the cars along a narrow gangway with a very impressive and relatively unobstructed downward view. The ten-ton cars held 65 passengers each or up to four tons.
One interesting feature of the original installation was that the hoisting rope ran through guides to retain it on windy days to prevent it flapping and becoming damaged. The guides were mechanically moved out of the way of the ascending car by the movement of the car itself. In spite of some antifreeze being added to the water that operated this system, it nevertheless had to close to the public from November to March each year.
The original lifts complete with their hydraulic mechanism were completely scrapped in 1982 after 97 years of service. They were replaced with two pairs of relatively standard rope hoisted cars which were able to operate all the year round. The cars operate in pairs with one providing the counterbalance for the other. Neither car can move unless both sets of doors are closed and both operators have given a start command. The commands from the cars to the hoisting mechanism are by radio obviating the necessity of a control cable. The replacement installation also has the advantage that the ascent can be made without changing cars and has reduced the ascent time from 8 minutes (including change) to 1 minute and 40 seconds. This installation also has guides for the hoisting ropes but they are electrically operated. The guide once it has moved out of the way as the car ascends automatically reverses when the car has passed to prevent the mechanism becoming snagged on the car on the downward journey in the event it has failed to completely clear the car. Unfortunately these lifts do not have the capacity to move as many people as the three public lower lifts and long lines to ascend to the third level are common. Most of the intermediate level structure present on the tower today was installed when the lifts were replaced and allows maintenance workers to take the lift halfway.
The replacement of these lifts allowed the restructuring of the criss-cross beams in upper part of the tower and further allowed the installation of two emergency staircases. These replaced the dangerous winding stairs that were installed when the tower was constructed.
Restaurants
The tower has two restaurants: Le 58 tour Eiffel, on the first floor 311 ft (95 m) above sea level; and the Le Jules Verne, a gastronomical restaurant on the second floor, with a private lift. This restaurant has one star in the Michelin Red Guide. In January 2007, the multi-Michelin star chef Alain Ducasse was brought in to run Jules Verne.
Attempted relocation
According to interviews given in the early 1980s, Montreal Mayor Jean Drapeau negotiated a secret agreement with French President Charles de Gaulle for the tower to be dismantled and temporarily relocated to Montreal to serve as a landmark and tourist attraction during Expo 67. The plan was allegedly vetoed by the company which operated the tower out of fear that the French government could refuse permission for the tower to be restored to its original location.
Economics
The American TV show Pricing the Priceless speculates that in 2011 the tower would cost about $480,000,000 to build, that the land under the tower is worth $350,000,000, and that the scrap value of the tower is worth $3,500,000. The TV show estimates the tower makes a profit of about $29,000,000 per year, though it is unlikely that the Eiffel Tower is managed so as to maximize profit.
It costs $5,300,000 to repaint the tower, which is done once every seven years. The electric bill is $400,000 per year for 7.5 million kilowatt-hours.
The Tokyo Tower in Japan is a very similar structure of very similar size. It was finished in 1958 at a final cost of ¥2.8 billion ($8.4 million in 1958).
Source Wikipedia
Brush Park, Detroit, Michigan.
This long-abandoned building appeared to be either a very large house or, more likely, a small apartment building or boarding house. It's located just down the street from the Unitarian Universalist Church.
I know these Brush Park shots aren't all that artsy...they're intended to be more documentary.
Night, full moon, natural xenon flashlight.
Celebrating Christmas 1973 in our small apartment in Norman, Oklahoma.
As you can see our only son (at the time), Branden, got the Mattel Putt Putt Railroad.
Bilder tagna inne i en liten lägenhet i Stockholm under coronakrisen 2020. Images shot from inside a small apartment in Stockholm during the corona crisis of 2020.
The Eiffel Tower (French: La Tour Eiffel, nickname La dame de fer, the iron lady) is an iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris, named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Erected in 1889 as the entrance arch to the 1889 World's Fair, it has become both a global cultural icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. The tower is the tallest structure in Paris and the most-visited paid monument in the world; 7.1 million people ascended it in 2011. The third level observatory's upper platform is at 279.11 m the highest accessible to public in the European Union and the highest in Europe as long as the platform of the Ostankino Tower, at 360 m, remains closed as a result of the fire of August 2000. The tower received its 250 millionth visitor in 2010.
The tower stands 320 metres (1,050 ft) tall, about the same height as an 81-storey building. During its construction, the Eiffel Tower surpassed the Washington Monument to assume the title of the tallest man-made structure in the world, a title it held for 41 years, until the Chrysler Building in New York City was built in 1930. However, because of the addition, in 1957, of the antenna atop the Eiffel Tower, it is now taller than the Chrysler Building. Not including broadcast antennas, it is the second-tallest structure in France, after the Millau Viaduct.
The tower has three levels for visitors. Tickets can be purchased to ascend, by stairs or lift (elevator), to the first and second levels. The walk from ground level to the first level is over 300 steps, as is the walk from the first to the second level. The third and highest level is accessible only by lift - stairs exist but they are not usually open for public use. Both the first and second levels feature restaurants.
The tower has become the most prominent symbol of both Paris and France, often in the establishing shot of films set in the city.
History
Origin
First drawing of the Eiffel Tower by Maurice Koechlin
The design of the Eiffel Tower was originated by Maurice Koechlin and Émile Nouguier, two senior engineers who worked for the Compagnie des Establissments Eiffel after discussion about a suitable centrepiece for the proposed 1889 Exposition Universelle, a World's Fair which would celebrate the centennial of the French Revolution. In May 1884 Koechlin, working at his home, made an outline drawing of their scheme, described by him as "a great pylon, consisting of four lattice girders standing apart at the base and coming together at the top, joined together by metal trusses at regular intervals". Initially Eiffel himself showed little enthusiasm, but he did sanction further study of the project, and the two engineers then asked Stephen Sauvestre, the head of company's architectural department, to contribute to the design. Sauvestre added decorative arches to the base, a glass pavilion to the first level and other embellishments. This enhanced version gained Eiffel's support, and he bought the rights to the patent on the design which Koechlin, Nougier and Sauvestre had taken out, and the design was exhibited at the Exhibition of Decorative Arts in the autumn of 1884 under the company name. On 30 March 1885 Eiffel read a paper on the project to the Société des Ingiénieurs Civils: after discussing the technical problems and emphasising the practical uses of the tower, he finished his talk by saying that the tower would symbolise "not only the art of the modern engineer, but also the century of Industry and Science in which we are living, and for which the way was prepared by the great scientific movement of the eighteenth century and by the Revolution of 1789, to which this monument will be built as an expression of France's gratitude."
Little happened until the beginning of 1886, when Jules Grévy was re-elected as President and Édouard Lockroy was appointed as Minister for Trade. A budget for the Exposition was passed and on 1 May Lockroy announced an alteration to the terms of the open competition which was being held for a centerpiece for the exposition, which effectively made the choice of Eiffel's design a foregone conclusion: all entries had to include a study for a 300 m (980 ft) four-sided metal tower on the Champ de Mars. On 12 May a commission was set up to examine Eiffel's scheme and its rivals and on 12 June it presented its decision, which was that all the proposals except Eiffel's were either impractical or insufficiently worked out. After some debate about the exact site for the tower, a contract was finally signed on 8 January 1887. This was signed by Eiffel acting in his own capacity rather than as the representative of his company, and granted him one and a half million francs toward the construction costs: less than a quarter of the estimated cost of six and a half million francs. Eiffel was to receive all income from the commercial exploitation of the tower during the exhibition and for the following twenty years. Eiffel later established a separate company to manage the tower, putting up half the necessary capital himself.
The "Artists Protest"
Caricature of Gustave Eiffel comparing the Eiffel tower to the Pyramids.
The projected tower had been a subject of some controversy, attracting criticism both from those who did not believe that it was feasible and also from those who objected on artistic grounds. Their objections were an expression of a longstanding debate about relationship between architecture and engineering. This came to a head as work began at the Champ de Mars: A "Committee of Three Hundred" (one member for each metre of the tower's height) was formed, led by the prominent architect Charles Garnier and including some of the most important figures of the French arts establishment, including Adolphe Bouguereau, Guy de Maupassant, Charles Gounod and Jules Massenet: a petition was sent to Charles Alphand, the Minister of Works and Commissioner for the Exposition, and was published by Le Temps.
"We, writers, painters, sculptors, architects and passionate devotees of the hitherto untouched beauty of Paris, protest with all our strength, with all our indignation in the name of slighted French taste, against the erection…of this useless and monstrous Eiffel Tower … To bring our arguments home, imagine for a moment a giddy, ridiculous tower dominating Paris like a gigantic black smokestack, crushing under its barbaric bulk Notre Dame, the Tour Saint-Jacques, the Louvre, the Dome of les Invalides, the Arc de Triomphe, all of our humiliated monuments will disappear in this ghastly dream. And for twenty years … we shall see stretching like a blot of ink the hateful shadow of the hateful column of bolted sheet metal"
Gustave Eiffel responded to these criticisms by comparing his tower to the Egyptian Pyramids : "My tower will be the tallest edifice ever erected by man. Will it not also be grandiose in its way ? And why would something admirable in Egypt become hideous and ridiculous in Paris ?" These criticisms were also masterfully dealt with by Édouard Lockroy in a letter of support written to Alphand, ironically saying "Judging by the stately swell of the rhythms, the beauty of the metaphors, the elegance of its delicate and precise style, one can tell that …this protest is the result of collaboration of the most famous writers and poets of our time", and going on to point out that the protest was irrelevant since the project had been decided upon months before and was already under construction. Indeed, Garnier had been a member of the Tower Commission that had assessed the various proposals, and had raised no objection. Eiffel was similarly unworried, pointing out to a journalist that it was premature to judge the effect of the tower solely on the basis of the drawings, that the Champ de Mars was distant enough from the monuments mentioned in the protest for there to be little risk of the tower overwhelming them, and putting the aesthetic argument for the Tower: "Do not the laws of natural forces always conform to the secret laws of harmony?"
Some of the protestors were to change their minds when the tower was built: others remained unconvinced. Guy de Maupassant[20] supposedly ate lunch in the Tower's restaurant every day. When asked why, he answered that it was the one place in Paris where one could not see the structure. Today, the Tower is widely considered to be a striking piece of structural art.
Construction
Foundations of the Eiffel Tower
Eiffel Tower under construction between 1887 and 1889
Work on the foundations started in January 1887. Those for the east and south legs were straightforward, each leg resting on four 2 m (6.6 ft) concrete slabs, one for each of the principal girders of each leg but the other two, being closer to the river Seine were more complicated: each slab needed two piles installed by using compressed-air caissons 15 m (49 ft) long and 6 m (20 ft) in diameter driven to a depth of 22 m (72 ft)[21] to support the concrete slabs, which were 6 m (20 ft) thick. Each of these slabs supported a block built of limestone each with an inclined top to bear a supporting shoe for the ironwork. Each shoe was anchored into the stonework by a pair of bolts 10 cm (4 in) in diameter and 7.5 m (25 ft) long. The foundations were complete by 30 June and the erection of the ironwork began. The very visible work on-site was complemented by the enormous amount of exacting preparatory work that was entailed: the drawing office produced 1,700 general drawings and 3,629 detailed drawings of the 18,038 different parts needed:
The task of drawing the components was complicated by the complex angles involved in the design and the degree of precision required: the position of rivet holes was specified to within 0.1 mm (0.04 in) and angles worked out to one second of arc. The finished components, some already riveted together into sub-assemblies, arrived on horse-drawn carts from the factory in the nearby Parisian suburb of Levallois-Perret and were first bolted together, the bolts being replaced by rivets as construction progressed. No drilling or shaping was done on site: if any part did not fit it was sent back to the factory for alteration. In all there were 18,038 pieces of puddle iron using two and a half million rivets.
At first the legs were constructed as cantilevers but about halfway to the first level construction was paused in order to construct a substantial timber scaffold. This caused a renewal of the concerns about the structural soundness of the project, and sensational headlines such as "Eiffel Suicide!" and "Gustave Eiffel has gone mad: he has been confined in an Asylum" appeared in the popular press. At this stage a small "creeper" crane was installed in each leg, designed to move up the tower as construction progressed and making use of the guides for the lifts which were to be fitted in each leg. The critical stage of joining the four legs at the first level was complete by March 1888. Although the metalwork had been prepared with the utmost precision, provision had been made to carry out small adjustments in order to precisely align the legs: hydraulic jacks were fitted to the shoes at the base of each leg, each capable of exerting a force of 800 tonnes, and in addition the legs had been intentionally constructed at a slightly steeper angle than necessary, being supported by sandboxes on the scaffold.
No more than three hundred workers were employed on site, and because Eiffel took safety precautions, including the use of movable stagings, guard-rails and screens, only one man died during construction.
Inauguration and the 1889 Exposition
The 1889 Exposition Universelle for which the Eiffel Tower was built
The main structural work was completed at the end of March 1889 and on the 31st Eiffel celebrated this by leading a group of government officials, accompanied by representatives of the press, to the top of the tower. Since the lifts were not yet in operation, the ascent was made by foot, and took over an hour, Eiffel frequently stopping to make explanations of various features. Most of the party chose to stop at the lower levels, but a few, including Nouguier, Compagnon, the President of the City Council and reporters from Le Figaro and Le Monde Illustré completed the climb. At 2.35 Eiffel hoisted a large tricolore, to the accompaniment of a 25-gun salute fired from the lower level. There was still work to be done, particularly on the lifts and the fitting out of the facilities for visitors, and the tower was not opened to the public until nine days after the opening of the Exposition on 6 May, and even then the lifts had not been completed.
The tower was an immediate success with the public, and lengthy queues formed to make the ascent. Tickets cost 2 francs for the first level, 3 for the second and 5 for the top, with half-price admission on Sundays, and by the end of the exhibition there had been nearly two million visitors.
Eiffel had a permit for the tower to stand for 20 years; it was to be dismantled in 1909, when its ownership would revert to the City of Paris. The City had planned to tear it down (part of the original contest rules for designing a tower was that it could be easily demolished) but as the tower proved valuable for communication purposes, it was allowed to remain after the expiry of the permit. In the opening weeks of the First World War the powerful radio transmitters using the tower were used to jam German communications, seriously hindering their advance on Paris and contributing to the Allied victory at the First Battle of the Marne.
Subsequent events
10 September 1889 Thomas Edison visited the tower. He signed the guestbook with the following message— To M Eiffel the Engineer the brave builder of so gigantic and original specimen of modern Engineering from one who has the greatest respect and admiration for all Engineers including the Great Engineer the Bon Dieu, Thomas Edison.
19 October 1901 Alberto Santos-Dumont in his Dirigible No.6 won a 10,000-franc prize offered by Henri Deutsch de la Meurthe for the first person to make a flight from St Cloud to the Eiffel tower and back in less than half an hour.
1910 Father Theodor Wulf measured radiant energy at the top and bottom of the tower. He found more at the top than expected, incidentally discovering what are today known as cosmic rays.[28]
4 February 1912 Austrian tailor Franz Reichelt died after jumping 60 metres from the first deck of Eiffel tower with his home-made parachute.
1914 A radio transmitter located in the tower jammed German radio communications during the lead-up to the First Battle of the Marne.
1925 The con artist Victor Lustig "sold" the tower for scrap metal on two separate, but related occasions.
1930 The tower lost the title of the world's tallest structure when the Chrysler Building was completed in New York City.
1925 to 1934 Illuminated signs for Citroën adorned three of the tower's four sides, making it the tallest advertising space in the world at the time.
1940–1944 Upon the German occupation of Paris in 1940, the lift cables were cut by the French so that Adolf Hitler would have to climb the steps to the summit. The parts to repair them were allegedly impossible to obtain because of the war. In 1940 German soldiers had to climb to the top to hoist the swastika[citation needed], but the flag was so large it blew away just a few hours later, and was replaced by a smaller one. When visiting Paris, Hitler chose to stay on the ground. It was said that Hitler conquered France, but did not conquer the Eiffel Tower. A Frenchman scaled the tower during the German occupation to hang the French flag. In August 1944, when the Allies were nearing Paris, Hitler ordered General Dietrich von Choltitz, the military governor of Paris, to demolish the tower along with the rest of the city. Von Choltitz disobeyed the order. Some say Hitler was later persuaded to keep the tower intact so it could later be used for communications. The lifts of the Tower were working normally within hours of the Liberation of Paris.
3 January 1956 A fire damaged the top of the tower.
1957 The present radio antenna was added to the top.
1980s A restaurant and its supporting iron scaffolding midway up the tower was dismantled; it was purchased and reconstructed on St. Charles Avenue and Josephine Street in the Garden District of New Orleans, Louisiana, by entrepreneurs John Onorio and Daniel Bonnot, originally as the Tour Eiffel Restaurant, later as the Red Room and now as the Cricket Club (owned by the New Orleans Culinary Institute). The restaurant was re-assembled from 11,000 pieces that crossed the Atlantic in a 40-foot (12 m) cargo container.
31 March 1984 Robert Moriarty flew a Beechcraft Bonanza through the arches of the tower.
1987 A.J. Hackett made one of his first bungee jumps from the top of the Eiffel Tower, using a special cord he had helped develop. Hackett was arrested by the Paris police upon reaching the ground.
27 October 1991 Thierry Devaux, along with mountain guide Hervé Calvayrac, performed a series of acrobatic figures of bungee jumping (not allowed) from the second floor of the Tower. Facing the Champ de Mars, Thierry Devaux was using an electric winch between each figure to go back up. When firemen arrived, he stopped after the sixth bungee jump.
New Year's Eve 1999 The Eiffel Tower played host to Paris's Millennium Celebration. On this occasion, flashing lights and four high-power searchlights were installed on the tower, and fireworks were set off all over it. An exhibition above a cafeteria on the first floor commemorates this event. Since then, the light show has become a nightly event. The searchlights on top of the tower make it a beacon in Paris's night sky, and the 20,000 flash bulbs give the tower a sparkly appearance every hour on the hour.
28 November 2002 The tower received its 200,000,000th guest.
2004 The Eiffel Tower began hosting an ice skating rink on the first floor each winter.
Design of the tower
Material
The Eiffel Tower from below
The puddle iron structure of the Eiffel Tower weighs 7,300 tonnes, while the entire structure, including non-metal components, is approximately 10,000 tonnes. As a demonstration of the economy of design, if the 7,300 tonnes of the metal structure were melted down it would fill the 125-metre-square base to a depth of only 6 cm (2.36 in), assuming the density of the metal to be 7.8 tonnes per cubic metre. Depending on the ambient temperature, the top of the tower may shift away from the sun by up to 18 cm (7.1 in) because of thermal expansion of the metal on the side facing the sun.
Wind considerations
At the time the tower was built many people were shocked by its daring shape. Eiffel was criticised for the design and accused of trying to create something artistic, or inartistic according to the viewer, without regard to engineering. Eiffel and his engineers, however, as experienced bridge builders, understood the importance of wind forces and knew that if they were going to build the tallest structure in the world they had to be certain it would withstand the wind. In an interview reported in the newspaper Le Temps, Eiffel said:
Now to what phenomenon did I give primary concern in designing the Tower? It was wind resistance. Well then! I hold that the curvature of the monument's four outer edges, which is as mathematical calculation dictated it should be […] will give a great impression of strength and beauty, for it will reveal to the eyes of the observer the boldness of the design as a whole.[37]
Researchers have found that Eiffel used empirical and graphical methods accounting for the effects of wind rather than a specific mathematical formula. Careful examination of the tower shows a basically exponential shape; actually two different exponentials, the lower section overdesigned to ensure resistance to wind forces. Several mathematical explanations have been proposed over the years for the success of the design; the most recent is described as a nonlinear integral equation based on counterbalancing the wind pressure on any point on the tower with the tension between the construction elements at that point. As a demonstration of the tower's effectiveness in wind resistance, it sways only 6–7 cm (2–3 in) in the wind.
Accommodation
When built, the first level contained two restaurants: an "Anglo-American Bar", and a 250 seat theatre. A 2.6 m (8 ft 6 in) promenade ran around the outside.
On the second level, the French newspaper Le Figaro had an office and a printing press, where a special souvenir edition, Le Figaro de la Tour, was produced. There was also a pâtisserie.
On the third level were laboratories for various experiments and a small apartment reserved for Gustave Eiffel to entertain guests. This is now open to the public, complete with period decorations and lifelike models of Gustave and some guests.
Engraved names
Gustave Eiffel engraved on the tower seventy-two names of French scientists, engineers and other notable people. This engraving was painted over at the beginning of the twentieth century but restored in 1986–1987 by the Société Nouvelle d'exploitation de la Tour Eiffel, a company contracted to operate business related to the Tower.
Maintenance
Maintenance of the tower includes applying 50 to 60 tonnes of paint every seven years to protect it from rust. The height of the Eiffel Tower varies by 15 cm due to temperature.
Aesthetic considerations
In order to enhance the impression of height, three separate colours of paint are used on the tower, with the darkest on the bottom and the lightest at the top. On occasion the colour of the paint is changed; the tower is currently painted a shade of bronze. On the first floor there are interactive consoles hosting a poll for the colour to use for a future session of painting.
The only non-structural elements are the four decorative grillwork arches, added in Stephen Sauvestre's sketches, which served to reassure visitors that the structure was safe, and to frame views of other nearby architecture.
One of the great Hollywood movie clichés is that the view from a Parisian window always includes the tower. In reality, since zoning restrictions limit the height of most buildings in Paris to 7 storeys, only a very few of the taller buildings have a clear view of the tower.
Popularity
More than 200,000,000 people have visited the tower since its construction in 1889, including 6,719,200 in 2006. The tower is the most-visited paid monument in the world.
Passenger lifts
Ground to the second level
The original lifts (elevators) to the first and second floors were provided by two companies. Both companies had to overcome many technical obstacles as neither company (or indeed any company) had experience with installing lifts climbing to such heights with large loads. The slanting tracks with changing angles further complicated the problems. The East and West lifts were supplied by the French company Roux Combaluzier Lepape, using hydraulically powered chains and rollers. The North and South lifts were provided by the American company Otis using car designs similar to the original installation but using an improved hydraulic and cable scheme. The French lifts had a very poor performance and were replaced with the current installations in 1897 (West Pillar) and 1899 (East Pillar) by Fives-Lille using an improved hydraulic and rope scheme. Both of the original installations operated broadly on the principle of the Fives-Lille lifts.
The Fives-Lille lifts from ground level to the first and second levels are operated by cables and pulleys driven by massive water-powered pistons. The hydraulic scheme was somewhat unusual for the time in that it included three large counterweights of 200 tonnes each sitting on top of hydraulic rams which doubled up as accumulators for the water. As the lifts ascend the inclined arc of the pillars, the angle of ascent changes. The two lift cabs are kept more or less level and indeed are level at the landings. The cab floors do take on a slight angle at times between landings.
The principle behind the lifts is similar to the operation of a block and tackle but in reverse. Two large hydraulic rams (over 1 metre diameter) with a 16 metre travel are mounted horizontally in the base of the pillar which pushes a carriage (the French word for it translates as chariot and this term will be used henceforth to distinguish it from the lift carriage) with 16 large triple sheaves mounted on it. There are 14 similar sheaves mounted statically. Six wire ropes are rove back and forth between the sheaves such that each rope passes between the 2 sets of sheaves 7 times. The ropes then leave the final sheaves on the chariot and pass up through a series of guiding sheaves to above the second floor and then through a pair of triple sheaves back down to the lift carriage again passing guiding sheaves.
This arrangement means that the lift carriage, complete with its cars and passengers, travels 8 times the distance that the rams move the chariot, the 128 metres from the ground to the second floor. The force exerted by the rams also has to be 8 times the total weight of the lift carriage, cars and passengers, plus extra to account for various losses such as friction. The hydraulic fluid was water, normally stored in three accumulators, complete with counterbalance weights. To make the lift ascend, water was pumped using an electrically driven pump from the accumulators to the two rams. Since the counterbalance weights provided much of the pressure required, the pump only had to provide the extra effort. For the descent, it was only necessary to allow the water to flow back to the accumulators using a control valve. The lifts were operated by an operator perched precariously underneath the lift cars. His position (with a dummy operator) can still be seen on the lifts today.
The Fives-Lille lifts were completely upgraded in 1986 to meet modern safety requirements and to make the lifts easier to operate. A new computer-controlled system was installed which completely automated the operation. One of the three counterbalances was taken out of use, and the cars were replaced with a more modern and lighter structure. Most importantly, the main driving force was removed from the original water pump such that the water hydraulic system provided only a counterbalancing function. The main driving force was transferred to a 320 kW electrically driven oil hydraulic pump which drives a pair of hydraulic motors on the chariot itself, thus providing the motive power. The new lift cars complete with their carriage and a full 92 passenger load weigh 22 tonnes.
Owing to elasticity in the ropes and the time taken to get the cars level with the landings, each lift in normal service takes an average of 8 minutes and 50 seconds to do the round trip, spending an average of 1 minute and 15 seconds at each floor. The average journey time between floors is just 1 minute.
The original Otis lifts in the North and South pillars in their turn proved to be inferior to the new (in 1899) French lifts and were scrapped from the South pillar in 1900 and from the North pillar in 1913 after failed attempts to repower them with an electric motor. The North and South pillars were to remain without lifts until 1965 when increasing visitor numbers persuaded the operators to install a relatively standard and modern cable hoisted system in the north pillar using a cable-hauled counterbalance weight, but hoisted by a block and tackle system to reduce its travel to one third of the lift travel. The counterbalance is clearly visible within the structure of the North pillar. This latter lift was upgraded in 1995 with new cars and computer controls.
The South pillar acquired a completely new fairly standard electrically driven lift in 1983 to serve the Jules Verne restaurant. This was also supplied by Otis. A further four-ton service lift was added to the South pillar in 1989 by Otis to relieve the main lifts when moving relatively small loads or even just maintenance personnel.
The East and West hydraulic (water) lift works are on display and, at least in theory, are open to the public in a small museum located in base of the East and West tower, which is somewhat hidden from public view. Because the massive mechanism requires frequent lubrication and attention, public access is often restricted. However, when open, the wait times are much less than the other, more popular, attractions. The rope mechanism of the North tower is visible to visitors as they exit from the lift.
Second to the third level
The original spiral stairs to the third floor which were only 80 centimetres wide. Note also the small service lift in the background.
The original lifts from the second to the third floor were also of a water-powered hydraulic design supplied by Léon Edoux. Instead of using a separate counterbalance, the two lift cars counterbalanced each other. A pair of 81-metre-long hydraulic rams were mounted on the second level reaching nearly halfway up to the third level. A lift car was mounted on top of the rams. Ropes ran from the top of this car up to a sheave on the third level and back down to a second car. The result of this arrangement was that each car only travelled half the distance between the second and third levels and passengers were required to change lifts halfway walking between the cars along a narrow gangway with a very impressive and relatively unobstructed downward view. The ten-ton cars held 65 passengers each or up to four tons.
One interesting feature of the original installation was that the hoisting rope ran through guides to retain it on windy days to prevent it flapping and becoming damaged. The guides were mechanically moved out of the way of the ascending car by the movement of the car itself. In spite of some antifreeze being added to the water that operated this system, it nevertheless had to close to the public from November to March each year.
The original lifts complete with their hydraulic mechanism were completely scrapped in 1982 after 97 years of service. They were replaced with two pairs of relatively standard rope hoisted cars which were able to operate all the year round. The cars operate in pairs with one providing the counterbalance for the other. Neither car can move unless both sets of doors are closed and both operators have given a start command. The commands from the cars to the hoisting mechanism are by radio obviating the necessity of a control cable. The replacement installation also has the advantage that the ascent can be made without changing cars and has reduced the ascent time from 8 minutes (including change) to 1 minute and 40 seconds. This installation also has guides for the hoisting ropes but they are electrically operated. The guide once it has moved out of the way as the car ascends automatically reverses when the car has passed to prevent the mechanism becoming snagged on the car on the downward journey in the event it has failed to completely clear the car. Unfortunately these lifts do not have the capacity to move as many people as the three public lower lifts and long lines to ascend to the third level are common. Most of the intermediate level structure present on the tower today was installed when the lifts were replaced and allows maintenance workers to take the lift halfway.
The replacement of these lifts allowed the restructuring of the criss-cross beams in upper part of the tower and further allowed the installation of two emergency staircases. These replaced the dangerous winding stairs that were installed when the tower was constructed.
Restaurants
The tower has two restaurants: Le 58 tour Eiffel, on the first floor 311 ft (95 m) above sea level; and the Le Jules Verne, a gastronomical restaurant on the second floor, with a private lift. This restaurant has one star in the Michelin Red Guide. In January 2007, the multi-Michelin star chef Alain Ducasse was brought in to run Jules Verne.
Attempted relocation
According to interviews given in the early 1980s, Montreal Mayor Jean Drapeau negotiated a secret agreement with French President Charles de Gaulle for the tower to be dismantled and temporarily relocated to Montreal to serve as a landmark and tourist attraction during Expo 67. The plan was allegedly vetoed by the company which operated the tower out of fear that the French government could refuse permission for the tower to be restored to its original location.
Economics
The American TV show Pricing the Priceless speculates that in 2011 the tower would cost about $480,000,000 to build, that the land under the tower is worth $350,000,000, and that the scrap value of the tower is worth $3,500,000. The TV show estimates the tower makes a profit of about $29,000,000 per year, though it is unlikely that the Eiffel Tower is managed so as to maximize profit.
It costs $5,300,000 to repaint the tower, which is done once every seven years. The electric bill is $400,000 per year for 7.5 million kilowatt-hours.
The Tokyo Tower in Japan is a very similar structure of very similar size. It was finished in 1958 at a final cost of ¥2.8 billion ($8.4 million in 1958).
Source Wikipedia
Ramsey School was a one-teacher Rosenwald School off Piney Road near Gretna that was completed in 1923. After some altering, it is used as a small apartment building today.
(HDR from a single image)
... ad un tratto il marito si gira verso la moglie e le dice: “Sai cara? stavo pensando.. che 25 anni fa avevamo un’auto vecchia, dormivamo sul divano, avevamo la tv in bianco e nero, un piccolo televisore, ma in compenso dormivo con una bella donna di 25 anni. Ora abbiamo una bellissima casa da 400mila euro, una bella automobile, un bel letto ad acqua, un televisore led da 46 pollici, ma ahimé dormo con una vecchia di 50 anni..”
La moglie lo guarda e rapidamente gli risponde così: ”Non devi fare altro mio caro, che trovarti una bella e giovane donna di 25 anni e stai tranquillo, farò in modo che ti ritrovi in un piccolissimo appartamento, fatiscente, con una vecchia e piccola automobile e che tu dorma sul divano guardando una piccola tv da 10 pollici in bianco e nero!”
.
English version
... Suddenly the husband turns to his wife and says, "You know, dear? I was thinking .. that 25 years ago we had an old car, sleeping on the couch, we had the tv in black and white, a small TV, but at least I slept with a beautiful woman of 25 years. Now we have a beautiful home to 400 thousand euro, a nice car, a nice water bed, a 46-inch LED TV, but alas I sleep with a 50 years old .. "
The wife looks at him and quickly responded: "You must not do anything my dear, find a beautiful young woman of 25 years and do not worry, I'll make sure you're in a small apartment, dilapidated, with an old and small car and you sleep on the couch watching a small tv 10 inch black and white! "
Pleasure Island had a 'fan pick' IC never have I ever event. The fan favorite was Shee... all the NPCs on the island are into the sarcastic bad boy with a perverse mind. Look at his offerings!!
[15:14:46] Catalina Blakemore (meka.aeon): Throughout the day and evening, more and more courting paraphernalia kept showing up outside of the tea shop door. First it started out as just panties, notes professing love or want, then some flowers, a few bras. Now however, outside of the shop, were candles in a heart shape, red rose petals scattered around that. In the middle of the heart were a pair of dolls, vaguely voodoo-ish in nature, one resembling the short man with tattoos drawn on its face and tuft of brown hair. They were nestled on a pair of panties. Was someone trying to bespell him? The sound of rocks knocking against the second level window of the tea house would resonate through the small apartment.
Shee was sleeping in a shoe. Literally. When one was the size of most people's palms, shoes were bed sized. Jehan once made little pillows and fit them in a mary jane slipper for Shee. He appreciated the gesture enough to not stab him for it. This provided a wonderful sleep, however... no matter of comfort would keep a fey asleep to a bad case of poorly done voodoo. Oh, the magic was all askew. He grumbled, feeling the case of the heebies jeebies. growling, he got up and grew himself to a human appropriate size before he stomped down the stairs loud enough that the pizza parlor heard him. as he stepped back to the sidewalk, the crowd about his shop was growing, " SWEET FANNY ADAMS!" He snarled as he stalked forward. A few of the wiser made a wide berth. " Who is the damp squid that came up with this dumb idea?" He looked about the crowd, " Huh? You all gone daft!?" He grumbled and pushed someone close tot he heart aside. "Wankers... Off with you. If you're going to oggle a spells, least you can do is do it correctly." He was muttering a mix of english and gaelic as he walked about the piece adjusting pieces here and there to 'correct' the offering. It wouldn't work either way, but at least metaphysically it would feel right.
The Postcard
A postcard which was posted in France on the 18th. July 1906 to:
Mr. Geo Lang & Family,
23, Woburn Place,
London W.C.,
Angleterre
The message side of the back of the card was left blank.
The Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower.
Locally nicknamed "La Dame de Fer" ("Iron Lady"), it was constructed from 1887 to 1889 as the entrance to the 1889 World's Fair.
The tower was initially criticised by some of France's leading artists and intellectuals for its design, but it has become a global cultural icon of France, and one of the most recognisable structures in the world. The Eiffel Tower is the most-visited paid monument in the world; 6.91 million people ascended it in 2015.
The tower is 324 metres tall, about the same height as an 81-storey building, and the tallest structure in Paris. Its base is square, measuring 125 metres on each side.
During its construction, the Eiffel Tower surpassed the Washington Monument to become the tallest man-made structure in the world, a title it held for 41 years until the Chrysler Building in New York City was finished in 1930. It was the first structure in the world to surpass both the 200 meter and 300 meter mark in height.
Due to the addition of a broadcasting aerial at the top of the tower in 1957, it is now taller than the Chrysler Building by 5.2 metres. Excluding transmitters, the Eiffel Tower is the second tallest free-standing structure in France after the Millau Viaduct.
The tower has three levels for visitors, with restaurants on the first and second levels. The top level's upper platform is 276 m above the ground – the highest observation deck accessible to the public in the European Union. The climb from ground level to the first level is over 300 steps, as is the climb from the first level to the second. Although there is a staircase to the top level, it is usually accessible only by lift.
Origin of The Eiffel Tower
The design of the Eiffel Tower is attributed to Maurice Koechlin and Émile Nouguier, two senior engineers working for the Compagnie des Établissements Eiffel. It was envisioned after discussion about a suitable centrepiece for the proposed 1889 Exposition Universelle, a world's fair to celebrate the centennial of the French Revolution.
Eiffel openly acknowledged that inspiration for a tower came from the Latting Observatory built in New York City in 1853.
In May 1884, working at home, Koechlin made a sketch of their idea, described by him as:
"A great pylon, consisting of four lattice girders
standing apart at the base and coming together
at the top, joined together by metal trusses at
regular intervals".
Eiffel initially showed little enthusiasm, but he did approve further study, and the two engineers then asked Stephen Sauvestre, the head of company's architectural department, to contribute to the design. Sauvestre added decorative arches to the base of the tower, a glass pavilion to the first level, and other embellishments.
The new version gained Eiffel's support: he bought the rights to the patent on the design which Koechlin, Nougier, and Sauvestre had taken out, and the design was exhibited at the Exhibition of Decorative Arts in the autumn of 1884 under the company name.
On the 30th. March 1885, Eiffel presented his plans to the Société des Ingénieurs Civils; after discussing the technical problems and emphasising the practical uses of the tower, he finished his talk by saying:
"The tower would symbolise not only the art
of the modern engineer, but also the century
of Industry and Science in which we are living,
and for which the way was prepared by the great
scientific movement of the eighteenth century
and by the Revolution of 1789, to which this
monument will be built as an expression of
France's gratitude".
Little progress was made until 1886, when Jules Grévy was re-elected as president of France and Édouard Lockroy was appointed as minister for trade. A budget for the exposition was passed and, on the 1st. May, Lockroy announced an alteration to the terms of the open competition being held for a centrepiece to the exposition.
This effectively made the selection of Eiffel's design a foregone conclusion, as entries had to include a study for a 300 m four-sided metal tower on the Champ de Mars. On the 12th. May, a commission was set up to examine Eiffel's scheme and its rivals, which, a month later, decided that all the proposals except Eiffel's were either impractical or lacking in details.
After some debate about the exact location of the tower, a contract was signed on the 8th. January 1887. This was signed by Eiffel acting in his own capacity rather than as the representative of his company. He was granted 1.5 million francs toward the construction costs: less than a quarter of the estimated 6.5 million francs.
Eiffel was to receive all income from the commercial exploitation of the tower during the exhibition and for the following 20 years. He later established a separate company to manage the tower, putting up half the necessary capital himself.
Artists' Criticism of The Tower Before it Was Built
The proposed tower drew criticism from those who did not believe it was feasible, and those who objected on artistic grounds. Prior to the Eiffel Tower's construction, no structure had ever been constructed to a height of 300 m, or even 200 m for the matter, and many people believed it was impossible.
These objections were an expression of a long-standing debate in France about the relationship between architecture and engineering. It came to a head as work began at the Champ de Mars: a "Committee of Three Hundred" (one member for each metre of the tower's height) was formed, led by the prominent architect Charles Garnier.
The committee included some of the most important figures of the arts, such as William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Guy de Maupassant, Charles Gounod and Jules Massenet. A petition called "Artists against the Eiffel Tower" was sent to the Minister of Works and Commissioner for the Exposition, Adolphe Alphand, and it was published by Le Temps on the 14th. February 1887:
"We, writers, painters, sculptors, architects and
passionate devotees of the hitherto untouched
beauty of Paris, protest with all our strength, with
all our indignation in the name of slighted French
taste, against the erection of this useless and
monstrous Eiffel Tower.
To bring our arguments home, imagine for a moment
a giddy, ridiculous tower dominating Paris like a
gigantic black smokestack, crushing under its barbaric
bulk Notre Dame, the Tour Saint-Jacques, the Louvre,
the Dome of Les Invalides, the Arc de Triomphe, all of
our humiliated monuments will disappear in this ghastly dream.
And for twenty years we shall see stretching like a blot
of ink the hateful shadow of the hateful column of bolted sheet metal".
Gustave Eiffel responded to these criticisms by comparing his tower to the Egyptian pyramids:
"My tower will be the tallest edifice ever erected
by man. Will it not also be grandiose in its way?
And why would something admirable in Egypt
become hideous and ridiculous in Paris?"
These criticisms were also dealt with by Édouard Lockroy in a letter of support written to Alphand, sardonically saying:
"Judging by the stately swell of the rhythms, the beauty
of the metaphors, the elegance of its delicate and precise style, one can tell this protest is the result of collaboration
of the most famous writers and poets of our time".
He went on to say that anyway, the protest was irrelevant since the project had been decided upon months before, and construction on the tower was already under way.
Indeed, Garnier was a member of the Tower Commission that had examined the various proposals, and had raised no objection. Eiffel was similarly unworried, pointing out to a journalist that it was premature to judge the effect of the tower solely on the basis of the drawings, that the Champ de Mars was distant enough from the monuments mentioned in the protest for there to be little risk of the tower overwhelming them, and putting the aesthetic argument for the tower:
"Do not the laws of natural forces always
conform to the secret laws of harmony?"
Some of the protesters changed their minds when the tower was built; others remained unconvinced. Guy de Maupassant supposedly ate lunch in the tower's restaurant every day because it was the one place in Paris where the tower was not visible.
By 1918, it had become a symbol of Paris and of France after Guillaume Apollinaire wrote a nationalist poem in the shape of the tower (a calligram) to express his feelings about the war against Germany. Today, it is widely considered to be a remarkable piece of structural art, and is often featured in films and literature.
Construction of The Eiffel Tower
Work on the foundations started on the 28th. January 1887. Those for the east and south legs were straightforward, with each leg resting on four 2 m concrete slabs, one for each of the principal girders of each leg.
The west and north legs, being closer to the river Seine, were more complicated: each slab needed two piles installed by using compressed-air caissons 15 m long and 6 m in diameter driven to a depth of 22 m. These were designed to support the concrete slabs, which were 6 m thick. Each of these slabs supported a block of limestone with an inclined top to bear a supporting shoe for the ironwork.
Each shoe was anchored to the stonework by a pair of bolts 10 cm in diameter and 7.5 m long. The foundations were completed on the 30th. June, and the erection of the ironwork began.
The visible work on-site was complemented by the enormous amount of exacting preparatory work that took place behind the scenes: the drawing office produced 1,700 general drawings and 3,629 detailed drawings of the different parts needed.
The task of drawing the components was complicated by the complex angles involved in the design and the degree of precision required: the position of rivet holes was specified to within 1 mm and angles worked out to one second of arc.
The finished components, some already joined together into sub-assemblies, arrived on horse-drawn carts from a factory in the nearby Parisian suburb of Levallois-Perret. They were first bolted together, with the bolts being replaced with rivets as construction progressed. No drilling or shaping was done on site: if any part did not fit, it was sent back to the factory for alteration. In all, 18,038 pieces were joined together using 2.5 million rivets.
At first, the legs were constructed as cantilevers, but about halfway to the first level construction was paused to create a substantial timber scaffold. This renewed concerns about the structural integrity of the tower, and sensational headlines such as "Eiffel Suicide!" and "Gustave Eiffel Has Gone Mad: He Has Been Confined in an Asylum" appeared in the tabloid press.
At this stage, a small "creeper" crane designed to move up the tower was installed in each leg. They made use of the guides for the lifts which were to be fitted in the four legs. The critical stage of joining the legs at the first level was completed by the end of March 1888.
Although the metalwork had been prepared with the utmost attention to detail, provision had been made to carry out small adjustments to precisely align the legs; hydraulic jacks were fitted to the shoes at the base of each leg, capable of exerting a force of 800 tonnes.
Although construction involved 300 on-site employees, due to Eiffel's safety precautions and the use of movable gangways, guardrails and screens, only one person died.
The Eiffel Tower Lifts
Equipping the tower with adequate and safe passenger lifts was a major concern of the government commission overseeing the Exposition. Although some visitors could be expected to climb to the first level, or even the second, lifts clearly had to be the main means of ascent.
Constructing lifts to reach the first level was relatively straightforward: the legs were wide enough at the bottom and so nearly straight that they could contain a straight track, and a contract was given to the French company Roux, Combaluzier & Lepape for two lifts to be fitted in the east and west legs.
Roux, Combaluzier & Lepape used a pair of endless chains with rigid, articulated links to which the car was attached. Lead weights on some links of the upper or return sections of the chains counterbalanced most of the car's weight. The car was pushed up from below, not pulled up from above. To prevent the chain buckling, it was enclosed in a conduit. At the bottom of the run, the chains passed around 3.9 m diameter sprockets.
Installing lifts to the second level was more of a challenge because a straight track was impossible. No French company wanted to undertake the work. The European branch of Otis Brothers & Company submitted a proposal, but this was rejected: the fair's charter ruled out the use of any foreign material in the construction of the tower.
The deadline for bids was extended, but still no French companies put themselves forward, and eventually the contract was given to Otis in July 1887. Otis were confident they would eventually be given the contract, and had already started creating designs.
The car was divided into two superimposed compartments, each holding 25 passengers, with the lift operator occupying an exterior platform on the first level. Motive power was provided by an inclined hydraulic ram 12.67 m long and 96.5 cm in diameter in the tower leg with a stroke of 10.83 m.
The original lifts for the journey between the second and third levels were supplied by Léon Edoux. A pair of 81 m hydraulic rams were mounted on the second level, reaching nearly halfway up to the third level. One lift car was mounted on top of these rams: cables ran from the top of this car up to sheaves on the third level and back down to a second car. Each car only travelled half the distance between the second and third levels and passengers were required to change lifts halfway by means of a short gangway. The 10-ton cars each held 65 passengers.
Inauguration and the 1889 exposition
The main structural work was completed at the end of March 1889 and, on the 31st. March, Eiffel celebrated by leading a group of government officials, accompanied by representatives of the press, to the top of the tower.
Because the lifts were not yet in operation, the ascent was made by foot, and took over an hour, with Eiffel stopping frequently to explain various features. Most of the party chose to stop at the lower levels, but a few, including the structural engineer, Émile Nouguier, the head of construction, Jean Compagnon, the President of the City Council, and reporters from Le Figaro and Le Monde Illustré, completed the ascent. At 2:35 pm, Eiffel hoisted a large Tricolour to the accompaniment of a 25-gun salute fired at the first level.
There was still work to be done, particularly on the lifts and facilities, and the tower was not opened to the public until nine days after the opening of the exposition on the 6th. May; even then, the lifts had not been completed.
The tower was an instant success with the public, and nearly 30,000 visitors made the 1,710-step climb to the top before the lifts entered service on 26 May. Tickets cost 2 francs for the first level, 3 for the second, and 5 for the top, with half-price admission on Sundays. By the end of the exhibition there had been 1,896,987 visitors.
After dark, the tower was lit by hundreds of gas lamps, and a beacon sent out three beams of red, white and blue light. Two searchlights mounted on a circular rail were used to illuminate various buildings of the exposition. The daily opening and closing of the exposition were announced by a cannon at the top.
On the second level, the French newspaper Le Figaro had an office and a printing press, where a special souvenir edition, Le Figaro de la Tour, was made. There was also a pâtisserie.
At the top of the tower there was a post office where visitors could send letters and postcards as a memento of their visit. Graffitists were also catered for: sheets of paper were mounted on the walls each day for visitors to record their impressions of the tower. Gustave Eiffel described some of the responses as vraiment curieuse ("truly curious").
Famous visitors to the tower included the Prince of Wales, Sarah Bernhardt, "Buffalo Bill" Cody (his Wild West show was an attraction at the exposition) and Thomas Edison. Eiffel invited Edison to his private apartment at the top of the tower, where Edison presented him with one of his phonographs, a new invention and one of the many highlights of the exposition. Edison signed the guestbook with this message:
"To M Eiffel the Engineer, the brave builder
of so gigantic and original specimen of
modern Engineering from one who has the
greatest respect and admiration for all
Engineers including the Great Engineer the
Bon Dieu.
Thomas Edison".
Eiffel had a permit for the tower to stand for 20 years. It was to be dismantled in 1909, when its ownership would revert to the City of Paris. The City had planned to tear it down (part of the original contest rules for designing a tower was that it should be easy to dismantle) but as the tower proved to be valuable for radio telegraphy, it was allowed to remain after the expiry of the permit, and from 1910 it also became part of the International Time Service.
Eiffel made use of his apartment at the top of the tower to carry out meteorological observations, and also used the tower to perform experiments on the action of air resistance on falling bodies.
Subsequent Events Associated With The Tower
On the 19th. October 1901, Alberto Santos-Dumont, flying his No.6 airship, won a 100,000-franc prize offered by Henri Deutsch de la Meurthe for the first person to make a flight from St. Cloud to the Eiffel Tower and back in less than half an hour.
Many innovations took place at the Eiffel Tower in the early 20th century. In 1910, Theodor Wulf measured radiant energy at the top and bottom of the tower. He found more at the top than expected, incidentally discovering what are known today as cosmic rays.
On the 4th. February 1912, Austrian tailor Franz Reichelt died after jumping from the first level of the tower (a height of 57 m) to demonstrate his parachute design.
In 1914, at the outbreak of the Great War, a radio transmitter located in the tower jammed German radio communications, seriously hindering their advance on Paris and contributing to the Allied victory at the First Battle of the Marne.
From 1925 to 1934, illuminated signs for Citroën adorned three of the tower's sides, making it the tallest advertising space in the world at the time. In April 1935, the tower was used to make experimental low-resolution television transmissions. On the 17th. November, an improved 180-line transmitter was installed.
On two separate occasions in 1925, the con artist Victor Lustig "sold" the tower for scrap metal.
In February 1926, pilot Leon Collet was killed trying to fly under the tower. His aircraft became entangled in an aerial belonging to a wireless station.
A bust of Gustave Eiffel by Antoine Bourdelle was unveiled at the base of the north leg on the 2nd. May 1929.
In 1930, the tower lost the title of the world's tallest structure when the Chrysler Building in New York City was completed.
In 1938, the decorative arcade around the first level was removed.
Upon the German occupation of Paris in 1940, the lift cables were cut by the French. In 1940, German soldiers had to climb the tower to hoist a swastika flag, but the flag was so large it blew away just a few hours later, and was replaced by a smaller one.
When visiting Paris, Hitler chose to stay on the ground. When the Allies were nearing Paris in August 1944, Hitler ordered General Dietrich von Choltitz, the military governor of Paris, to demolish the tower along with the rest of the city. Von Choltitz disobeyed the order.
On the 25th. June, before the Germans had been driven out of Paris, the German flag was replaced with a Tricolour by two men from the French Naval Museum, who narrowly beat three men led by Lucien Sarniguet, who had lowered the Tricolour on the 13th. June 1940 when Paris fell to the Germans.
The tower was closed to the public during the occupation, and the lifts were not repaired until 1946.
A fire started in the television transmitter on the 3rd. January 1956, damaging the top of the tower. Repairs took a year, and in 1957, the present radio aerial was added to the top. In 1964, the Eiffel Tower was officially declared to be a historical monument by the Minister of Cultural Affairs, André Malraux.
According to interviews, in 1967, Montreal Mayor Jean Drapeau negotiated a secret agreement with Charles de Gaulle for the tower to be dismantled and temporarily relocated to Montreal to serve as a landmark and tourist attraction during Expo 67.
The plan was allegedly vetoed by the company operating the tower out of fear that the French government could refuse permission for the tower to be restored in its original location.
In 1982, the original lifts between the second and third levels were replaced after 97 years in service. These had been closed to the public between November and March because the water in the hydraulic drive tended to freeze. The new cars operate in pairs, with one counterbalancing the other, and perform the journey in one stage, reducing the journey time from eight minutes to less than two minutes.
At the same time, two new emergency staircases were installed, replacing the original spiral staircases. In 1983, the south pillar was fitted with an electrically driven Otis lift to serve the Jules Verne restaurant.
The Fives-Lille lifts in the east and west legs, fitted in 1899, were extensively refurbished in 1986. The cars were replaced, and a computer system was installed to completely automate the lifts. The motive power was moved from the water hydraulic system to a new electrically driven oil-filled hydraulic system.
Robert Moriarty flew a Beechcraft Bonanza under the tower on the 31st. March 1984.
In 1987, A. J. Hackett made one of his first bungee jumps from the top of the Eiffel Tower, using a special cord he had helped develop. Hackett was arrested by the police.
On the 27th. October 1991, Thierry Devaux, along with mountain guide Hervé Calvayrac, performed a series of acrobatic figures while bungee jumping from the second floor of the tower. Facing the Champ de Mars, Devaux used an electric winch to go back up to the second floor. When firemen arrived, he stopped after the sixth jump.
The tower is the focal point for New Year's Eve and Bastille Day celebrations in Paris.
For its "Countdown to the Year 2000" celebration on the 31st. December 1999, flashing lights and high-powered searchlights were installed on the tower. During the last three minutes of the year, the lights were turned on starting from the base of the tower and continuing to the top to welcome 2000 with a huge fireworks show. The searchlights on top of the tower made it a beacon in Paris's night sky, and 20,000 flashing bulbs gave the tower a sparkly appearance for five minutes every hour on the hour.
The tower received its 200,000,000th guest on the 28th. November 2002. The tower has operated at its maximum capacity of about 7 million visitors per year since 2003.
In 2004, the Eiffel Tower began hosting a seasonal ice rink on the first level.
A glass floor was installed on the first level during the 2014 refurbishment.
In 2016, during Valentine's Day, the performance Un Battement by French artist Milène Guermont unfolds among the Eiffel Tower, the Montparnasse Tower and the contemporary artwork Phares installed on the Place de la Concorde. This interactive pyramid-shaped sculpture allows the public to transmit the beating of their hearts thanks to a cardiac sensor. The Eiffel Tower and the Montparnasse Tower also light up to the rhythm of Phares. This is the first time that the Eiffel Tower has interacted with a work of art.
The Metal of The Eiffel Tower
The wrought iron of the Eiffel Tower weighs 7,300 tons, and the addition of lifts, shops and antennae have brought the total weight to approximately 10,100 tons.
As a demonstration of the economy of design, if the 7,300 tons of metal in the structure were melted down, it would fill the square base, 125 metres (410 ft) on each side, to a depth of only 6.25 cm. A box surrounding the tower (324 m x 125 m x 125 m) would contain 6,200 tons of air, weighing almost as much as the iron itself.
Depending on the ambient temperature, the top of the tower may shift away from the sun by up to 18 cm (7 in) due to thermal expansion of the metal on the side facing the sun.
Wind Considerations
When it was built, many were shocked by the tower's daring form. Eiffel was accused of trying to create something artistic with no regard to the principles of engineering. However, Eiffel and his team – experienced bridge builders – understood the importance of wind forces, and knew that if they were going to build the tallest structure in the world, they had to be sure it could withstand them. In an interview with the newspaper Le Temps published on the 14th. February 1887, Eiffel said:
"Is it not true that the very conditions which give
strength also conform to the hidden rules of
harmony?
Now to what phenomenon did I have to give
primary concern in designing the Tower? It was
wind resistance.
Well then! I hold that the curvature of the monument's
four outer edges, which is as mathematical calculation
dictated it should be, will give a great impression of
strength and beauty, for it will reveal to the eyes of the
observer the boldness of the design as a whole".
Eiffel used graphical methods to determine the strength of the tower, and empirical evidence to account for the effects of wind, rather than a mathematical formula. All parts of the tower were over-designed to ensure maximum resistance to wind forces. The top half was even assumed to have no gaps in the latticework.
In the years since it was completed, engineers have put forward various mathematical hypotheses in an attempt to explain the success of the design. The most recent, devised in 2004 after letters sent by Eiffel to the French Society of Civil Engineers in 1885 were translated into English, is described as a non-linear integral equation based on counteracting the wind pressure on any point of the tower with the tension between the construction elements at that point.
The Eiffel Tower sways by up to 9 cm in the wind.
Facilities Within The Eiffel Tower
When originally built, the first level contained three restaurants – one French, one Russian and one Flemish — and an "Anglo-American Bar".
After the exposition closed, the Flemish restaurant was converted to a 250-seat theatre. A promenade 2.6-metres wide ran around the outside of the first level.
At the top, there were laboratories for various experiments, and a small apartment reserved for Gustave Eiffel to entertain guests, which is now open to the public, complete with period decorations and lifelike mannequins of Eiffel and some of his notable guests.
In May 2016, an apartment was created on the first level to accommodate four competition winners during the UEFA Euro 2016 football tournament in Paris in June. The apartment has a kitchen, two bedrooms, a lounge, and views of Paris landmarks including the Seine, the Sacre Coeur, and the Arc de Triomphe.
Engraved Names on The Tower
Gustave Eiffel engraved on the tower the names of 72 French scientists, engineers and mathematicians in recognition of their contributions to the building of the tower. Eiffel chose this "invocation of science" because of his concern over the artists' protest. At the beginning of the 20th. century, the engravings were painted over, but they were restored in 1986–87.
Aesthetics of The Tower
The tower is painted in three shades: lighter at the top, getting progressively darker towards the bottom to complement the Parisian sky. It was originally reddish brown; this changed in 1968 to a bronze colour known as "Eiffel Tower Brown".
The only non-structural elements are the four decorative grill-work arches, added in Sauvestre's sketches, which served to make the tower look more substantial and to make a more impressive entrance to the exposition.
A movie cliché is that the view from a Parisian window always includes the tower. In reality, since zoning restrictions limit the height of most buildings in Paris to seven storeys, only a small number of tall buildings have a clear view of the tower.
Maintenance of The Tower
Maintenance of the tower includes applying 60 tons of paint every seven years to prevent it from rusting. The tower has been completely repainted at least 19 times since it was built. Lead paint was still being used as recently as 2001 when the practice was stopped out of concern for the environment.
Popularity of The Tower
More than 250 million people have visited the tower since it was completed in 1889. The tower is the most-visited paid monument in the world. An average of 25,000 people ascend the tower every day which can result in long queues.
Restaurants in The Tower
The tower has two restaurants: Le 58 Tour Eiffel on the first level, and Le Jules Verne, a gourmet restaurant with its own lift on the second level. Additionally, there is a champagne bar at the top of the Eiffel Tower.
From 1937 until 1981, there was a restaurant near the top of the tower. It was removed due to structural considerations; engineers had determined it was too heavy, and was causing the tower to sag. This restaurant was sold to an American restaurateur and transported to New Orleans. It was rebuilt on the edge of New Orleans' Garden District as a restaurant and later an event hall.
Replicas of The Eiffel Tower
As one of the most iconic landmarks in the world, the Eiffel Tower has been the inspiration for the creation of many replicas and similar towers.
An early example is Blackpool Tower in England. The mayor of Blackpool, Sir John Bickerstaffe, was so impressed on seeing the Eiffel Tower at the 1889 exposition that he commissioned a similar tower to be built in his town. It opened in 1894, and is 158.1 m tall. Tokyo Tower in Japan, built as a communications tower in 1958, was also inspired by the Eiffel Tower.
There are various scale models of the tower in the United States, including a half-scale version at the Paris Las Vegas, Nevada. There is also a copy in Paris, Texas built in 1993, and two 1:3 scale models at Kings Island, located in Mason, Ohio, and Kings Dominion, Virginia, amusement parks opened in 1972 and 1975 respectively.
There is a 1:3 scale model in China, and one in Durango, Mexico that was donated by the local French community. There are also several across Europe.
In 2011, the TV show Pricing the Priceless on the National Geographic Channel speculated that a full-size replica of the tower would cost approximately US$480 million to build. This would be more than ten times the cost of the original.
Communications
The tower has been used for making radio transmissions since the beginning of the 20th. century. Until the 1950's, sets of aerial wires ran from the cupola to anchors on the Avenue de Suffren and Champ de Mars. These were connected to longwave transmitters in small bunkers.
In 1909, a permanent underground radio centre was built near the south pillar, which still exists today.
On the 20th. November 1913, the Paris Observatory, using the Eiffel Tower as an aerial, exchanged wireless signals with the United States Naval Observatory, which used an aerial in Arlington, Virginia. The object of the transmissions was to measure the difference in longitude between Paris and Washington, D.C. Today, radio and digital television signals are transmitted from the Eiffel Tower.
A television antenna was first installed on the tower in 1957, increasing its height by 18.7 m. Work carried out in 2000 added a further 5.3 m, giving the current height of 324 m.
Legal Issues Associated With The Tower
The tower and its image have been in the public domain since 1993, 70 years after Eiffel's death.
In June 1990 a French court ruled that a special lighting display on the tower in 1989 to mark the tower's 100th. anniversary was an "original visual creation" protected by copyright. The Société d'Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (SETE) now considers any illumination of the tower to be a separate work of art that falls under copyright. As a result, the SNTE alleges that it is illegal to publish contemporary photographs of the lit tower at night without permission in France and some other countries for commercial use. For this reason, it is rare to find images or videos of the lit tower at night on stock image sites, and media outlets rarely broadcast images or videos of it.
The imposition of copyright has been controversial. The Director of Documentation for what was then called the Société Nouvelle d'Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (SNTE), Stéphane Dieu, commented in 2005:
"It is really just a way to manage commercial
use of the image, so that it isn't used in ways
of which we don't approve".
SNTE made over €1 million from copyright fees in 2002.
The copyright claim itself has never been tested in courts to date, and there has never been an attempt to track down millions of netizens who have posted and shared their images of the illuminated tower on the Internet worldwide. However, the potential for litigation exists for the commercial use of such images, for example in a magazine, on a film poster, or on product packaging.
French law allows pictures incorporating a copyrighted work as long as their presence is incidental or accessory to the subject being represented. Therefore, SETE may be unable to claim copyright on photographs of Paris which happen to include the lit tower.
Eiffel Tower
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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This article is about the landmark in Paris, France. For other uses, see Eiffel Tower (disambiguation).
"300-metre tower" and "Tour Eiffel" redirect here. For other tall towers, see List of tallest towers. For other uses, see Tour Eiffel (disambiguation).
The Eiffel Tower
La tour Eiffel
Tour Eiffel Wikimedia Commons.jpg
Seen from the Champ de Mars
Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap
Record height
Tallest in the world from 1889 to 1930[I]
General information
TypeObservation tower
Broadcasting tower
Location7th arrondissement, Paris, France
Coordinates48°51′29.6″N 2°17′40.2″ECoordinates: 48°51′29.6″N 2°17′40.2″E
Construction started28 January 1887; 134 years ago
Completed15 March 1889; 132 years ago
Opening31 March 1889; 132 years ago
OwnerCity of Paris, France
ManagementSociété d'Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (SETE)
Height
Architectural300 m (984 ft)[1]
Tip324 m (1,063 ft)[1]
Top floor276 m (906 ft)[1]
Technical details
Floor count3[2]
Lifts/elevators8[2]
Design and construction
ArchitectStephen Sauvestre
Structural engineerMaurice Koechlin
Émile Nouguier
Main contractorCompagnie des Etablissements Eiffel
Website
toureiffel.paris/en
References
I. ^ Eiffel Tower at Emporis
File:Eiffel Tower Drone 4k-Qx c1X3zfEc-313-251.webm
Eiffel Tower Drone
The Eiffel Tower (/ˈaɪfəl/ EYE-fəl; French: tour Eiffel [tuʁ‿ɛfɛl] (About this soundlisten)) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower.
Locally nicknamed "La dame de fer" (French for "Iron Lady"), it was constructed from 1887 to 1889 as the entrance to the 1889 World's Fair and was initially criticised by some of France's leading artists and intellectuals for its design, but it has become a global cultural icon of France and one of the most recognisable structures in the world.[3] The Eiffel Tower is the most visited monument with an entrance fee in the world; 6.91 million people ascended it in 2015.
The tower is 324 metres (1,063 ft) tall, about the same height as an 81-storey building, and the tallest structure in Paris. Its base is square, measuring 125 metres (410 ft) on each side. During its construction, the Eiffel Tower surpassed the Washington Monument to become the tallest man-made structure in the world, a title it held for 41 years until the Chrysler Building in New York City was finished in 1930. It was the first structure in the world to surpass both the 200-metre and 300-metre mark in height. Due to the addition of a broadcasting aerial at the top of the tower in 1957, it is now taller than the Chrysler Building by 5.2 metres (17 ft). Excluding transmitters, the Eiffel Tower is the second tallest free-standing structure in France after the Millau Viaduct.
The tower has three levels for visitors, with restaurants on the first and second levels. The top level's upper platform is 276 m (906 ft) above the ground – the highest observation deck accessible to the public in the European Union. Tickets can be purchased to ascend by stairs or lift to the first and second levels. The climb from ground level to the first level is over 300 steps, as is the climb from the first level to the second. Although there is a staircase to the top level, it is usually accessible only by lift.
Contents
1History
1.1Origin
1.2Artists' protest
1.3Construction
1.3.1Lifts
1.4Inauguration and the 1889 exposition
1.5Subsequent events
2Design
2.1Material
2.2Wind considerations
2.3Accommodation
2.4Passenger lifts
2.5Engraved names
2.6Aesthetics
2.7Maintenance
3Tourism
3.1Transport
3.2Popularity
3.3Restaurants
4Replicas
5Communications
5.1FM radio
5.2Digital television
6Illumination copyright
7Height changes
8Taller structures
8.1Lattice towers taller than the Eiffel Tower
8.2Structures in France taller than the Eiffel Tower
9See also
10References
10.1Notes
10.2Bibliography
11External links
History
Origin
The design of the Eiffel Tower is attributed to Maurice Koechlin and Émile Nouguier, two senior engineers working for the Compagnie des Établissements Eiffel. It was envisioned after discussion about a suitable centrepiece for the proposed 1889 Exposition Universelle, a world's fair to celebrate the centennial of the French Revolution. Eiffel openly acknowledged that inspiration for a tower came from the Latting Observatory built in New York City in 1853.[4] In May 1884, working at home, Koechlin made a sketch of their idea, described by him as "a great pylon, consisting of four lattice girders standing apart at the base and coming together at the top, joined together by metal trusses at regular intervals".[5] Eiffel initially showed little enthusiasm, but he did approve further study, and the two engineers then asked Stephen Sauvestre, the head of the company's architectural department, to contribute to the design. Sauvestre added decorative arches to the base of the tower, a glass pavilion to the first level, and other embellishments.
First drawing of the Eiffel Tower by Maurice Koechlin including size comparison with other Parisian landmarks such as Notre Dame de Paris, the Statue of Liberty and the Vendôme Column
The new version gained Eiffel's support: he bought the rights to the patent on the design which Koechlin, Nougier, and Sauvestre had taken out, and the design was put on display at the Exhibition of Decorative Arts in the autumn of 1884 under the company name. On 30 March 1885, Eiffel presented his plans to the Société des Ingénieurs Civils; after discussing the technical problems and emphasising the practical uses of the tower, he finished his talk by saying the tower would symbolise
[n]ot only the art of the modern engineer, but also the century of Industry and Science in which we are living, and for which the way was prepared by the great scientific movement of the eighteenth century and by the Revolution of 1789, to which this monument will be built as an expression of France's gratitude.[6]
Little progress was made until 1886, when Jules Grévy was re-elected as president of France and Édouard Lockroy was appointed as minister for trade. A budget for the exposition was passed and, on 1 May, Lockroy announced an alteration to the terms of the open competition being held for a centrepiece to the exposition, which effectively made the selection of Eiffel's design a foregone conclusion, as entries had to include a study for a 300 m (980 ft) four-sided metal tower on the Champ de Mars.[6] (A 300-metre tower was then considered a herculean engineering effort). On 12 May, a commission was set up to examine Eiffel's scheme and its rivals, which, a month later, decided that all the proposals except Eiffel's were either impractical or lacking in details.
After some debate about the exact location of the tower, a contract was signed on 8 January 1887. Eiffel signed it acting in his own capacity rather than as the representative of his company, the contract granting him 1.5 million francs toward the construction costs: less than a quarter of the estimated 6.5 million francs. Eiffel was to receive all income from the commercial exploitation of the tower during the exhibition and for the next 20 years. He later established a separate company to manage the tower, putting up half the necessary capital himself.[7]
Artists' protest
Caricature of Gustave Eiffel comparing the Eiffel tower to the Pyramids, published in Le Temps, February 14, 1887.
The proposed tower had been a subject of controversy, drawing criticism from those who did not believe it was feasible and those who objected on artistic grounds. Prior to the Eiffel Tower's construction, no structure had ever been constructed to a height of 300 m, or even 200 m for that matter,[8] and many people believed it was impossible. These objections were an expression of a long-standing debate in France about the relationship between architecture and engineering. It came to a head as work began at the Champ de Mars: a "Committee of Three Hundred" (one member for each metre of the tower's height) was formed, led by the prominent architect Charles Garnier and including some of the most important figures of the arts, such as William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Guy de Maupassant, Charles Gounod and Jules Massenet. A petition called "Artists against the Eiffel Tower" was sent to the Minister of Works and Commissioner for the Exposition, Adolphe Alphand, and it was published by Le Temps on 14 February 1887:
We, writers, painters, sculptors, architects and passionate devotees of the hitherto untouched beauty of Paris, protest with all our strength, with all our indignation in the name of slighted French taste, against the erection … of this useless and monstrous Eiffel Tower … To bring our arguments home, imagine for a moment a giddy, ridiculous tower dominating Paris like a gigantic black smokestack, crushing under its barbaric bulk Notre Dame, the Tour Saint-Jacques, the Louvre, the Dome of les Invalides, the Arc de Triomphe, all of our humiliated monuments will disappear in this ghastly dream. And for twenty years … we shall see stretching like a blot of ink the hateful shadow of the hateful column of bolted sheet metal.[9]
A calligram by Guillaume Apollinaire
Gustave Eiffel responded to these criticisms by comparing his tower to the Egyptian pyramids: "My tower will be the tallest edifice ever erected by man. Will it not also be grandiose in its way? And why would something admirable in Egypt become hideous and ridiculous in Paris?"[10] These criticisms were also dealt with by Édouard Lockroy in a letter of support written to Alphand, sardonically saying,[11] "Judging by the stately swell of the rhythms, the beauty of the metaphors, the elegance of its delicate and precise style, one can tell this protest is the result of collaboration of the most famous writers and poets of our time", and he explained that the protest was irrelevant since the project had been decided upon months before, and construction on the tower was already under way.
Indeed, Garnier was a member of the Tower Commission that had examined the various proposals, and had raised no objection. Eiffel was similarly unworried, pointing out to a journalist that it was premature to judge the effect of the tower solely on the basis of the drawings, that the Champ de Mars was distant enough from the monuments mentioned in the protest for there to be little risk of the tower overwhelming them, and putting the aesthetic argument for the tower: "Do not the laws of natural forces always conform to the secret laws of harmony?"[12]
Some of the protesters changed their minds when the tower was built; others remained unconvinced.[13] Guy de Maupassant supposedly ate lunch in the tower's restaurant every day because it was the one place in Paris where the tower was not visible.[14]
By 1918, it had become a symbol of Paris and of France after Guillaume Apollinaire wrote a nationalist poem in the shape of the tower (a calligram) to express his feelings about the war against Germany.[15] Today, it is widely considered to be a remarkable piece of structural art, and is often featured in films and literature.
Construction
Foundations of the Eiffel Tower
Work on the foundations started on 28 January 1887.[16] Those for the east and south legs were straightforward, with each leg resting on four 2 m (6.6 ft) concrete slabs, one for each of the principal girders of each leg. The west and north legs, being closer to the river Seine, were more complicated: each slab needed two piles installed by using compressed-air caissons 15 m (49 ft) long and 6 m (20 ft) in diameter driven to a depth of 22 m (72 ft)[17] to support the concrete slabs, which were 6 m (20 ft) thick. Each of these slabs supported a block of limestone with an inclined top to bear a supporting shoe for the ironwork.
Each shoe was anchored to the stonework by a pair of bolts 10 cm (4 in) in diameter and 7.5 m (25 ft) long. The foundations were completed on 30 June, and the erection of the ironwork began. The visible work on-site was complemented by the enormous amount of exacting preparatory work that took place behind the scenes: the drawing office produced 1,700 general drawings and 3,629 detailed drawings of the 18,038 different parts needed.[18] The task of drawing the components was complicated by the complex angles involved in the design and the degree of precision required: the position of rivet holes was specified to within 1 mm (0.04 in) and angles worked out to one second of arc.[19] The finished components, some already riveted together into sub-assemblies, arrived on horse-drawn carts from a factory in the nearby Parisian suburb of Levallois-Perret and were first bolted together, with the bolts being replaced with rivets as construction progressed. No drilling or shaping was done on site: if any part did not fit, it was sent back to the factory for alteration. In all, 18,038 pieces were joined together using 2.5 million rivets.[16]
At first, the legs were constructed as cantilevers, but about halfway to the first level construction was paused to create a substantial timber scaffold. This renewed concerns about the structural integrity of the tower, and sensational headlines such as "Eiffel Suicide!" and "Gustave Eiffel Has Gone Mad: He Has Been Confined in an Asylum" appeared in the tabloid press.[20] At this stage, a small "creeper" crane designed to move up the tower was installed in each leg. They made use of the guides for the lifts which were to be fitted in the four legs. The critical stage of joining the legs at the first level was completed by the end of March 1888.[16] Although the metalwork had been prepared with the utmost attention to detail, provision had been made to carry out small adjustments to precisely align the legs; hydraulic jacks were fitted to the shoes at the base of each leg, capable of exerting a force of 800 tonnes, and the legs were intentionally constructed at a slightly steeper angle than necessary, being supported by sandboxes on the scaffold. Although construction involved 300 on-site employees,[16] due to Eiffel's safety precautions and the use of movable gangways, guardrails and screens, only one person died.[21]
18 July 1887:
The start of the erection of the metalwork
7 December 1887:
Construction of the legs with scaffolding
20 March 1888:
Completion of the first level
15 May 1888:
Start of construction on the second stage
21 August 1888:
Completion of the second level
26 December 1888:
Construction of the upper stage
15 March 1889:
Construction of the cupola
Lifts
The Roux, Combaluzier & Lepape lifts during construction. Note the drive sprockets and chain in the foreground.
Equipping the tower with adequate and safe passenger lifts was a major concern of the government commission overseeing the Exposition. Although some visitors could be expected to climb to the first level, or even the second, lifts clearly had to be the main means of ascent.[22]
Constructing lifts to reach the first level was relatively straightforward: the legs were wide enough at the bottom and so nearly straight that they could contain a straight track, and a contract was given to the French company Roux, Combaluzier & Lepape for two lifts to be fitted in the east and west legs.[23] Roux, Combaluzier & Lepape used a pair of endless chains with rigid, articulated links to which the car was attached. Lead weights on some links of the upper or return sections of the chains counterbalanced most of the car's weight. The car was pushed up from below, not pulled up from above: to prevent the chain buckling, it was enclosed in a conduit. At the bottom of the run, the chains passed around 3.9 m (12 ft 10 in) diameter sprockets. Smaller sprockets at the top guided the chains.[23]
The Otis lifts originally fitted in the north and south legs
Installing lifts to the second level was more of a challenge because a straight track was impossible. No French company wanted to undertake the work. The European branch of Otis Brothers & Company submitted a proposal but this was rejected: the fair's charter ruled out the use of any foreign material in the construction of the tower. The deadline for bids was extended but still no French companies put themselves forward, and eventually the contract was given to Otis in July 1887.[24] Otis were confident they would eventually be given the contract and had already started creating designs.[citation needed]
The car was divided into two superimposed compartments, each holding 25 passengers, with the lift operator occupying an exterior platform on the first level. Motive power was provided by an inclined hydraulic ram 12.67 m (41 ft 7 in) long and 96.5 cm (38.0 in) in diameter in the tower leg with a stroke of 10.83 m (35 ft 6 in): this moved a carriage carrying six sheaves. Five fixed sheaves were mounted higher up the leg, producing an arrangement similar to a block and tackle but acting in reverse, multiplying the stroke of the piston rather than the force generated. The hydraulic pressure in the driving cylinder was produced by a large open reservoir on the second level. After being exhausted from the cylinder, the water was pumped back up to the reservoir by two pumps in the machinery room at the base of the south leg. This reservoir also provided power to the lifts to the first level.[citation needed]
The original lifts for the journey between the second and third levels were supplied by Léon Edoux. A pair of 81 m (266 ft) hydraulic rams were mounted on the second level, reaching nearly halfway up to the third level. One lift car was mounted on top of these rams: cables ran from the top of this car up to sheaves on the third level and back down to a second car. Each car only travelled half the distance between the second and third levels and passengers were required to change lifts halfway by means of a short gangway. The 10-ton cars each held 65 passengers.[25]
Inauguration and the 1889 exposition
View of the 1889 World's Fair
The main structural work was completed at the end of March 1889 and, on 31 March, Eiffel celebrated by leading a group of government officials, accompanied by representatives of the press, to the top of the tower.[13] Because the lifts were not yet in operation, the ascent was made by foot, and took over an hour, with Eiffel stopping frequently to explain various features. Most of the party chose to stop at the lower levels, but a few, including the structural engineer, Émile Nouguier, the head of construction, Jean Compagnon, the President of the City Council, and reporters from Le Figaro and Le Monde Illustré, completed the ascent. At 2:35 pm, Eiffel hoisted a large Tricolour to the accompaniment of a 25-gun salute fired at the first level.[26]
There was still work to be done, particularly on the lifts and facilities, and the tower was not opened to the public until nine days after the opening of the exposition on 6 May; even then, the lifts had not been completed. The tower was an instant success with the public, and nearly 30,000 visitors made the 1,710-step climb to the top before the lifts entered service on 26 May.[27] Tickets cost 2 francs for the first level, 3 for the second, and 5 for the top, with half-price admission on Sundays,[28] and by the end of the exhibition there had been 1,896,987 visitors.[3]
After dark, the tower was lit by hundreds of gas lamps, and a beacon sent out three beams of red, white and blue light. Two searchlights mounted on a circular rail were used to illuminate various buildings of the exposition. The daily opening and closing of the exposition were announced by a cannon at the top.[citation needed]
Illumination of the tower at night during the exposition
On the second level, the French newspaper Le Figaro had an office and a printing press, where a special souvenir edition, Le Figaro de la Tour, was made. There was also a pâtisserie.[citation needed]
At the top, there was a post office where visitors could send letters and postcards as a memento of their visit. Graffitists were also catered for: sheets of paper were mounted on the walls each day for visitors to record their impressions of the tower. Gustave Eiffel described some of the responses as vraiment curieuse ("truly curious").[29]
Famous visitors to the tower included the Prince of Wales, Sarah Bernhardt, "Buffalo Bill" Cody (his Wild West show was an attraction at the exposition) and Thomas Edison.[27] Eiffel invited Edison to his private apartment at the top of the tower, where Edison presented him with one of his phonographs, a new invention and one of the many highlights of the exposition.[30] Edison signed the guestbook with this message:
To M Eiffel the Engineer the brave builder of so gigantic and original specimen of modern Engineering from one who has the greatest respect and admiration for all Engineers including the Great Engineer the Bon Dieu, Thomas Edison.
Eiffel had a permit for the tower to stand for 20 years. It was to be dismantled in 1909, when its ownership would revert to the City of Paris. The City had planned to tear it down (part of the original contest rules for designing a tower was that it should be easy to dismantle) but as the tower proved to be valuable for radio telegraphy, it was allowed to remain after the expiry of the permit, and from 1910 it also became part of the International Time Service.[31]
Eiffel made use of his apartment at the top of the tower to carry out meteorological observations, and also used the tower to perform experiments on the action of air resistance on falling bodies.[32]
Subsequent events
File:Vue Lumière No 992 - Panorama pendant l'ascension de la Tour Eiffel (1898).ogv
Panoramic view during ascent of the Eiffel Tower by the Lumière brothers, 1898
File:Reichelt.ogv
Franz Reichelt's preparations and fatal jump from the Eiffel Tower
For the 1900 Exposition Universelle, the lifts in the east and west legs were replaced by lifts running as far as the second level constructed by the French firm Fives-Lille. These had a compensating mechanism to keep the floor level as the angle of ascent changed at the first level, and were driven by a similar hydraulic mechanism to the Otis lifts, although this was situated at the base of the tower. Hydraulic pressure was provided by pressurised accumulators located near this mechanism.[24] At the same time the lift in the north pillar was removed and replaced by a staircase to the first level. The layout of both first and second levels was modified, with the space available for visitors on the second level. The original lift in the south pillar was removed 13 years later.[citation needed]
On 19 October 1901, Alberto Santos-Dumont, flying his No.6 airship, won a 100,000-franc prize offered by Henri Deutsch de la Meurthe for the first person to make a flight from St. Cloud to the Eiffel Tower and back in less than half an hour.[33]
Many innovations took place at the Eiffel Tower in the early 20th century. In 1910, Father Theodor Wulf measured radiant energy at the top and bottom of the tower. He found more at the top than expected, incidentally discovering what are known today as cosmic rays.[34] Just two years later, on 4 February 1912, Austrian tailor Franz Reichelt died after jumping from the first level of the tower (a height of 57 m) to demonstrate his parachute design.[35] In 1914, at the outbreak of World War I, a radio transmitter located in the tower jammed German radio communications, seriously hindering their advance on Paris and contributing to the Allied victory at the First Battle of the Marne.[36] From 1925 to 1934, illuminated signs for Citroën adorned three of the tower's sides, making it the tallest advertising space in the world at the time.[37] In April 1935, the tower was used to make experimental low-resolution television transmissions, using a shortwave transmitter of 200 watts power. On 17 November, an improved 180-line transmitter was installed.[38]
On two separate but related occasions in 1925, the con artist Victor Lustig "sold" the tower for scrap metal.[39] A year later, in February 1926, pilot Leon Collet was killed trying to fly under the tower. His aircraft became entangled in an aerial belonging to a wireless station.[40] A bust of Gustave Eiffel by Antoine Bourdelle was unveiled at the base of the north leg on 2 May 1929.[41] In 1930, the tower lost the title of the world's tallest structure when the Chrysler Building in New York City was completed.[42] In 1938, the decorative arcade around the first level was removed.[43]
American soldiers watch the French flag flying on the Eiffel Tower, c. 25 August 1944
Upon the German occupation of Paris in 1940, the lift cables were cut by the French. The tower was closed to the public during the occupation and the lifts were not repaired until 1946.[44] In 1940, German soldiers had to climb the tower to hoist a swastika-centered Reichskriegsflagge,[45] but the flag was so large it blew away just a few hours later, and was replaced by a smaller one.[46] When visiting Paris, Hitler chose to stay on the ground. When the Allies were nearing Paris in August 1944, Hitler ordered General Dietrich von Choltitz, the military governor of Paris, to demolish the tower along with the rest of the city. Von Choltitz disobeyed the order.[47] On 25 June, before the Germans had been driven out of Paris, the German flag was replaced with a Tricolour by two men from the French Naval Museum, who narrowly beat three men led by Lucien Sarniguet, who had lowered the Tricolour on 13 June 1940 when Paris fell to the Germans.[44]
A fire started in the television transmitter on 3 January 1956, damaging the top of the tower. Repairs took a year, and in 1957, the present radio aerial was added to the top.[48] In 1964, the Eiffel Tower was officially declared to be a historical monument by the Minister of Cultural Affairs, André Malraux.[49] A year later, an additional lift system was installed in the north pillar.[50]
According to interviews, in 1967, Montreal Mayor Jean Drapeau negotiated a secret agreement with Charles de Gaulle for the tower to be dismantled and temporarily relocated to Montreal to serve as a landmark and tourist attraction during Expo 67. The plan was allegedly vetoed by the company operating the tower out of fear that the French government could refuse permission for the tower to be restored in its original location.[51]
Base of the Eiffel Tower
In 1982, the original lifts between the second and third levels were replaced after 97 years in service. These had been closed to the public between November and March because the water in the hydraulic drive tended to freeze. The new cars operate in pairs, with one counterbalancing the other, and perform the journey in one stage, reducing the journey time from eight minutes to less than two minutes. At the same time, two new emergency staircases were installed, replacing the original spiral staircases. In 1983, the south pillar was fitted with an electrically driven Otis lift to serve the Jules Verne restaurant.[citation needed] The Fives-Lille lifts in the east and west legs, fitted in 1899, were extensively refurbished in 1986. The cars were replaced, and a computer system was installed to completely automate the lifts. The motive power was moved from the water hydraulic system to a new electrically driven oil-filled hydraulic system, and the original water hydraulics were retained solely as a counterbalance system.[50] A service lift was added to the south pillar for moving small loads and maintenance personnel three years later.[citation needed]
Robert Moriarty flew a Beechcraft Bonanza under the tower on 31 March 1984.[52] In 1987, A.J. Hackett made one of his first bungee jumps from the top of the Eiffel Tower, using a special cord he had helped develop. Hackett was arrested by the police.[53] On 27 October 1991, Thierry Devaux, along with mountain guide Hervé Calvayrac, performed a series of acrobatic figures while bungee jumping from the second floor of the tower. Facing the Champ de Mars, Devaux used an electric winch between figures to go back up to the second floor. When firemen arrived, he stopped after the sixth jump.[54]
The tower is the focal point of New Year's Eve and Bastille Day (14 July) celebrations in Paris.
For its "Countdown to the Year 2000" celebration on 31 December 1999, flashing lights and high-powered searchlights were installed on the tower. During the last three minutes of the year, the lights were turned on starting from the base of the tower and continuing to the top to welcome 2000 with a huge fireworks show. An exhibition above a cafeteria on the first floor commemorates this event. The searchlights on top of the tower made it a beacon in Paris's night sky, and 20,000 flashing bulbs gave the tower a sparkly appearance for five minutes every hour on the hour.[55]
The lights sparkled blue for several nights to herald the new millennium on 31 December 2000. The sparkly lighting continued for 18 months until July 2001. The sparkling lights were turned on again on 21 June 2003, and the display was planned to last for 10 years before they needed replacing.[56]
The tower received its 200,000,000th guest on 28 November 2002.[57] The tower has operated at its maximum capacity of about 7 million visitors per year since 2003.[58] In 2004, the Eiffel Tower began hosting a seasonal ice rink on the first level.[59] A glass floor was installed on the first level during the 2014 refurbishment.[60]
In 2016, during Valentine's Day, the performance UN BATTEMENT [61] by French artist Milène Guermont unfolds among the Eiffel Tower, the Montparnasse Tower and the contemporary artwork PHARES installed on the Place de la Concorde. This interactive pyramid-shaped sculpture allows the public to transmit the beating of their hearts thanks to a cardiac sensor. The Eiffel Tower and the Montparnasse Tower also light up to the rhythm of PHARES. This is the first time that the Eiffel Tower has interacted with a work of art.[citation needed]
Design
Material
The Eiffel Tower from below
The puddled iron (wrought iron) of the Eiffel Tower weighs 7,300 tonnes,[62] and the addition of lifts, shops and antennae have brought the total weight to approximately 10,100 tonnes.[63] As a demonstration of the economy of design, if the 7,300 tonnes of metal in the structure were melted down, it would fill the square base, 125 metres (410 ft) on each side, to a depth of only 6.25 cm (2.46 in) assuming the density of the metal to be 7.8 tonnes per cubic metre.[64] Additionally, a cubic box surrounding the tower (324 m × 125 m × 125 m) would contain 6,200 tonnes of air, weighing almost as much as the iron itself. Depending on the ambient temperature, the top of the tower may shift away from the sun by up to 18 cm (7 in) due to thermal expansion of the metal on the side facing the sun.[65]
Wind considerations
When it was built, many were shocked by the tower's daring form. Eiffel was accused of trying to create something artistic with no regard to the principles of engineering. However, Eiffel and his team – experienced bridge builders – understood the importance of wind forces, and knew that if they were going to build the tallest structure in the world, they had to be sure it could withstand them. In an interview with the newspaper Le Temps published on 14 February 1887, Eiffel said:
Is it not true that the very conditions which give strength also conform to the hidden rules of harmony? … Now to what phenomenon did I have to give primary concern in designing the Tower? It was wind resistance. Well then! I hold that the curvature of the monument's four outer edges, which is as mathematical calculation dictated it should be … will give a great impression of strength and beauty, for it will reveal to the eyes of the observer the boldness of the design as a whole.[66]
He used graphical methods to determine the strength of the tower and empirical evidence to account for the effects of wind, rather than a mathematical formula. Close examination of the tower reveals a basically exponential shape.[67] All parts of the tower were overdesigned to ensure maximum resistance to wind forces. The top half was even assumed to have no gaps in the latticework.[68] In the years since it was completed, engineers have put forward various mathematical hypotheses in an attempt to explain the success of the design. The most recent, devised in 2004 after letters sent by Eiffel to the French Society of Civil Engineers in 1885 were translated into English, is described as a non-linear integral equation based on counteracting the wind pressure on any point of the tower with the tension between the construction elements at that point.[67]
The Eiffel Tower sways by up to 9 cm (3.5 in) in the wind.[69]
Accommodation
Gustave Eiffel's apartment
When originally built, the first level contained three restaurants – one French, one Russian and one Flemish — and an "Anglo-American Bar". After the exposition closed, the Flemish restaurant was converted to a 250-seat theatre. A promenade 2.6-metre (8 ft 6 in) wide ran around the outside of the first level. At the top, there were laboratories for various experiments, and a small apartment reserved for Gustave Eiffel to entertain guests, which is now open to the public, complete with period decorations and lifelike mannequins of Eiffel and some of his notable guests.[70]
In May 2016, an apartment was created on the first level to accommodate four competition winners during the UEFA Euro 2016 football tournament in Paris in June. The apartment has a kitchen, two bedrooms, a lounge, and views of Paris landmarks including the Seine, Sacré-Cœur, and the Arc de Triomphe.[71]
Passenger lifts
The arrangement of the lifts has been changed several times during the tower's history. Given the elasticity of the cables and the time taken to align the cars with the landings, each lift, in normal service, takes an average of 8 minutes and 50 seconds to do the round trip, spending an average of 1 minute and 15 seconds at each level. The average journey time between levels is 1 minute. The original hydraulic mechanism is on public display in a small museum at the base of the east and west legs. Because the mechanism requires frequent lubrication and maintenance, public access is often restricted. The rope mechanism of the north tower can be seen as visitors exit the lift.[72]
Engraved names
Main article: List of the 72 names on the Eiffel Tower
Names engraved on the tower
Gustave Eiffel engraved on the tower the names of 72 French scientists, engineers and mathematicians in recognition of their contributions to the building of the tower. Eiffel chose this "invocation of science" because of his concern over the artists' protest. At the beginning of the 20th century, the engravings were painted over, but they were restored in 1986–87 by the Société Nouvelle d'exploitation de la Tour Eiffel, a company operating the tower.[73]
Aesthetics
The tower is painted in three shades: lighter at the top, getting progressively darker towards the bottom to complement the Parisian sky.[74] It was originally reddish brown; this changed in 1968 to a bronze colour known as "Eiffel Tower Brown".[75]
The only non-structural elements are the four decorative grill-work arches, added in Sauvestre's sketches, which served to make the tower look more substantial and to make a more impressive entrance to the exposition.[76]
A pop-culture movie cliché is that the view from a Parisian window always includes the tower.[77] In reality, since zoning restrictions limit the height of most buildings in Paris to seven storeys, only a small number of tall buildings have a clear view of the tower.[78]
Maintenance
Maintenance of the tower includes applying 60 tons of paint every seven years to prevent it from rusting. The tower has been completely repainted at least 19 times since it was built. Lead paint was still being used as recently as 2001 when the practice was stopped out of concern for the environment.[56][79]
Panorama of Paris from the Tour Eiffel
Panorama of Paris and its suburbs from the top of the Eiffel Tower
Tourism
Transport
The nearest Paris Métro station is Bir-Hakeim and the nearest RER station is Champ de Mars-Tour Eiffel.[80] The tower itself is located at the intersection of the quai Branly and the Pont d'Iéna.
Popularity
Number of visitors per year between 1889 and 2004
More than 250 million people have visited the tower since it was completed in 1889.[3] In 2015, there were 6.91 million visitors.[81] The tower is the most-visited paid monument in the world.[82] An average of 25,000 people ascend the tower every day which can result in long queues.[83]
Restaurants
The tower has two restaurants: Le 58 Tour Eiffel on the first level, and Le Jules Verne, a gourmet restaurant with its own lift on the second level. This restaurant has one star in the Michelin Red Guide. It was run by the multi-Michelin star chef Alain Ducasse from 2007 to 2017.[84] Starting May 2019, it will be managed by three star chef Frédéric Anton.[85] It owes its name to the famous science-fiction writer Jules Verne. Additionally, there is a champagne bar at the top of the Eiffel Tower.
From 1937 until 1981, there was a restaurant near the top of the tower. It was removed due to structural considerations; engineers had determined it was too heavy and was causing the tower to sag.[86] This restaurant was sold to an American restaurateur and transported to New York and then New Orleans. It was rebuilt on the edge of New Orleans' Garden District as a restaurant and later event hall.[87]
Replicas
Replica at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel, Nevada, United States.
Main article: List of Eiffel Tower replicas
As one of the most iconic landmarks in the world, the Eiffel Tower has been the inspiration for the creation of many replicas and similar towers. An early example is Blackpool Tower in England. The mayor of Blackpool, Sir John Bickerstaffe, was so impressed on seeing the Eiffel Tower at the 1889 exposition that he commissioned a similar tower to be built in his town. It opened in 1894 and is 158.1 m (518 ft) tall.[88] Tokyo Tower in Japan, built as a communications tower in 1958, was also inspired by the Eiffel Tower.[89]
There are various scale models of the tower in the United States, including a half-scale version at the Paris Las Vegas, Nevada, one in Paris, Texas built in 1993, and two 1:3 scale models at Kings Island, located in Mason, Ohio, and Kings Dominion, Virginia, amusement parks opened in 1972 and 1975 respectively. Two 1:3 scale models can be found in China, one in Durango, Mexico that was donated by the local French community, and several across Europe.[90]
In 2011, the TV show Pricing the Priceless on the National Geographic Channel speculated that a full-size replica of the tower would cost approximately US$480 million to build.[91] This would be more than ten times the cost of the original (nearly 8 million in 1890 Francs; ~US$40 million in 2018 dollars).
Communications
Top of the Eiffel Tower
The tower has been used for making radio transmissions since the beginning of the 20th century. Until the 1950s, sets of aerial wires ran from the cupola to anchors on the Avenue de Suffren and Champ de Mars. These were connected to longwave transmitters in small bunkers. In 1909, a permanent underground radio centre was built near the south pillar, which still exists today. On 20 November 1913, the Paris Observatory, using the Eiffel Tower as an aerial, exchanged wireless signals with the United States Naval Observatory, which used an aerial in Arlington, Virginia. The object of the transmissions was to measure the difference in longitude between Paris and Washington, D.C..[92] Today, radio and digital television signals are transmitted from the Eiffel Tower.
FM radio
FrequencykWService
87.8 MHz10France Inter
89.0 MHz10RFI Paris
89.9 MHz6TSF Jazz
90.4 MHz10Nostalgie
90.9 MHz4Chante France
Digital television
A television antenna was first installed on the tower in 1957, increasing its height by 18.7 m (61.4 ft). Work carried out in 2000 added a further 5.3 m (17.4 ft), giving the current height of 324 m (1,063 ft).[56] Analogue television signals from the Eiffel Tower ceased on 8 March 2011.
FrequencyVHFUHFkWService
182.25 MHz6—100Canal+
479.25 MHz—22500France 2
503.25 MHz—25500TF1
527.25 MHz—28500France 3
543.25 MHz—30100France 5
567.25 MHz—33100M6
Illumination copyright
Further information: Freedom of panorama § France
The Eiffel Tower illuminated in 2015
The tower and its image have been in the public domain since 1993, 70 years after Eiffel's death.[93] In June 1990 a French court ruled that a special lighting display on the tower in 1989 to mark the tower's 100th anniversary was an "original visual creation" protected by copyright. The Court of Cassation, France's judicial court of last resort, upheld the ruling in March 1992.[94] The Société d'Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (SETE) now considers any illumination of the tower to be a separate work of art that falls under copyright.[95] As a result, the SNTE alleges that it is illegal to publish contemporary photographs of the lit tower at night without permission in France and some other countries for commercial use.[96][97] For this reason, it is often rare to find images or videos of the lit tower at night on stock image sites,[98] and media outlets rarely broadcast images or videos of it.[99]
The imposition of copyright has been controversial. The Director of Documentation for what was then called the Société Nouvelle d'exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (SNTE), Stéphane Dieu, commented in 2005: "It is really just a way to manage commercial use of the image, so that it isn't used in ways [of which] we don't approve".[100] SNTE made over €1 million from copyright fees in 2002.[101] However, it could also be used to restrict the publication of tourist photographs of the tower at night, as well as hindering non-profit and semi-commercial publication of images of the illuminated tower.[102]
The copyright claim itself has never been tested in courts to date according to the 2014 article of the Art Law Journal, and there has never been an attempt to track down millions of netizens who have posted and shared their images of the illuminated tower on the Internet worldwide. It added, however, that permissive situation may arise on commercial use of such images, like in a magazine, on a film poster, or on product packaging.[103]
French doctrine and jurisprudence allows pictures incorporating a copyrighted work as long as their presence is incidental or accessory to the subject being represented,[104] a reasoning akin to the de minimis rule. Therefore, SETE may be unable to claim copyright on photographs of Paris which happen to include the lit tower.
Height changes
The pinnacle height of the Eiffel Tower has changed multiple times over the years as described in the chart below.[105]
FromToHeight mHeight ftType of additionRemarks
18891957312.271,025FlagpoleArchitectural height of 300 m 984 ft. Tallest freestanding structure in the world until surpassed by the Chrysler building in 1930. Tallest tower in the world until surpassed by the KCTV Broadcast Tower in 1956.
19571991320.751,052AntennaBroadcast antenna added in 1957 which made it the tallest tower in the world until the Tokyo Tower was completed the following year in 1958.
19911994317.961,043Antenna change
19942000318.71,046Antenna change
2000Current3241,063Antenna change
Taller structures
The Eiffel Tower was the world's tallest structure when completed in 1889, a distinction it retained until 1929 when the Chrysler Building in New York City was topped out.[106] The tower also lost its standing as the world's tallest tower to the Tokyo Tower in 1958 but retains its status as the tallest freestanding (non-guyed) structure in France.
Lattice towers taller than the Eiffel Tower
Further information: List of tallest towers in the world, Lattice tower, and Observation deck
NamePinnacle heightYearCountryTownRemarks
Tokyo Skytree634 m (2,080 ft)2011JapanTokyo
Kyiv TV Tower385 m (1,263 ft)1973UkraineKyiv
Dragon Tower336 m (1,102 ft)2000ChinaHarbin
Tokyo Tower333 m (1,093 ft)1958JapanTokyo
WITI TV Tower329.4 m (1,081 ft)1962United StatesShorewood, Wisconsin
St. Petersburg TV Tower326 m (1,070 ft)1962RussiaSaint Petersburg
Structures in France taller than the Eiffel Tower
Further information: List of tallest structures in France
NamePinnacle heightYearStructure typeTownRemarks
Longwave transmitter Allouis350 m (1,150 ft)1974Guyed mastAllouis
HWU transmitter350 m (1,150 ft)1971Guyed mastRosnayMilitary VLF transmitter; multiple masts
Viaduc de Millau343 m (1,125 ft)2004Bridge pillarMillau
TV Mast Niort-Maisonnay330 m (1,080 ft)1978Guyed mastNiort
Transmitter Le Mans-Mayet342 m (1,122 ft)1993Guyed mastMayet
La Regine transmitter330 m (1,080 ft)1973Guyed mastSaissacMilitary VLF transmitter
Transmitter Roumoules330 m (1,080 ft)1974Guyed mastRoumoulesSpare transmission mast for longwave; insulated against ground
See also
flagFrance portal
Eiffel Tower in popular culture
List of tallest buildings and structures in the Paris region
List of tallest buildings and structures in the world
List of tallest towers in the world
List of tallest freestanding structures in the world
List of tallest freestanding steel structures
List of transmission sites
Lattice tower
Eiffel Tower, 1909–1928 painting series by Robert Delaunay
References
Notes
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Eiffel Tower at Emporis
SETE. "The Eiffel Tower at a glance". Official Eiffel Tower website. Archived from the original on 14 April 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
Engineering News and American Railway Journal. 22. G. H. Frost. 1889. p. 482.
Harvie, p. 78.
Loyrette, p. 116.
Loyrette, p. 121.
"Diagrams - SkyscraperPage.com". skyscraperpage.com.
Loyrette, p. 174.
Paul Souriau; Manon Souriau (1983). The Aesthetics of Movement. University of Massachusetts Press. p. 100. ISBN 0-87023-412-9.
Harvie, p. 99.
Loyrette, p. 176.
"The Eiffel Tower". News. The Times (32661). London. 1 April 1889. col B, p. 5.
Jill Jonnes (2009). Eiffel's Tower: And the World's Fair where Buffalo Bill Beguiled Paris, the Artists Quarreled, and Thomas Edison Became a Count. Viking. pp. 163–64. ISBN 978-0-670-02060-7.
Guillaume Apollinaire (1980). Anne Hyde Greet (ed.). Calligrammes: Poems of Peace and War (1913–1916). University of California Press. pp. 411–414. ISBN 978-0-520-01968-3.
SETE. "Origins and construction of the Eiffel Tower". Official Eiffel Tower website. Archived from the original on 31 July 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
Loyrette, p. 123.
Loyrette, p. 148.
Eiffel, G; The Eiffel TowerPlate X
Harvie, p. 110.
"Construction of the Eiffel Tower". wonders-of-the-world.net.
Vogel, pp. 20–21.
Vogel, p. 28.
Vogel, pp. 23–24.
Eiffel, Gustave (1900). La Tour de Trois Cents Mètres (in French). Paris: Société des imprimeries Lemercier. pp. 171–3.
Harvie, pp. 122–23.
SETE. "The Eiffel Tower during the 1889 Exposition Universelle". Official Eiffel Tower website. Archived from the original on 25 April 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
Harvie, pp. 144–45.
Eiffel, Gustave (1900). La Tour de Trois Cents Mètres. Paris: Lemercier. p. 335.
Jill Jonnes (23 May 2009). "Thomas Edison at the Eiffel Tower". Wonders and Marvels. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
Michelin Paris: Tourist Guide (5 ed.). Michelin Tyre Public Limited. 1985. p. 52. ISBN 9782060135427.
Watson, p. 829.
"M. Santos Dumont's Balloon". News. The Times (36591). London. 21 October 1901. col A, p. 4.
Theodor Wulf. Physikalische Zeitschrift. Contains results of the four-day-long observation done by Theodor Wulf at the top of the Eiffel Tower in 1910.
"L'inventeur d'un parachute se lance de le tour Eiffel et s'écrase sur le sol". Le Petit Parisien (in French). 5 February 1912. p. 1. Retrieved 26 November 2009.
Barbara Wertheim Tuchman (1994). August 1914. Papermac. p. 236. ISBN 978-0-333-30516-4.
Smith, Oliver (31 March 2018). "40 fascinating facts about the Eiffel Tower". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
Stephen Herbert (2004). A History of Early Television. 2. Taylor & Francis. p. 40. ISBN 978-0-415-32667-4.
Piers Letcher (2003). Eccentric France: The Bradt Guide to Mad, Magical and Marvellous France. Bradt Travel Guides. p. 105. ISBN 978-1-84162-068-8.
"An air tragedy". The Sunday Times. Perth, WA. 28 February 1926. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
Harriss, p. 178.
Claudia Roth Pierpont (18 November 2002). "The Silver Spire: How two men's dreams changed the skyline of New York". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 27 February 2012.
Harriss, p. 195.
Harriss, pp. 180–84.
"HD Stock Video Footage – The Germans unfurl Nazi flags at the captured Palace of Versailles and Eiffel Tower during the Battle of France". www.criticalpast.com.
Smith, Oliver (4 February 2016). "Eiffel Tower: 40 fascinating facts". The Telegraph – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
Carlo D'Este (2003). Eisenhower: A Soldier's Life. Henry Holt and Company. p. 574. ISBN 978-0-8050-5687-7.
SETE. "The major events". Official Eiffel Tower website. Archived from the original on 31 March 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
Harriss, p. 215.
SETE. "The Eiffel Tower's lifts". Official Eiffel Tower website. Archived from the original on 7 April 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
Nick Auf der Maur (15 September 1980). "How this city nearly got the Eiffel Tower". The Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
Robert J. Moriarty. "A Bonanza in Paris". Air & Space Magazine. Retrieved 4 April 2008.
Jano Gibson (27 February 2007). "Extreme bid to stretch bungy record". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
"Tour Eiffel". Thierry Devaux (in French). Retrieved 19 March 2019.
SETE. "The Eiffel Tower's illuminations". Official Eiffel Tower website. Archived from the original on 22 August 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
SETE. "All you need to know about the Eiffel Tower" (PDF). Official Eiffel Tower website. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
"The Eiffel Tower". France.com. 23 October 2003. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
Denis Cosnard (21 April 2014). "Eiffel Tower renovation work aims to take profits to new heights". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
Darwin Porter; Danforth Prince; G. McDonald; H. Mastrini; S. Marker; A. Princz; C. Bánfalvy; A. Kutor; N. Lakos; S. Rowan Kelleher (2006). Frommer's Europe (9th ed.). Wiley. p. 318. ISBN 978-0-471-92265-0.
"Eiffel Tower gets glass floor in refurbishment project". BBC News. 6 October 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
User, Super. "PHARES (2015)". Milène GUERMONT.
David A. Hanser (2006). Architecture of France. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 66. ISBN 978-0-313-31902-0.
DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Europe. Dorling Kindersley. 2012. p. 163. ISBN 978-1-4093-8577-6.
Harriss, p. 60.
Harriss, p. 231.
SETE. "Debate and controversy surrounding the Eiffel Tower". Official Eiffel Tower website. Archived from the original on 8 September 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
"Elegant shape of Eiffel Tower solved mathematically by University of Colorado professor". Science Daily. 7 January 2005. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
Watson, p. 807.
SETE. "FAQ: History/Technical". Official Eiffel Tower website. Archived from the original on 8 April 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
Caitlin Morton (31 May 2015). "There is a secret apartment at the top of the Eiffel Tower". Architectural Digest. Conde Nast. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
Mary Papenfuss (20 May 2016). "Tourists have the chance to get an Eiffel of the view by staying in the Tower for a night". International Business Times. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
Eiffel Tower, Paris, France hisour.com. Retrieved 29 August 2021
SETE (2010). "The Eiffel Tower Laboratory". Official Eiffel Tower website. Archived from the original on 12 February 2017. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
SETE. "The Eiffel Tower gets beautified" (PDF). Official Eiffel Tower website. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 November 2015. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
SETE. "Painting the Eiffel Tower". Official Eiffel Tower website. Archived from the original on 26 October 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
"History: Development of clear span buildings – Exhibition buildings". Architectural Teaching Resource. Tata Steel Europe, Ltd. Archived from the original on 5 October 2013. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
"The Eiffel Tower". France.com. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
"Eiffel Tower (Paris ( 7 th ), 1889)". Structurae. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
Bavelier, Ariane (3 December 2013). "Coup de pinceau sur la tour Eiffel". Lefigaro. Retrieved 28 March 2009.
SETE. "Getting to the Eiffel Tower". Official Eiffel Tower website. Archived from the original on 14 April 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
"Number of Eiffel Tower visitors falls in wake of Paris attacks". France 24. 20 January 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
Jean-Michel Normand (23 July 2007). "Tour Eiffel et souvenirs de Paris". Le Monde. France. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
"Eiffel Tower reopens to tourists after rare closure for 2-day strike". Fox News. Associated Press. 27 June 2013. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
Dali Wiederhoft. "Eiffel Tower: Sightseeing, restaurants, links, transit". Bonjour Paris. Archived from the original on 6 January 2014.
"Eiffel Tower in Paris". Paris Digest. 2018. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
Marcus, Frances Frank (10 December 1986). "New Orleans's 'Eiffel Tower'". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
Thomas, Jabari (15 September 2015). "Where you can find pieces of the Eiffel Tower in New Orleans". WGNO. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
"The Blackpool Tower". History Extra. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
"The red and white Eiffel Tower of Tokyo". KLM. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
Todd van Luling (19 August 2013). "The most legit Eiffel Tower replicas you didn't know existed". Huffpost Travel. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
"Eiffel Tower". Pricing the Priceless. Season 1. Episode 3. 9 May 2011. National Geographic Channel (Australia).
"Paris time by wireless". The New York Times. 22 November 1913. p. 1.
"Why it's actually illegal to take pictures of Eiffel Tower at night". The Jakarta Post. 9 December 2017.
"Cour de cassation 3 mars 1992, Jus Luminum n°J523975" (in French). Jus Luminum. Archived from the original on 16 November 2009.
Jimmy Wales (3 July 2015). "If you want to keep sharing photos for free, read this". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
"The Eiffel Tower image rights". Société d'Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel.
Hugh Morris (24 June 2015). "Freedom of panorama: EU proposal could mean holiday snaps breach copyright". The Telegraph. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
Nicholls, Will (14 October 2017). "Why Photos of the Eiffel Tower at Night are Illegal". PetaPixel. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
Cuttle, Jade (1 July 2019). "Why Photos of the Eiffel Tower at Night are Illegal". The Culture Trip. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
"Eiffel Tower: Repossessed". Fast Company. 2 February 2005. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
James Arnold (16 May 2003). "Are things looking up for the Eiffel Tower?". BBC News. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
Steve Schlackman (16 November 2014). "Do night photos of the Eiffel Tower violate copyright?". Artrepreneur Art Law Journal. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
Larsen, Stephanie (13 March 2017). "Is it Illegal to Take Photographs of the Eiffel Tower at Night?". Snopes. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
Notions Fondamentales Du Droit D'auteur (in French). World Intellectual Property Organization. 2002. p. 277. ISBN 978-92-805-1013-3. La représentation d'une œuvre située dans un lieu public n'est licite que lorsqu'elle est accessoire par rapport au sujet principal représenté ou traité
"Eiffel Tower, Paris - SkyscraperPage.com". skyscraperpage.com.
Chrysler (14 June 2004). "Chrysler Building – Piercing the Sky". CBS Forum. CBS Team. Retrieved 21 May 2017.
Bibliography
Chanson, Hubert (2009). "Hydraulic engineering legends Listed on the Eiffel Tower". In Jerry R. Rogers (ed.). Great Rivers History: Proceedings and Invited Papers for the EWRI Congress and Great Rivers History Symposium. American Society of Civil Engineers. ISBN 978-0-7844-1032-5.
Frémy, Dominique (1989). Quid de la tour Eiffel. R. Laffont. ISBN 978-2-221-06488-7.
The Engineer: The Paris Exhibition. XLVII. London: Office for Advertisements and Publication. 3 May 1889.
Harriss, Joseph (1975). The Eiffel Tower: Symbol of an Age. London: Paul Elek. ISBN 0236400363.
Harvie, David I. (2006). Eiffel: The Genius Who Reinvented Himself. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Sutton. ISBN 0-7509-3309-7.
Jonnes, Jill (2009). Eiffel's Tower: The Thrilling Story Behind Paris's Beloved Monument …. Penguin. ISBN 978-1-101-05251-8.
Loyrette, Henri (1985). Eiffel, un Ingenieur et Son Oeuvre. Rizzoli. ISBN 978-0-8478-0631-7.
Musée d'Orsay (1989). 1889: la Tour Eiffel et l'Exposition Universelle. Editions de la Réunion des Musées Nationaux, Ministère de la Culture, de la Communication, des Grands Travaux et du Bicentenaire. ISBN 978-2-7118-2244-7.
Vogel, Robert M. (1961). "Elevator Systems of the Eiffel Tower, 1889". United States National Museum Bulletin. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. 228: 20–21.
Watson, William (1892). Paris Universal Exposition: Civil Engineering, Public Works, and Architecture. Washington, D.C.: Government Publishing Office.
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Tightrope walking
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The feet of a tightrope walker
Tightrope walking, also called funambulism, is the skill of walking along a thin wire or rope. It has a long tradition in various countries and is commonly associated with the circus. Other skills similar to tightrope walking include slack rope walking and slacklining.
Contents
1Types
2Ropes
3Biomechanics
4Famous tightrope artists
5Metaphorical use
6See also
7References
Types
Tightrope walking, Armenian manuscript, 1688
Tightwire is the skill of maintaining balance while walking along a tensioned wire between two points. It can be done either using a balancing tool (umbrella, fan, balance pole, etc.) or "freehand", using only one's body to maintain balance. Typically, tightwire performances either include dance or object manipulation. Object manipulation acts include a variety of props in their acts, such as clubs, rings, hats, or canes. Tightwire performers have even used wheelbarrows with passengers, ladders, and animals in their act. The technique to maintain balance is to keep the performer's centre of mass above their support point—usually their feet.
Highwire is a form of tightwire walking but performed at much greater height. Although there is no official height when tightwire becomes highwire, generally a wire over 20 feet (6 m) high are regarded as a highwire act.
Skywalk is a form of highwire which is performed at great heights and length. A skywalk is performed outdoors between tall building, gorges, across waterfalls or other natural and man-made structures.
Ropes
If the "lay" of the rope (the orientation of the constituent strands, the "twist" of a rope) is in one direction, the rope can twist on itself as it stretches and relaxes. Underfoot, this could be hazardous to disastrous in a tightrope. One solution is for the rope core to be made of steel cable, laid in the opposite direction to the outer layers, so that twisting forces balance each other out.
Biomechanics
Acrobats maintain their balance by positioning their centre of mass directly over their base of support, i.e. shifting most of their weight over their legs, arms, or whatever part of their body they are using to hold them up. When they are on the ground with their feet side by side, the base of support is wide in the lateral direction but narrow in the sagittal (back-to-front) direction. In the case of highwire-walkers, their feet are parallel with each other, one foot positioned in front of the other while on the wire. Therefore, a tightwire walker's sway is side to side, their lateral support having been drastically reduced. In both cases, whether side by side or parallel, the ankle is the pivot point.
A wire-walker may use a pole for balance or may stretch out his arms perpendicular to his trunk in the manner of a pole. This technique provides several advantages. It distributes mass away from the pivot point, thereby increasing the moment of inertia. This reduces angular acceleration, so a greater torque is required to rotate the performer over the wire. The result is less tipping. In addition, the performer can also correct sway by rotating the pole. This will create an equal and opposite torque on the body.
Tightwire-walkers typically perform in very thin and flexible, leather-soled slippers with a full-length suede or leather sole to protect the feet from abrasions and bruises, while still allowing the foot to curve around the wire. Though very infrequent in performance, amateur, hobbyist, or inexperienced funambulists will often walk barefoot so that the wire can be grasped between the big and second toe. This is more often done when using a rope, as the softer and silkier fibres are less taxing on the bare foot than the harder and more abrasive braided wire.
Famous tightrope artists
Maria Spelterini crossing Niagara Falls on July 4, 1876
Jultagi, the Korean tradition of tightrope walking
Charles Blondin, a.k.a. Jean-François Gravelet, crossed the Niagara Falls many times
Robert Cadman, early 18th-century British highwire walker and ropeslider
Jay Cochrane, Canadian, set multiple records for skywalking, including The Great China Skywalk[1] in Qutang Gorge, China, 639-metre-long (2,098 ft), 410-metre-high (1,340 ft) from one cliff wall to the opposite side above the Yangtze River; the longest blindfolded skywalk, 800-foot-long (240 m), 300-foot-high (91 m) in 1998, between the towers of the Flamingo Hilton in Las Vegas, Nevada, and broadcast on FOX Network's "Guinness World Records: Primetime" on Tuesday, February 23, 1999; In 2001, he became the first person to perform a skywalk in Niagara Falls, Canada, in more than a hundred years. His final performances took place during Skywalk 2012[2] with a world record submission[3] of 11.81 miles (19.01 km) in cumulative distance skywalking from the Skylon Tower at a height of 520 feet (160 m) traversing the 1,300 feet (400 m) highwire to the pinnacle of the Hilton Fallsview Hotel at 581 feet (177 m).
Con Colleano, Australian, "the Wizard of the Wire"
David Dimitri, Swiss highwire walker
Pablo Fanque, 19th-century British tightrope walker and "rope dancer", among other talents, although best known as the first black circus owner in Britain, and for his mention in the Beatles song, Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!
The Great Farini, a.k.a. Willie Hunt, crossed the Niagara Falls many times
Farrell Hettig, American highwire walker, started as a Wallenda team member, once held record for stee
This 1920s-era cottage on my street is among the last wave of development that occurred in the neighborhood before World War II. The 1920s and 1930s was a period in which the last vestiges of the neighborhood's original development pattern continued to occur, with single family homes on small lots and small apartment buildings proliferating as the neighborhood matured as a residential district and was home at that time to middle-class and working-class families. After World War II, the development of the neighborhood was largely bigger, multifamily developments and the expansion of the footprint of several institutions including the university and hospitals, which swallowed up ever more land. Today, these homes are a reminder of the pre-suburban sprawl era, in which what is today seen as 'inner city' neighborhood's were more akin to today's suburbs.
Composition Test.
I finally got back the Evans Eames DCM back from the refinisher to pair up with the newly placed vintage Saarinen tulip table.
The 3 photos in this set were taken by my dear friend John Y.
Danny M. was also with us in the park that day, and we managed to get several photos of 2 and even 3 of us all together, showing off our pantyhose in Holly Park (a small hilltop park in Bernal Heights district of San Francisco, located directly across the street from the small apartment I rented for 25 years). Those group photos, though, cannot be shared here at this time. Perhaps later.
kramat of shaykh yusuf of makassar, macassar/faure, western cape
the buidling was designed by franklin kaye kendall
**********
A Kramat is a shrine or mausoleum that has been built over the burial place of a Muslim who's particular piety and practice of the teachings of Islam is recognised by the community. I have been engaged in documenting these sites around Cape Town over several visits at different times over the last few years. They range widely from graves marked by an edge of stones to more elaborate tombs sheltered by buildings of various styles. They are cultural markers that speak of a culture was shaped by life at the Cape and that infuses Cape Town at large.
In my searches used the guide put out by the Cape Masaar Society as a basic guide to locate some recognised sites. Even so some were not that easy to find.
In the context of the Muslims at the Cape, historically the kramats represented places of focus for the faithful and were/are often places of local pilgrimage. When the Dutch and the VOC (United East India Company aka Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie) set up a refuelling station and a settlement at the Cape, Muslims from their territories in the East Indies and Batavia were with them from the start as soldiers, slaves and 'Vryswarten'; (freemen). As the settlement established itself as a colony the Cape became a useful place to banish political opponents from the heart of their eastern empire. Some exiles were of royal lineage and there were also scholars amongst them. One of the most well known of these exiles was Sheik Yusuf who was cordially received by Govenor van der Stel as befitted his rank (he and his entourage where eventually housed on an estate away from the main settlement so that he was less likely to have an influence over the local population), others were imprisoned for a time both in Cape Town and on Robben island. It is said that the first Koran in the Cape was first written out from memory by Sheik Yusuf after his arrival. There were several Islamic scholars in his retinue and these men encouraged something of an Islamic revival amoung the isolated community. Their influence over the enslaved “Malay” population who were already nominally Muslim was considerable and through the ministrations of other teachers to the underclasses the influence of Islam became quite marked. As political opponents to the governing powers the teachers became focus points for escaped slaves in the outlying areas.
Under the VOC it was forbidden to practice any other faith other than Christianity in public which meant that there was no provision for mosques or madrasas. The faith was maintained informally until the end of the C18th when plans were made for the first mosque and promises of land to be granted for a specific burial ground in the Bo Kaap were given in negotiations for support against an imminent British invasion. These promises were honoured by the British after their victory.
There is talk of a prophecy of a protective circle of Islam that would surround Cape Town. I cannot find the specifics of this prophecy but the 27 kramats of the “Auliyah” or friends of Allah, as these honoured individuals are known, do form a loose circle of saints. Some of the Auliyah are credited with miraculous powers in legends that speak of their life and works. Within the folk tradition some are believed to be able to intercede on behalf of supplicants (even though this more part of a mystical philosophy (keramat) and is not strictly accepted in mainstream contemporary Islamic teaching) and even today some visitors may offer special prayers at their grave sites in much the same way as Christians might direct prayer at the shrine of a particular saint.
photographer's note-
sheikh yussuf was the brother of the king of Goa (Gowa) with it's capital of Makassar. yussuf fought in battles against the Dutch and was eventually captured. he was transferred to the cape of good hope in 1693. he died in 1699. he had 2 wives, 2 concubines, 12 children and 14 male and female slaves.
*********************************************
Die Kramat van Sjeg Yusuf, Faure
Die Kramat1 van Sjeg Yusuf (Abadin Tadia Tjoessoep)2 op 'n klein heuwel naby die mond van die Eersterivier in Makassar, Faure, is 'n terrein waarheen Kaapse Moslems oor die laaste drie eeue pelgrimstogte onderneem. Yusuf is op 23 April 1699 oorlede en op die heuwel begrawe. Volgens predikant en skrywer, Francois Valentyn (1666-1727), wat sy graf in 1705 besoek het, was dit "een cierlyke Mohammedaansch tombe, wat van zeer hoog opgezette steenen, verheerlykt was".3 Dit is nie heeltemal duidelik of hy van 'n hoog opgeboude graf of 'n struktuur daaroor praat nie.
Dié tombe moes mettertyd veranderings en verbouings het en volgens Biskop Patrick Griffith (1798-1862) wat dit meer as 'n eeu later op 25 Januarie 1839 besoek het, het dit heel anders daar uitgesien...
and proceeded to a Mr Cloete's where we took horses and road (sic) to a Malay Mosque [i.e. the kramat] situated on the summit of a hill, to which we ascended by a rude Stone Stair Case, rather Circular and partly cut out of Limestone rock, by an hundred steps. We left our horses below tied to the door of a Caravansery where the Pilgrims who come every year from Cape Town and all around, lodge while they go thro' their devotions. Both Lodging House and Mosque are at present deserted and we cd. only see the Exterior of both. The Mosque has a small Mineret (sic) in the centre and contains the Tomb of some Prince and Priest of the Sect. The Building is square and low with a portico: the windows are screened within and all that could be seen through some chinks in the walls was some drapery. A curious sight, however, exists outside: graves covered with white Clothes, five or six of which graves are enclosed together with a low wall round them; two or three more are apart; each has a round black stone at the head round which a Malay handkerchief is tied, with another black stone at foot, represents the feet, so that with the white sheet over the body, one wd. imagine at first view that it was a corpse was directly before him, the representation of it is so like reality. These White cloths (of calico) are renewed every year and we found some sixty or more rotten ones under each of the last white Coverings."1
Die terrein is in 1862 deur die imam van die Jamia-moskee in Chiappinistraat, Abdol Wahab, aangekoop,5 maar die gebou het tot vroeg in die 20ste eeu bewaar gebly, hoewel dit by verskeie geleenthede klein veranderings en herstelwerk moes ondergaan het.
Die Oostenrykse wetenskaplike, diplomaat en ontdekkingsreisiger, Karl Ritter von Scherzer (1821-1903) het die Kaap in Oktober 1857 aan boord die Novara, op 'n omseilingstog van die wêreld, aangedoen. Hy het die volgende waardevolle beskrywing, deurdrenk met sy eie voor- en afkeure, nagelaat:
"The following morning we drove to a hill, ahout a mile and a half distant from Zandvliet, known as Macassar Downs, on which is the spot of interment, (Krammat or Brammat), of a Malay prophet.
This individual, so honoured in death, was, if we are to believe the Malays, a direct descendant of Mahomet, named Sheikh Joseph, who, expelled from Batavia by the Dutch Government for political reasons, settled in the colony about a century and a half ago, and died and was buried in the neighbourhood of Zandvliet. An especial deputation came over from Malacca to Cape Colony to fetch away the corpse of the defunct prophet, for conveyance to the land of his birth; but at the disinterment it happened that the little finger of the prophet, in spite of the most persevering research, could nowhere be found. This circumstance appeared to those simple believers sufficient reason for erecting a monument over the spot in which the finger of a Malay prophet lay hid from view. Even to this day the Malays from time to time perform a pilgrimage to the Colony and celebrate their religious ceremonies at the Mausoleum. Four followers of the prophet are buried with him, two of them Mahometan priests, who are regarded with much veneration by the Malays.
An extensive flight of stone steps leads to the tomb, the exterior of which is very insignificant, and, but for a small pointed turret, hardly differs from an ordinary dwelling-house. On entering, a low-roofed vault is visible, a sort of front outhouse, which rather disfigures the facade, and much more resembles a cellar than the portal of a Mausoleum. Above the arch of this vault an Arabic inscription has been engraved with a stylus but this is so painted over in brick colour that it has already become almost illegible. Judging by the few words that have been deciphered, it seems to consist of the first propositions of the Koran.
The inner room, provided on two sides with modern glazed windows at irregular intervals, is about the size of an ordinary room of 12 feet long, 9 wide, and 7 high (3.66m long, 2.74 wide, and 2.13 high). In the middle rises the monument, to which access is had by some more brick steps. Immense quantities of unwashed white linen cloth are heaped upon it, which seem occasionally sprinkled with a brown odoriferous liquid (dupa). As at the head of Sheikh Joseph, so at his feet several figures, resembling those in enamel used to ornament tarts, are drawn upon the linen cloth with the overflowings of the unguent. These have undoubtedly been formed accidentally, and it appears wrong and unfair to attribute to them any more recondite significance. The monument rests upon four wooden pillars, with pyramidal pinnacles or ornaments, and is richly decorated with fine white muslin, which gives to the whole very much the appearance of an old-fashioned English "fourposter," with its costly drapery and curtains. While the curtains are spread out all around, several small green and white bannerets stand at the upper and lower end of the sarcophagus. The whole interior is, as it were, impregnated with the incense which devout Malay pilgrims from time to time burn here, especially after the forty days' fast (Ramadan), or leave behind upon the steps of the tomb in flasks or in paper-boxes. On such occasions, they always bring wax-candles and linen cloth as an offering, with the latter of which they deck the tomb afresh, so that a perfect mountain of white linen rises above the stone floor. During their devotions they unceasingly kiss this white mass of stuff, and as they are continually chewing tobacco, this filthy habit produces disgustingly loathsome stains.
On the same hill which boasts the tomb of Sheikh Joseph, there are also, in ground that is common property, nine other graves of eminent Malays, enclosed with carefully-selected stones, and likewise covered over with large broad strips of bleached linen cloth, protected by stones from any injury by weather or violence. At the head and foot of each individual interred, is a single stone of larger size. Formerly the black inhabitants of the neighbourhood made use of this store of linen cloth to make shirts for themselves, without further thought upon the propriety of the matter. Latterly, however, a shrewd Malay priest spread a report that one of these ebony linen stealers had lost all the fingers off one hand, since which the graves of those departed worthies remain inviolate and unprofaned.
At the foot of the hill are some small half-fallen-in buildings, near a large hall, painted white, red, and yellow, consisting of a small apartment and a kitchen, the whole in a most dirty, neglected, and desolate condition. At this point the Moslems must have accomplished certain prayers, before they can climb the hill and proceed to visit the tomb. Over the door of this singular house of prayer some words are likewise engraved in the Arabic character, which, however, are now entirely illegible.
On quitting the Malay Krammat, we next undertook a tolerably difficult walk to the Downs or sand-dunes, which at this point extend along the entire coast line, on which the wax-berry shrub, as already mentioned, grows wild in vast quantities, and visibly prevents the further encroachments of the moving sand. The Eerst Rivier (First River) may be regarded as the limit of demarcation between the sand-dunes and the soil adapted for vegetation."6
'n Britse joernalis en historikus, Ian Duncan Colvin (1877-1938), beskryf sy besoek aan die Kramat vyftig jaar later in die begin van die 20ste eeu:
"It was in springtime that we made the pilgrimage, in October, the springtime of the south... We passed through cow-scented pasture and the cornlands of Zandvliet, and so towards the sea, guided by the white star of the tomb.
It stands upon a sandstone rock which the Eerste River bends round on its way to the sea, and you can hear the breakers roaring, though unseen behind the sand-dunes. A little wooden bridge crosses the river beside the drift... On the farther side the little hill rises steeply, and under it nestles a row of very ancient and dilapidated cottages. One of them is used as a stable by the pilgrims and another as a mosque, and upon its porch you will see a little notice in English that 'women are not allowed inside the church', a warning signed with all the weight and authority of the late Haji Abdul Kalil... Inside, this little chapel is touchingly primitive and simple, with blue sky showing through the thatched roof, and a martin's nest plastered on the ceiling of the little alcove. Between these cottages and the stream is a field of sweet marjoram, no doubt grown for the service of the shrine, and the way up the hill is made easy by a flight of steps build perhaps centuries ago, and ruinous with age. With their white balustrades, and overgrown as they are with grass and wild-flowers, they are very beautiful, and in pilgrimage-time we may suppose them bright with Malays ascending and descending. We mounted them to the top, where they open on a little courtyard roughly paved and encinctured by a low white wall. On the farther side, opposite the top of the stairs, is the tomb itself, a little white building with an archway leading into a porch. Beyond is a door, of the sort common in Cape farm-houses, divided into two across the middle. Of course, we did not dare to open it and peep inside; but I am told by a Mahomedan friend that the inner tomb is of white stucco with four pillars of a pleasant design. It is upholstered in bright-coloured plush, and copies of the Koran lie open upon it. The inside of the room is papered in the best Malay fashion, and over the window is a veil of tinselled green gauze. From the roof several ostrich eggs hang on strings, and altogether it is the gayest and brightest little shrine. The ostrich eggs hanging on their strings made me think of a much more splendid tomb which Akbar, the first greatest of the Moguls, build for his friend Selim Chisti, a humble ascetic, in the centre of the mosque at Fatehpur Sikri.7 If any of my readers have made a pilgrimage to that wonderful deserted city, they will remember the tomb build of fretted marble, white and delicate as lace, in the centre of the great silent mosque of red sandstone – surely the finest testimonial to disinterested and spiritual friendship that exists in the world. And, if they look inside, they will recollect that around the inner shrine of mother o’pearl hang ostrich eggs just as they hang in Sheik Joseph’s tomb on the Cape Flats. But this digression is only to show that the Malay of Cape Town knows what is proper to the ornamentation of kramats. The shrine is tended with pious care, kept clean and white by the good Malays – a people of whom it may be said truly that they hold cleanliness as a virtue next to godliness."8
Hierdie beskrywing kom ooreen met dié van Scherzer en 'n foto in die Elliot-versameling in die Kaapse argief. Die minaret wat deur Biskop Griffith genoem en deur Scherzer geïllustreer is, en moontlik van hout gemaak was, het intussen verdwyn.
In 1925 het die Indiese filantroop, Hadji Sulaiman Sjah Mohamed Ali, opdrag vir 'n nuwe tombe gegee en is die huidige vierkantige en gekoepelde Moghul- of Delhi-inspireerde struktuur opgerig. Die argitek was F.K. KENDALL wat van 1896 tot 1918 in vennootskap met Herbert BAKER praktiseer het.
Die kramat vorm deel van die sogenaamde beskermende "Heilige Sirkel van Islam" wat strek van die kramatte teen die hange van Seinheuwel bo die klipgroef waar die eerste openbare Moslemgebede aan die Kaap gehou is, deur die kramatte op die rug van die heuwel en die kramat van Sjeg Noorul Mubeen by Oudekraal, en om die berg na die kramatte van Constantia, Faure, Robbeneiland, terug na Seinheuwel.
Sjeg Yusuf van Makassar (1626-1699)
Sjeg Yusuf (Abadin Tadia Tjoesoep) is in 1626 te Gowa by Makassar (Mangkasara), op die suidwestelike punt van die Sulawesi-eiland (voorheen Celebes) langs die Straat van Makassar, gebore. Toe die Portugese dit vroeg in die sestiende eeu bereik het, was dit 'n besige handelshawe waar Arabiese, Indiese, Javaanse, Maleise Siamese en Chinese skepe aangedoen en hulle produkte geruil en verkoop het. Met die koms van die Nederlanders, wat die speseryhandel wou monopoliseer en Britse deelname daaraan wou stuit, is die tradisie van vrye handel aan die begin van die 17de eeu omvergewerp. Nadat hulle die fort van Makassar ingeneem het, is dit herbou en as Fort Rotterdam herdoop. Van hier het hulle die vestings van die Sultan van Gowa geteiken.
Toe hy agtien jaar oud was, het Yusuf op 'n pelgrims- en studietog na Mekka vertrek waar hy verskeie jare deurgebring het. Met sy terugkeer het hy die Nederlanders in Makassar vermy en hom in Bantam in Wes-Java aan die hof van Sultan Ageng (Abulfatah Agung, 1631-1695) as onderwyser en geestelike rigter gevestig. Hy het die sultan se seuns onderrig en met een van sy dogters getrou. Hy was deeglik in die Shari'ah (Moslem kode en godsdienstige wet) onderlê en diep betrokke by die mistieke aspekte van sy geloof met die gevolg dat sy reputasie as 'n vrome persoon en heilige kenner en geleerde vinnig versprei het.
Hoewel die Nederlanders die handel op Java beheer het, het Bantam 'n sterk mate van onafhanklikheid behou. Yusuf was 'n vurige teenstander van die VOC en het en ook 'n rebellie teen die Europeërs gelei toe 'n ouer vredesooreenkoms tussen hulle in 1656 gebreek is. 'n Nuwe ooreenkoms is in 1659 bereik, maar 'n interne tweestryd in die Sultanaat het in die VOC se kraam gepas. Die sultan se seun, later as Sultan Hadji bekend, het met die hulle saamgespan teen sy vader en jonger broer wat voorkeur aan die Britse en Deense handelaars gegee het. Die breuk het in 1680 gekom toe Ageng oorlog teen Batavia (Jakarta) verklaar het. Hadji het 'n opstand teen sy vader gelei wat Ageng tot sy woning beperk het. Hoewel sy volgelinge teruggeveg het, het die Nederlanders Hadji te hulp gesnel en is Ageng na die hooglande verdryf waar hy in Maart 1683 oorgegee het. Hierna is hy na Batavia geneem waar hy oorlede is.
Yusuf het die verset voortgesit en is eers teen die einde van 1683 gevange geneem waarna hy ook na Batavia geneem is. Sy invloed in die Moslemgemeenskap van die VOC se hoofkwartier in die Ooste, waar hy as heilige vereer is, asook die aandrang op sy vrystelling deur die vorste van Gowa (Makassar) – wat toe bondgenote van die VOC was – het daartoe gelei dat Yusuf en sy gevolg eers na Ceylon (Sri Lanka) en daarna na die Kaap verban is. Sjeg Yusuf en sy "aanhang", soos in die notules van die Politieke Raad aangedui is, het op 31 Maart 1694 aan boord die Voetboog in Tafelbaai aangekom. Hier is hulle gul deur goewerneur Simon van der Stel ontvang, maar in die Kasteel gehou totdat daar in Junie besluit is om hulle na die mond van die Eersterivier, wat oor die plaas Zandvliet van ds P. Kalden uitgekyk het, te stuur.9
Hier in die duine, wat later as Makassar en Makassarstrand bekend sou word, het Yusuf en sy gevolg hulle gevestig. Volgens oorlewering was dit die eerste sentrum van Islam en Islamitiese onderrig in Suid-Afrika en het die terrein 'n sakrosante ereplek gebly na Yusuf se afsterwe op 23 April 1699 en sy begrafnis op die heuwel. Hoewel sommige skrywers nie oortuig is dat ook Yusuf se oorskot na die Ooste terug is nie, argumenteer André van Rensburg dat dit wel gebeur het.
"Hoewel 'n aanvanklike versoek van 31 Desember 1701 dat Yusuf se oorskot opgegrawe en na Indonesië gestuur word, geweier is, is in 'n verslag van 26 Februarie 1703 deur die Here XVII gelas dat die sjeg se naasbestaandes en sy oorskot na Indonesië weggebring moes word.
Op 26 Februarie 1704 het die amptelike geskrewe instruksies van die VOC in die Kaap aangekom. Die weduwee van Yusuf, hul jong kinders en ander lede van sy gevolg moes toegelaat word om na Indonesië terug te keer.
Daar is ook bepaal dat die oorskot van Yusuf onopsigtelik opgegrawe moes word sodat die naasbestaandes dit kon saamneem. Voorsorg moes egter getref word dat ander Oosterse bannelinge nie ontsnap deur voor te gee dat hulle naasbestaandes van sjeg Yusuf is nie."10
Die gevolg van Sjeg Yusuf het op 5 Oktober 1704 aan boord van De Spiegel uit Tafelbaai met sy oorskot vertrek en op 10 Desember in Batavia anker gegooi. Hierna is sy hulle na Makassar waar sy oorskot op 6 April 1705 op Lakiung in Ujung Pandang herbegrawe is. Bo-oor Yusuf se nuwe graf is 'n kramat of ko'bang deur die Chinese bouer Dju Kian Kiu opgerig. Ook hierdie Kramat word druk deur pelgrims besoek.
________________________________
Kramat is die algemeen Kaapse term vir die tombe van 'n [Moslem] heilige of Wali van Allah; in Urdu verwys karamat of keramat na die wonderwerking van 'n heilige, soms word dit ook as sinoniem vir heilige gebruik.
Die meer algemeen gebruikte spelling word hier in plaas van die erkende Afrikaanse "Joesoef" gebruik.
Raidt, E.H. 1971. François Valentyn Beshryvinge van de Kaap der Goede Hoop met de zaaken daar toe behoorende. Kaapstad: Van Riebeeck Vereniging, Vol. 1, p. 198.
Brain, J.S. (ed.). 1988. The Cape diary of bishop Patrick Raymond Griffith for the years 1837-1839. Cape Town: Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference, pp. 189-90.
Aktekantoor, Kaapstad, Akte 6/3/1862, no. 121.
Scherzer, K. 1861. Narrative of the circumnavigation of the globe by the Austrian frigate Novara, (commodore b. Von Wullerstorf-Urbair,): undertaken by order of the imperial government, in the years l857,1858, & 1859. London: Saunders, Otley & Co, pp. 244-248.
Seremoniële hoofstad [Fatehpur = stad van oorwinning] van 1569 tot 1574 deur die Mughale Keiser Akbar (1542-1605) by Sikri, die hermitage van sy spirituele gids, Sjeg Salim Chisti, opgerig. Die tombe wat deur Colvin beskryf word, is deur Shah Jahan (1592-1666) herbou.
Colvin, I.D. 1909. Romance of Empire, South Africa. London: TC & EL Jack, pp. 16168.
Böeseken, A.J. 1961. Resolusies van die Politieke Raad III 1681-1707. Kaapstad: Argiefkomitee, p. 283 (14.06.1694).
Van Rensburg, A. & Van Bart, M. 2004. Waar rus Sjeg Yusuf: van die Kaap tot in Makassar. Kultuurkroniek, Bylae by Die Burger, 10 Julie, pp. 12-13
Van Rensburg, A. & Van Bart, M. 2004. Waar rus Sjeg Yusuf: van die Kaap tot in Makassar. Kultuurkroniek, Bylae by Die Burger, 10 Julie, p.13.
________________________________
Schalk W le Roux, Gordonsbaai, Februarie 2013
See also Van Bart, M. & Van Rensburg A.
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Wording on Minaret:
IN MEMORY OF
SHEIKH YUSUF
MARTYR & HERO
OF BANTAM
1629 - 1699
THIS MINARET
WAS ERECTED BY
HAJEE SULLAIMAN
SHAHMAHOMED
IN THE REIGN OF
KING GEORGE V
MAY 1925
_____________________
THIS MEMORIAL WAS UNVEILED
19TH DECEMBER 1925 BY
SIR FREDERIC DE WAAL
KCMG:LLD:FIRST ADMINISTRATOR
OF THE CAPE PROVINCE
IN THE YEAR WHEN THIS
DISTRICT WAS VISITED BY
HIS ROYAL HIGNESS
THE PRINCE OF WALES
4TH MAY 1925
_____________________
THE "DARGAN" OF ASHBAT
[COMPANIONS] OF SAINT SHEIKH YUSSUF
[GALERAN TUANSE] OF MACASSAR.
_____
HERE LIE THE REMAINS OF FOUR OF FORTY-NINE
FAITHFUL FOLLOWERS WHO AFTER SERVING
IN THE BANTAM WAR OF 1682-83, ARRIVED WITH
SHEIKH YUSSUF AT THE CAPE FROM CEYLON,
IN THE SHIP "VOETBOOG" IN THE YEAR 1694.
_____
THIS COMMEMORATION TABLET WAS ERECTED
DURING THE GREAT WAR ON 8 JANUARY 1918.
BY HAJEE SULLAIMAN SHAHMAHOMED.
SENIOR TRUSTEE.
Wording on plaque:
PRESIDENT SOEHARTO
OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
VISITED THIS SHRINE ON 21 NOVEMBER 1997
TO PAY RESPECT TO THE LATE SHEIKH YUSSUF OF
MACASSAR UPON WHOM THE TITLE OF NATIONAL
HERO WAS CONFERRED BY THE INDONESIAN GOVERNMENT
ON 7 AUGUST 1995
Writings about this Kramat of Sheikh Yusuf
Davids, Achmat. 1980. The Mosques of Bo-Kaap - A social history of Islam at the Cape. Athlone, Cape: The South African Institute of Arabic and Islamic Research. pp 37-40.
_______________________________________________
De Bosdari, C. 1971. Cape Dutch Houses and Farms. Cape Town: AA Balkema. pp 73.
_______________________________________________
De Kock, WJ. 1976. Suid-Afrikaanse biografiese woordeboek : Deel 1. Kaapstad: RGN/Tafelberg. pp 429-430.
_______________________________________________
Du Plessis, Izak David. 1944. The Cape Malays. Cape Town: Maskew Miller. pp 4-7.
_______________________________________________
Jaffer, M. 2001. Guide to the Kramats of the Western Cape. Cape Town: Cape Mazaar (Kramat) Society. pp 17-19.
_______________________________________________
Jaffer, Mansoor. 1996. Guide to the Kramats of the Western Cape. Cape Town: Cape Mazaar Kramat Society. pp 17.
_______________________________________________
Le Roux, SW. 1992. Vormgewende invloede op die ontwikkeling van moskee-argitektuur binne die Heilige Sirkel aan die Kaap tot 1950 . Pretoria: PhD-verhandeling: Universiteit van Pretoria. pp 201-202.
_______________________________________________
Oxley, John. 1992. Places of Worship in South Africa. Halfway House: Southern Book Publishers. pp 63-64.
_______________________________________________
Potgieter, DJ (Editor-in-chief). 1975. Standard Encyclopaedia of South Africa [SESA] Volume 11 Tur-Zwe. Cape Town: Nasou. pp 567.
_______________________________________________
Potgieter, DJ (Editor-in-chief). 1972. Standard Encyclopaedia of South Africa [SESA] Volume 6 Hun-Lit. Cape Town: Nasou. pp 454-455.
_______________________________________________
Rhoda, E. 2010. Hajee Sullaiman Shahmahomed and the shrine of Shayk Yusuf of Macassar at Faure. : Unpublished manuscript.
_______________________________________________
Van Selms, A. Joesoef, Sjeik: in De Kock, WJ. 1976. Suid-Afrikaanse biografiese woordeboek : Deel 1: pp 429-430
________________________________________
Shaykh Yusuf was born at Macassar in 1626. He was also known as Abadin Tadia Tjoessoep. He was of noble birth, a maternal nephew of King Biset of Goa. He studied in Arabia under the tutelage of several pious teachers.
When Shaykh Yusuf arrives at the Cape, on the Voetboeg, he was royally welcomed by Governor Simon van de Stel. His Indonesian background necessitated that he and his 49 followers be settled well away from Cape Town. They were housed on the farm Zandvliet, near the mouth of the Eeste River, in the general area now called Macassar. He received an allowance of 12rix dollars from the Cape authorities for support of himself and his party. At Zandvliet Shaykh Yusuf’s settlement soon became a sanctuary for fugitive slaves. It was here that the first cohesive Muslim community in S.A. was established. The first settlement of Muslims in South Africa was a vibrant one, despite its isolation. It was from here that the message of Islam was disseminated to the slave community living in Cape Town. When Shaykh Yusuf died on 23 May 1699, he was buried on the hill overlooking Macassar at Faure. A shrine was constructed over his grave. Over the years this shrine has been rebuilt and renewed. Today it remains a place of pilgrimage.
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The Postcard
A postally unused carte postale that was published by Lévy Fils et Cie of 44, Rue Letellier, Paris. The card has a divided back.
The Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower.
Locally nicknamed "La Dame de Fer" ("Iron Lady"), it was constructed from 1887 to 1889 as the entrance to the 1889 World's Fair.
The tower was initially criticised by some of France's leading artists and intellectuals for its design, but it has become a global cultural icon of France, and one of the most recognisable structures in the world. The Eiffel Tower is the most-visited paid monument in the world; 6.91 million people ascended it in 2015.
The tower is 324 metres tall, about the same height as an 81-storey building, and the tallest structure in Paris. Its base is square, measuring 125 metres on each side.
During its construction, the Eiffel Tower surpassed the Washington Monument to become the tallest man-made structure in the world, a title it held for 41 years until the Chrysler Building in New York City was finished in 1930. It was the first structure in the world to surpass both the 200 meter and 300 meter mark in height.
Due to the addition of a broadcasting aerial at the top of the tower in 1957, it is now taller than the Chrysler Building by 5.2 metres. Excluding transmitters, the Eiffel Tower is the second tallest free-standing structure in France after the Millau Viaduct.
The tower has three levels for visitors, with restaurants on the first and second levels. The top level's upper platform is 276 m above the ground – the highest observation deck accessible to the public in the European Union. The climb from ground level to the first level is over 300 steps, as is the climb from the first level to the second. Although there is a staircase to the top level, it is usually accessible only by lift.
Origin of The Eiffel Tower
The design of the Eiffel Tower is attributed to Maurice Koechlin and Émile Nouguier, two senior engineers working for the Compagnie des Établissements Eiffel. It was envisioned after discussion about a suitable centrepiece for the proposed 1889 Exposition Universelle, a world's fair to celebrate the centennial of the French Revolution.
Eiffel openly acknowledged that inspiration for a tower came from the Latting Observatory built in New York City in 1853.
In May 1884, working at home, Koechlin made a sketch of their idea, described by him as:
"A great pylon, consisting of four lattice girders
standing apart at the base and coming together
at the top, joined together by metal trusses at
regular intervals".
Eiffel initially showed little enthusiasm, but he did approve further study, and the two engineers then asked Stephen Sauvestre, the head of company's architectural department, to contribute to the design. Sauvestre added decorative arches to the base of the tower, a glass pavilion to the first level, and other embellishments.
The new version gained Eiffel's support: he bought the rights to the patent on the design which Koechlin, Nougier, and Sauvestre had taken out, and the design was exhibited at the Exhibition of Decorative Arts in the autumn of 1884 under the company name.
On the 30th. March 1885, Eiffel presented his plans to the Société des Ingénieurs Civils; after discussing the technical problems and emphasising the practical uses of the tower, he finished his talk by saying:
"The tower would symbolise not only the art
of the modern engineer, but also the century
of Industry and Science in which we are living,
and for which the way was prepared by the great
scientific movement of the eighteenth century
and by the Revolution of 1789, to which this
monument will be built as an expression of
France's gratitude".
Little progress was made until 1886, when Jules Grévy was re-elected as president of France and Édouard Lockroy was appointed as minister for trade. A budget for the exposition was passed and, on the 1st. May, Lockroy announced an alteration to the terms of the open competition being held for a centrepiece to the exposition.
This effectively made the selection of Eiffel's design a foregone conclusion, as entries had to include a study for a 300 m four-sided metal tower on the Champ de Mars. On the 12th. May, a commission was set up to examine Eiffel's scheme and its rivals, which, a month later, decided that all the proposals except Eiffel's were either impractical or lacking in details.
After some debate about the exact location of the tower, a contract was signed on the 8th. January 1887. This was signed by Eiffel acting in his own capacity rather than as the representative of his company. He was granted 1.5 million francs toward the construction costs: less than a quarter of the estimated 6.5 million francs.
Eiffel was to receive all income from the commercial exploitation of the tower during the exhibition and for the following 20 years. He later established a separate company to manage the tower, putting up half the necessary capital himself.
Artists' Criticism of The Tower Before it Was Built
The proposed tower drew criticism from those who did not believe it was feasible, and those who objected on artistic grounds. Prior to the Eiffel Tower's construction, no structure had ever been constructed to a height of 300 m, or even 200 m for the matter, and many people believed it was impossible.
These objections were an expression of a long-standing debate in France about the relationship between architecture and engineering. It came to a head as work began at the Champ de Mars: a "Committee of Three Hundred" (one member for each metre of the tower's height) was formed, led by the prominent architect Charles Garnier.
The committee included some of the most important figures of the arts, such as William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Guy de Maupassant, Charles Gounod and Jules Massenet. A petition called "Artists against the Eiffel Tower" was sent to the Minister of Works and Commissioner for the Exposition, Adolphe Alphand, and it was published by Le Temps on the 14th. February 1887:
"We, writers, painters, sculptors, architects and
passionate devotees of the hitherto untouched
beauty of Paris, protest with all our strength, with
all our indignation in the name of slighted French
taste, against the erection of this useless and
monstrous Eiffel Tower.
To bring our arguments home, imagine for a moment
a giddy, ridiculous tower dominating Paris like a
gigantic black smokestack, crushing under its barbaric
bulk Notre Dame, the Tour Saint-Jacques, the Louvre,
the Dome of Les Invalides, the Arc de Triomphe, all of
our humiliated monuments will disappear in this ghastly
dream.
And for twenty years we shall see stretching like a blot
of ink the hateful shadow of the hateful column of
bolted sheet metal".
Gustave Eiffel responded to these criticisms by comparing his tower to the Egyptian pyramids:
"My tower will be the tallest edifice ever erected
by man. Will it not also be grandiose in its way?
And why would something admirable in Egypt
become hideous and ridiculous in Paris?"
These criticisms were also dealt with by Édouard Lockroy in a letter of support written to Alphand, sardonically saying:
"Judging by the stately swell of the rhythms, the beauty
of the metaphors, the elegance of its delicate and precise style, one can tell this protest is the result of collaboration
of the most famous writers and poets of our time".
He went on to say that anyway, the protest was irrelevant since the project had been decided upon months before, and construction on the tower was already under way.
Indeed, Garnier was a member of the Tower Commission that had examined the various proposals, and had raised no objection. Eiffel was similarly unworried, pointing out to a journalist that it was premature to judge the effect of the tower solely on the basis of the drawings, that the Champ de Mars was distant enough from the monuments mentioned in the protest for there to be little risk of the tower overwhelming them, and putting the aesthetic argument for the tower:
"Do not the laws of natural forces always
conform to the secret laws of harmony?"
Some of the protesters changed their minds when the tower was built; others remained unconvinced. Guy de Maupassant supposedly ate lunch in the tower's restaurant every day because it was the one place in Paris where the tower was not visible.
By 1918, it had become a symbol of Paris and of France after Guillaume Apollinaire wrote a nationalist poem in the shape of the tower (a calligram) to express his feelings about the war against Germany. Today, it is widely considered to be a remarkable piece of structural art, and is often featured in films and literature.
Construction of The Eiffel Tower
Work on the foundations started on the 28th. January 1887. Those for the east and south legs were straightforward, with each leg resting on four 2 m concrete slabs, one for each of the principal girders of each leg.
The west and north legs, being closer to the river Seine, were more complicated: each slab needed two piles installed by using compressed-air caissons 15 m long and 6 m in diameter driven to a depth of 22 m. These were designed to support the concrete slabs, which were 6 m thick. Each of these slabs supported a block of limestone with an inclined top to bear a supporting shoe for the ironwork.
Each shoe was anchored to the stonework by a pair of bolts 10 cm in diameter and 7.5 m long. The foundations were completed on the 30th. June, and the erection of the ironwork began.
The visible work on-site was complemented by the enormous amount of exacting preparatory work that took place behind the scenes: the drawing office produced 1,700 general drawings and 3,629 detailed drawings of the different parts needed.
The task of drawing the components was complicated by the complex angles involved in the design and the degree of precision required: the position of rivet holes was specified to within 1 mm and angles worked out to one second of arc.
The finished components, some already joined together into sub-assemblies, arrived on horse-drawn carts from a factory in the nearby Parisian suburb of Levallois-Perret. They were first bolted together, with the bolts being replaced with rivets as construction progressed. No drilling or shaping was done on site: if any part did not fit, it was sent back to the factory for alteration. In all, 18,038 pieces were joined together using 2.5 million rivets.
At first, the legs were constructed as cantilevers, but about halfway to the first level construction was paused to create a substantial timber scaffold. This renewed concerns about the structural integrity of the tower, and sensational headlines such as "Eiffel Suicide!" and "Gustave Eiffel Has Gone Mad: He Has Been Confined in an Asylum" appeared in the tabloid press.
At this stage, a small "creeper" crane designed to move up the tower was installed in each leg. They made use of the guides for the lifts which were to be fitted in the four legs. The critical stage of joining the legs at the first level was completed by the end of March 1888.
Although the metalwork had been prepared with the utmost attention to detail, provision had been made to carry out small adjustments to precisely align the legs; hydraulic jacks were fitted to the shoes at the base of each leg, capable of exerting a force of 800 tonnes.
Although construction involved 300 on-site employees, due to Eiffel's safety precautions and the use of movable gangways, guardrails and screens, only one person died.
The Eiffel Tower Lifts
Equipping the tower with adequate and safe passenger lifts was a major concern of the government commission overseeing the Exposition. Although some visitors could be expected to climb to the first level, or even the second, lifts clearly had to be the main means of ascent.
Constructing lifts to reach the first level was relatively straightforward: the legs were wide enough at the bottom and so nearly straight that they could contain a straight track, and a contract was given to the French company Roux, Combaluzier & Lepape for two lifts to be fitted in the east and west legs.
Roux, Combaluzier & Lepape used a pair of endless chains with rigid, articulated links to which the car was attached. Lead weights on some links of the upper or return sections of the chains counterbalanced most of the car's weight. The car was pushed up from below, not pulled up from above. To prevent the chain buckling, it was enclosed in a conduit. At the bottom of the run, the chains passed around 3.9 m diameter sprockets.
Installing lifts to the second level was more of a challenge because a straight track was impossible. No French company wanted to undertake the work. The European branch of Otis Brothers & Company submitted a proposal, but this was rejected: the fair's charter ruled out the use of any foreign material in the construction of the tower.
The deadline for bids was extended, but still no French companies put themselves forward, and eventually the contract was given to Otis in July 1887. Otis were confident they would eventually be given the contract, and had already started creating designs.
The car was divided into two superimposed compartments, each holding 25 passengers, with the lift operator occupying an exterior platform on the first level. Motive power was provided by an inclined hydraulic ram 12.67 m long and 96.5 cm in diameter in the tower leg with a stroke of 10.83 m.
The original lifts for the journey between the second and third levels were supplied by Léon Edoux. A pair of 81 m hydraulic rams were mounted on the second level, reaching nearly halfway up to the third level. One lift car was mounted on top of these rams: cables ran from the top of this car up to sheaves on the third level and back down to a second car. Each car only travelled half the distance between the second and third levels and passengers were required to change lifts halfway by means of a short gangway. The 10-ton cars each held 65 passengers.
Inauguration and the 1889 exposition
The main structural work was completed at the end of March 1889 and, on the 31st. March, Eiffel celebrated by leading a group of government officials, accompanied by representatives of the press, to the top of the tower.
Because the lifts were not yet in operation, the ascent was made by foot, and took over an hour, with Eiffel stopping frequently to explain various features. Most of the party chose to stop at the lower levels, but a few, including the structural engineer, Émile Nouguier, the head of construction, Jean Compagnon, the President of the City Council, and reporters from Le Figaro and Le Monde Illustré, completed the ascent. At 2:35 pm, Eiffel hoisted a large Tricolour to the accompaniment of a 25-gun salute fired at the first level.
There was still work to be done, particularly on the lifts and facilities, and the tower was not opened to the public until nine days after the opening of the exposition on the 6th. May; even then, the lifts had not been completed.
The tower was an instant success with the public, and nearly 30,000 visitors made the 1,710-step climb to the top before the lifts entered service on 26 May. Tickets cost 2 francs for the first level, 3 for the second, and 5 for the top, with half-price admission on Sundays. By the end of the exhibition there had been 1,896,987 visitors.
After dark, the tower was lit by hundreds of gas lamps, and a beacon sent out three beams of red, white and blue light. Two searchlights mounted on a circular rail were used to illuminate various buildings of the exposition. The daily opening and closing of the exposition were announced by a cannon at the top.
On the second level, the French newspaper Le Figaro had an office and a printing press, where a special souvenir edition, Le Figaro de la Tour, was made. There was also a pâtisserie.
At the top of the tower there was a post office where visitors could send letters and postcards as a memento of their visit. Graffitists were also catered for: sheets of paper were mounted on the walls each day for visitors to record their impressions of the tower. Gustave Eiffel described some of the responses as vraiment curieuse ("truly curious").
Famous visitors to the tower included the Prince of Wales, Sarah Bernhardt, "Buffalo Bill" Cody (his Wild West show was an attraction at the exposition) and Thomas Edison. Eiffel invited Edison to his private apartment at the top of the tower, where Edison presented him with one of his phonographs, a new invention and one of the many highlights of the exposition. Edison signed the guestbook with this message:
"To M Eiffel the Engineer, the brave builder
of so gigantic and original specimen of
modern Engineering from one who has the
greatest respect and admiration for all
Engineers including the Great Engineer the
Bon Dieu.
Thomas Edison".
Eiffel had a permit for the tower to stand for 20 years. It was to be dismantled in 1909, when its ownership would revert to the City of Paris. The City had planned to tear it down (part of the original contest rules for designing a tower was that it should be easy to dismantle) but as the tower proved to be valuable for radio telegraphy, it was allowed to remain after the expiry of the permit, and from 1910 it also became part of the International Time Service.
Eiffel made use of his apartment at the top of the tower to carry out meteorological observations, and also used the tower to perform experiments on the action of air resistance on falling bodies.
Subsequent Events Associated With The Tower
On the 19th. October 1901, Alberto Santos-Dumont, flying his No.6 airship, won a 100,000-franc prize offered by Henri Deutsch de la Meurthe for the first person to make a flight from St. Cloud to the Eiffel Tower and back in less than half an hour.
Many innovations took place at the Eiffel Tower in the early 20th century. In 1910, Theodor Wulf measured radiant energy at the top and bottom of the tower. He found more at the top than expected, incidentally discovering what are known today as cosmic rays.
On the 4th. February 1912, Austrian tailor Franz Reichelt died after jumping from the first level of the tower (a height of 57 m) to demonstrate his parachute design.
In 1914, at the outbreak of the Great War, a radio transmitter located in the tower jammed German radio communications, seriously hindering their advance on Paris and contributing to the Allied victory at the First Battle of the Marne.
From 1925 to 1934, illuminated signs for Citroën adorned three of the tower's sides, making it the tallest advertising space in the world at the time. In April 1935, the tower was used to make experimental low-resolution television transmissions. On the 17th. November, an improved 180-line transmitter was installed.
On two separate occasions in 1925, the con artist Victor Lustig "sold" the tower for scrap metal.
In February 1926, pilot Leon Collet was killed trying to fly under the tower. His aircraft became entangled in an aerial belonging to a wireless station.
A bust of Gustave Eiffel by Antoine Bourdelle was unveiled at the base of the north leg on the 2nd. May 1929.
In 1930, the tower lost the title of the world's tallest structure when the Chrysler Building in New York City was completed.
In 1938, the decorative arcade around the first level was removed.
Upon the German occupation of Paris in 1940, the lift cables were cut by the French. In 1940, German soldiers had to climb the tower to hoist a swastika flag, but the flag was so large it blew away just a few hours later, and was replaced by a smaller one.
When visiting Paris, Hitler chose to stay on the ground. When the Allies were nearing Paris in August 1944, Hitler ordered General Dietrich von Choltitz, the military governor of Paris, to demolish the tower along with the rest of the city. Von Choltitz disobeyed the order.
On the 25th. June, before the Germans had been driven out of Paris, the German flag was replaced with a Tricolour by two men from the French Naval Museum, who narrowly beat three men led by Lucien Sarniguet, who had lowered the Tricolour on the 13th. June 1940 when Paris fell to the Germans.
The tower was closed to the public during the occupation, and the lifts were not repaired until 1946.
A fire started in the television transmitter on the 3rd. January 1956, damaging the top of the tower. Repairs took a year, and in 1957, the present radio aerial was added to the top. In 1964, the Eiffel Tower was officially declared to be a historical monument by the Minister of Cultural Affairs, André Malraux.
According to interviews, in 1967, Montreal Mayor Jean Drapeau negotiated a secret agreement with Charles de Gaulle for the tower to be dismantled and temporarily relocated to Montreal to serve as a landmark and tourist attraction during Expo 67.
The plan was allegedly vetoed by the company operating the tower out of fear that the French government could refuse permission for the tower to be restored in its original location.
In 1982, the original lifts between the second and third levels were replaced after 97 years in service. These had been closed to the public between November and March because the water in the hydraulic drive tended to freeze. The new cars operate in pairs, with one counterbalancing the other, and perform the journey in one stage, reducing the journey time from eight minutes to less than two minutes.
At the same time, two new emergency staircases were installed, replacing the original spiral staircases. In 1983, the south pillar was fitted with an electrically driven Otis lift to serve the Jules Verne restaurant.
The Fives-Lille lifts in the east and west legs, fitted in 1899, were extensively refurbished in 1986. The cars were replaced, and a computer system was installed to completely automate the lifts. The motive power was moved from the water hydraulic system to a new electrically driven oil-filled hydraulic system.
Robert Moriarty flew a Beechcraft Bonanza under the tower on the 31st. March 1984.
In 1987, A. J. Hackett made one of his first bungee jumps from the top of the Eiffel Tower, using a special cord he had helped develop. Hackett was arrested by the police.
On the 27th. October 1991, Thierry Devaux, along with mountain guide Hervé Calvayrac, performed a series of acrobatic figures while bungee jumping from the second floor of the tower. Facing the Champ de Mars, Devaux used an electric winch to go back up to the second floor. When firemen arrived, he stopped after the sixth jump.
The tower is the focal point for New Year's Eve and Bastille Day celebrations in Paris.
For its "Countdown to the Year 2000" celebration on the 31st. December 1999, flashing lights and high-powered searchlights were installed on the tower. During the last three minutes of the year, the lights were turned on starting from the base of the tower and continuing to the top to welcome 2000 with a huge fireworks show. The searchlights on top of the tower made it a beacon in Paris's night sky, and 20,000 flashing bulbs gave the tower a sparkly appearance for five minutes every hour on the hour.
The tower received its 200,000,000th guest on the 28th. November 2002. The tower has operated at its maximum capacity of about 7 million visitors per year since 2003.
In 2004, the Eiffel Tower began hosting a seasonal ice rink on the first level.
A glass floor was installed on the first level during the 2014 refurbishment.
In 2016, during Valentine's Day, the performance Un Battement by French artist Milène Guermont unfolds among the Eiffel Tower, the Montparnasse Tower and the contemporary artwork Phares installed on the Place de la Concorde. This interactive pyramid-shaped sculpture allows the public to transmit the beating of their hearts thanks to a cardiac sensor. The Eiffel Tower and the Montparnasse Tower also light up to the rhythm of Phares. This is the first time that the Eiffel Tower has interacted with a work of art.
The Metal of The Eiffel Tower
The wrought iron of the Eiffel Tower weighs 7,300 tons, and the addition of lifts, shops and antennae have brought the total weight to approximately 10,100 tons.
As a demonstration of the economy of design, if the 7,300 tons of metal in the structure were melted down, it would fill the square base, 125 metres (410 ft) on each side, to a depth of only 6.25 cm. A box surrounding the tower (324 m x 125 m x 125 m) would contain 6,200 tons of air, weighing almost as much as the iron itself.
Depending on the ambient temperature, the top of the tower may shift away from the sun by up to 18 cm (7 in) due to thermal expansion of the metal on the side facing the sun.
Wind Considerations
When it was built, many were shocked by the tower's daring form. Eiffel was accused of trying to create something artistic with no regard to the principles of engineering. However, Eiffel and his team – experienced bridge builders – understood the importance of wind forces, and knew that if they were going to build the tallest structure in the world, they had to be sure it could withstand them. In an interview with the newspaper Le Temps published on the 14th. February 1887, Eiffel said:
"Is it not true that the very conditions which give
strength also conform to the hidden rules of
harmony?
Now to what phenomenon did I have to give
primary concern in designing the Tower? It was
wind resistance.
Well then! I hold that the curvature of the monument's
four outer edges, which is as mathematical calculation
dictated it should be, will give a great impression of
strength and beauty, for it will reveal to the eyes of the
observer the boldness of the design as a whole".
Eiffel used graphical methods to determine the strength of the tower, and empirical evidence to account for the effects of wind, rather than a mathematical formula. All parts of the tower were over-designed to ensure maximum resistance to wind forces. The top half was even assumed to have no gaps in the latticework.
In the years since it was completed, engineers have put forward various mathematical hypotheses in an attempt to explain the success of the design. The most recent, devised in 2004 after letters sent by Eiffel to the French Society of Civil Engineers in 1885 were translated into English, is described as a non-linear integral equation based on counteracting the wind pressure on any point of the tower with the tension between the construction elements at that point.
The Eiffel Tower sways by up to 9 cm in the wind.
Facilities Within The Eiffel Tower
When originally built, the first level contained three restaurants – one French, one Russian and one Flemish — and an "Anglo-American Bar".
After the exposition closed, the Flemish restaurant was converted to a 250-seat theatre. A promenade 2.6-metres wide ran around the outside of the first level.
At the top, there were laboratories for various experiments, and a small apartment reserved for Gustave Eiffel to entertain guests, which is now open to the public, complete with period decorations and lifelike mannequins of Eiffel and some of his notable guests.
In May 2016, an apartment was created on the first level to accommodate four competition winners during the UEFA Euro 2016 football tournament in Paris in June. The apartment has a kitchen, two bedrooms, a lounge, and views of Paris landmarks including the Seine, the Sacre Coeur, and the Arc de Triomphe.
Engraved Names on The Tower
Gustave Eiffel engraved on the tower the names of 72 French scientists, engineers and mathematicians in recognition of their contributions to the building of the tower. Eiffel chose this "invocation of science" because of his concern over the artists' protest. At the beginning of the 20th. century, the engravings were painted over, but they were restored in 1986–87.
Aesthetics of The Tower
The tower is painted in three shades: lighter at the top, getting progressively darker towards the bottom to complement the Parisian sky. It was originally reddish brown; this changed in 1968 to a bronze colour known as "Eiffel Tower Brown".
The only non-structural elements are the four decorative grill-work arches, added in Sauvestre's sketches, which served to make the tower look more substantial and to make a more impressive entrance to the exposition.
A movie cliché is that the view from a Parisian window always includes the tower. In reality, since zoning restrictions limit the height of most buildings in Paris to seven storeys, only a small number of tall buildings have a clear view of the tower.
Maintenance of The Tower
Maintenance of the tower includes applying 60 tons of paint every seven years to prevent it from rusting. The tower has been completely repainted at least 19 times since it was built. Lead paint was still being used as recently as 2001 when the practice was stopped out of concern for the environment.
Popularity of The Tower
More than 250 million people have visited the tower since it was completed in 1889. The tower is the most-visited paid monument in the world. An average of 25,000 people ascend the tower every day which can result in long queues.
Restaurants in The Tower
The tower has two restaurants: Le 58 Tour Eiffel on the first level, and Le Jules Verne, a gourmet restaurant with its own lift on the second level. Additionally, there is a champagne bar at the top of the Eiffel Tower.
From 1937 until 1981, there was a restaurant near the top of the tower. It was removed due to structural considerations; engineers had determined it was too heavy, and was causing the tower to sag. This restaurant was sold to an American restaurateur and transported to New Orleans. It was rebuilt on the edge of New Orleans' Garden District as a restaurant and later an event hall.
Replicas of The Eiffel Tower
As one of the most iconic landmarks in the world, the Eiffel Tower has been the inspiration for the creation of many replicas and similar towers.
An early example is Blackpool Tower in England. The mayor of Blackpool, Sir John Bickerstaffe, was so impressed on seeing the Eiffel Tower at the 1889 exposition that he commissioned a similar tower to be built in his town. It opened in 1894, and is 158.1 m tall. Tokyo Tower in Japan, built as a communications tower in 1958, was also inspired by the Eiffel Tower.
There are various scale models of the tower in the United States, including a half-scale version at the Paris Las Vegas, Nevada. There is also a copy in Paris, Texas built in 1993, and two 1:3 scale models at Kings Island, located in Mason, Ohio, and Kings Dominion, Virginia, amusement parks opened in 1972 and 1975 respectively.
There is a 1:3 scale model in China, and one in Durango, Mexico that was donated by the local French community. There are also several across Europe.
In 2011, the TV show Pricing the Priceless on the National Geographic Channel speculated that a full-size replica of the tower would cost approximately US$480 million to build. This would be more than ten times the cost of the original.
Communications
The tower has been used for making radio transmissions since the beginning of the 20th. century. Until the 1950's, sets of aerial wires ran from the cupola to anchors on the Avenue de Suffren and Champ de Mars. These were connected to longwave transmitters in small bunkers.
In 1909, a permanent underground radio centre was built near the south pillar, which still exists today.
On the 20th. November 1913, the Paris Observatory, using the Eiffel Tower as an aerial, exchanged wireless signals with the United States Naval Observatory, which used an aerial in Arlington, Virginia. The object of the transmissions was to measure the difference in longitude between Paris and Washington, D.C. Today, radio and digital television signals are transmitted from the Eiffel Tower.
A television antenna was first installed on the tower in 1957, increasing its height by 18.7 m. Work carried out in 2000 added a further 5.3 m, giving the current height of 324 m.
Legal Issues Associated With The Tower
The tower and its image have been in the public domain since 1993, 70 years after Eiffel's death.
In June 1990 a French court ruled that a special lighting display on the tower in 1989 to mark the tower's 100th. anniversary was an "original visual creation" protected by copyright. The Société d'Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (SETE) now considers any illumination of the tower to be a separate work of art that falls under copyright. As a result, the SNTE alleges that it is illegal to publish contemporary photographs of the lit tower at night without permission in France and some other countries for commercial use. For this reason, it is rare to find images or videos of the lit tower at night on stock image sites, and media outlets rarely broadcast images or videos of it.
The imposition of copyright has been controversial. The Director of Documentation for what was then called the Société Nouvelle d'Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (SNTE), Stéphane Dieu, commented in 2005:
"It is really just a way to manage commercial
use of the image, so that it isn't used in ways
of which we don't approve".
SNTE made over €1 million from copyright fees in 2002.
The copyright claim itself has never been tested in courts to date, and there has never been an attempt to track down millions of netizens who have posted and shared their images of the illuminated tower on the Internet worldwide. However, the potential for litigation exists for the commercial use of such images, for example in a magazine, on a film poster, or on product packaging.
French law allows pictures incorporating a copyrighted work as long as their presence is incidental or accessory to the subject being represented. Therefore, SETE may be unable to claim copyright on photographs of Paris which happen to include the lit tower.
Vermont Air National Guard firefighters work to extinguish a fire on the roof of a small apartment building in Winooski, VT during the early morning hours of Wednesday, July 14, 2021. (Courtesy photo)
Vintage postcard. Photo: 20th Century-Fox.
American film actress Linda Darnell (1923-1965) progressed from modeling as a child to acting in theatre and film as an adolescent. The ravishing beauty appeared in supporting roles in big-budget films for 20th Century Fox throughout the 1940s, and rose to fame with co-starring roles opposite Tyrone Power in adventure films. She established a main character career after her role in Forever Amber (1947), and won critical acclaim for her work in Unfaithfully Yours (1948) and A Letter to Three Wives (1949).
Monetta Eloyse Darnell was born in Dallas, Texas, in 1923, as one of four children to postal clerk Calvin Roy Darnell and the former Pearl Brown. She was the younger sister of Undeen and the older sister of Monte Maloya and Calvin Roy, Jr. Her parents were not happily married, and she grew up as a shy and reserved girl in a house of domestic turmoil. Starting at an early age, her mother Pearl had big plans for Darnell in the entertainment industry. She believed that Linda was her only child with potential as an actress and ignored the rearing of her other children. Darnell was a model by the age of 11 and was acting on the stage by the age of 13. She initially started modeling to earn money for the household, and performed mostly in beauty contests. Darnell was a student at Sunset High School, when in November 1937, a talent scout for 20th Century Fox arrived in Dallas, looking for new faces. Encouraged by her mother, Darnell met him, and after a few months, he invited her for a screen test in Hollywood. In California, Darnell was initially rejected by film studios and was sent home because she was declared "too young". Darnell was featured in a ‘Gateway to Hollywood’ talent-search and landed a contract at RKO Pictures. There was no certainty, though, and she soon returned to Dallas. When 20th Century Fox offered her a part, Darnell wanted to accept, but RKO was unwilling to release her. Nevertheless, by age 15, she was signed to a contract at 20th Century Fox and moved to a small apartment in Hollywood all alone in 1939.Her first film was Hotel for Women (Gregory Ratoff, 1939), which had newspapers immediately hailing her as the newest star of Hollywood. Loretta Young was originally assigned to play the role, but demanded a salary which the studio would not give her. Darryl F. Zanuck instead cast Darnell, advertise her beauty and suggested a Latin quality. Although only 15 at the time, Darnell posed as a 17-year-old and was listed as 19 years old by the studio. Her true age came out later in 1939, and she became one of the few actresses under the age of 16 to serve as leading ladies in films.
Linda Darnell was assigned to the female lead opposite Tyrone Power in the light romantic comedy Day-Time Wife (Gregory Ratoff, 1939). Although the film received only slightly favourable reviews, Darnell's performance was received positively for her breath-taking looks and splendid acting. Life magazine stated that Darnell was "the most physically perfect girl in Hollywood". Following the film's release, she was cast in the drama comedy Star Dust (Walter Lang, 1940) with John Payne. The film was hailed as one of the "most original entertainment idea in years" and boosted Darnell's popularity, being nicknamed 'Hollywood's loveliest and most exciting star'. After appearing in several small films, Darnell was cast in her first big-budget film opposite Tyrone Power in Brigham Young (Henry Hathaway, 1940), regarded as the most expensive film 20th Century Fox had yet produced. Darnell and Power were cast together for the second time due to the box office success of Day-Time Wife, and they became a highly publicized onscreen couple, which prompted Darryl F. Zanuck to add 18 more romantic scenes to Brigham Young. Darnell began working on the big-budget adventure The Mark of Zorro (Rouben Mamoulian, 1940), in which she again co-starred as Power's sweetheart. Critics raved over the film. The Mark of Zorro was a box office sensation and did much to enhance Darnell's star status. Afterwards, she was paired with Henry Fonda for the first time in the western Chad Hanna (Henry King, 1940), her first Technicolor film. The film received only little attention, unlike Darnell's next film Blood and Sand (Rouben Mamoulian, 1941), in which she was reteamed with Power. It was the first film for which she was widely critically acclaimed. Thereafter the studio was unable to find her suitable roles. Darnell was disappointed and felt rejected. Months passed by without any work, and in August 1941, she was cast in a supporting role in the musical Rise and Shine (Allan Dwan, 1941). The film was a setback in her career, and she was rejected for a later role because she refused to respond to Darryl F. Zanuck's advances. Instead, she contributed to the war effort, working for the Red Cross, selling war bonds, and she was a regular at the Hollywood Canteen.
Linda Darnell and Twentieth Century-Fox weren't on the best of terms, and as a punishment, she was loaned out to Columbia for a supporting role in a B movie called City Without Men (Sidney Salkow, 1942). In 1943, she was put on suspension. Darnell had married, which caused the fury of Zanuck. Darnell was reduced to second leads and was overlooked for big-budget productions. Matters changed in 1944 when Look Magazine named her one of the four most beautiful women in Hollywood, along with Hedy Lamarr, Ingrid Bergman, and Gene Tierney. The studio allowed her to be loaned out for the lead in Summer Storm (Douglas Sirk, 1944), opposite George Sanders. She played a type of role she had never before: a seductive peasant girl who takes three men to their ruin before she herself is murdered. The film provided her a new screen image as a pin-up girl. Shortly after, Darnell was again loaned out to portray a showgirl in The Great John L. (Frank Tuttle, 1945), the first film to feature her bare legs. Darnell complained that the studio lacked recognition of her, which prodded Zanuck to cast her in the Film Noir Hangover Square (John Brahm, 1945), playing a role she personally had chosen. The film became a great success, and she was added to the cast of another Film Noir, Fallen Angel (Otto Preminger, 1945), which also included Dana Andrews and Alice Faye. Despite suffering from the "terrifying" Preminger, Darnell was praised by reviewers so widely that there was even talk of an Oscar nomination. In 1946, Darnell filmed two pictures simultaneously, the expensively budgeted Anna and the King of Siam (John Cromwell, 1946) with Irene Dunne, and Centennial Summer (Otto Preminger, 1946) with the legendary Lillian Gish. Then she went on location in Monument Valley for the classic Western My Darling Clementine (John Ford, 1946) with Henry Fonda end Victor Mature. It was another hit and garnered Linda some of the best reviews of her career.
In 1946, Linda Darnell won the starring role in the highly anticipated romantic drama Forever Amber (Otto Preminger, 1947), based on a bestselling historical novel that was denounced as being immoral at that time. Although she had to work with Preminger, she was delighted to play the title role. However, Forever Amber did not live up to its hype, and although it became a success at the box office, most reviewers agreed that the film was a disappointment. The following year, Darnell portrayed Daphne de Carter in the comedy Unfaithfully Yours (Preston Sturges, 1948), also starring Rex Harrison, and was then one of the three wives in the comedy/drama A Letter to Three Wives (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1949). Darnell's hard-edged performance in the latter won her unanimous acclaim and the best reviews of her career. Darnell became one of the most-demanded actresses in Hollywood, and she now had the freedom to select her own roles. She was cast opposite Richard Widmark and Veronica Lake in Slattery's Hurricane (Andre DeToth, 1949), which she perceived as a step down from the level she had reached with A Letter to Three Wives, though it did well at the box office. She then co-starred opposite Richard Widmark and Sidney Poitier in the groundbreaking No Way Out (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1950). But her later films were rarely noteworthy, and her appearances were increasingly sporadic. Further hampering Darnell's career was the actress's alcoholism and weight gain. Her next films included the Western, Two Flags West (Robert Wise, 1950), The 13th Letter (Otto Preminger, 1951) and The Guy Who Came Back (Joseph M. Newman, 1951).
In 1951, Darnell signed a new contract with 20th Century Fox that allowed her to become a freelance actress. Her first film outside 20th Century Fox was for Universal Pictures, The Lady Pays Off (Douglas Sirk, 1951). She was responsible for putting the film behind schedule, because on the fifth day of shooting, she learned that Ivan Kahn, the man responsible for her breakthrough, had died. Darnell then headed the cast of the British romantic war film Saturday Island (Stuart Heisler, 1952), which co-starred Tab Hunter and was filmed on location in Jamaica. There, Darnell fell ill and had to be quarantined for several weeks. Because her contract required her to make one film a year for the studio, she reported to the lot of 20th Century Fox for the Film Noir Night Without Sleep (Roy Ward Baker, 1952) with Gary Merrill and Hildegarde Knef. It was the only time that she had to live up to this part of her contract, since she was released from it in September 1952. The competition of television forced studios all over Hollywood to drop actors. This news initially excited Darnell, because it permitted her to focus on her film career in Europe, but the ease and protection enjoyed under contract was gone. Before traveling to Italy for a two-picture deal with Giuseppe Amato, Darnell was rushed into the production of Blackbeard the Pirate (Raoul Walsh, 1952). In Italy she made Donne proibite/Angels of Darkness (Giuseppe Amato, 1954) with Valentina Cortese and Giulietta Masina. The second collaboration, the French-Italian comedy Gli ultimi cinque minuti/The Last Five Minutes (Giuseppe Amato, 1955) with Vittorio De Sica and Peppino De Filippo proved disastrous, and was never released in the United States. Back in Hollywood, she accepted an offer from Howard Hughes to star in RKO's 3-D film Second Chance (Rudolph Maté, 1953) with Robert Mitchum, filmed in Mexico. Because of her then-husband, Philip Liebmann, Darnell put her career on a hiatus. In 1955, she returned to 20th Century Fox, by which time the studio had entered the television field. She guest-starred in series like Cimarron City and Wagon Train, and also returned to the stage.
Linda Darnell’s last work as an actress was in a stage production in Atlanta in early 1965. At the time of her death a few months later, she was preparing to perform in another play. She died in 1965, from burns she received in a house fire in Glenview, a suburb of Chicago. The house of her former secretary and agent caught on fire in the early morning and Darnell died that afternoon in Cook County Hospital. Linda Darnell was only 41. She had been married three times. In 1943, at age 19, she eloped with 42-year-old cameraman Peverell Marley in Las Vegas. Marley was a heavy drinker and introduced Darnell to alcohol, which eventually led to an addiction and weight problems. In 1946, during production of Centennial Summer, she fell in love with womanizing millionaire Howard Hughes. She separated from Marley but when Hughes announced that he had no desire to marry her, Darnell returned to her husband. Because Darnell and Marley were unable to have children, they adopted a daughter, Charlotte Mildred "Lola" Marley (1948), the actress's only child. In mid-1948, she became romantically involved with director Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and filed for divorce. Mankiewicz, however, did not want to leave his wife for Darnell, and though the affair continued for six years, she again returned to her husband. In 1949, Darnell went into psychotherapy for hostile emotions that she had been building since childhood. Darnell and Marley finally divorced in 1951. In 1954, she married brewery heir Philip Liebmann but the marriage ended in 1955 on grounds of incompatibility. From 1957 to 1963, Linda Darnell was married to pilot Merle Roy Robertson. Darnell's final screen appearance was opposite Rory Calhoun in the low-budget Western Black Spurs (R.G. Springsteen, 1965).
Sources: Denny Jackson (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.
A few years ago, I got to see a 1:1500 scale model of London at the Building Centre there. It is a large scale model of the heart of the city in three dimensions, with representations of most buildings, landmarks, parks, the Thames, and the (at the time yet to be built) Olympic Park.
It's extremely impressive.
And it is as nothing compared to The Panorama at the Queens Museum of Art.
Here's two panorama photos to give a sense of the scale:
⁂
Quoting from the Museum’s page on the The Panorama of the City of New York:
The Panorama is the jewel in the crown of the collection of the Queens Museum of Art. Built by Robert Moses for the 1964 World’s Fair, in part as a celebration of the City’s municipal infrastructure, this 9,335 square foot architectural model includes every single building constructed before 1992 in all five boroughs; that is a total of 895,000 individual structures.
The Panorama was built by a team of 100 people working for the great architectural model makers Raymond Lester Associates in the three years before the opening of the 1964 World’s Fair. In planning the model, Lester Associates referred to aerial photographs, insurance maps, and a range of other City material; the Panorama had to be accurate, indeed the initial contract demanded less than one percent margin of error between reality and the model. The Panorama was one of the most successful attractions at the ‘64 Fair with a daily average of 1,400 people taking advantage of its 9 minute simulated helicopter ride around the City.
After the Fair the Panorama remained open to the public, its originally planned use as an urban planning tool seemingly forgotten. Until 1970 all of the changes in the City were accurately recreated in the model by Lester’s team. After 1970 very few changes were made until 1992, when again Lester Associates changed over 60,000 structures to bring it up-to-date.
In the Spring of 2009 the Museum launched its Adopt-A-Building program with the installation of the Panorama’s newest addition, Citi Field, to continue for the ongoing care and maintenance of this beloved treasure.
The Queens Museum of Art has a program giving you the opportunity to “purchase” NYC real estate on The Panorama of the City of New York for as low as $50. To learn how you can become involved click here.
We hope that you will take time to enjoy the Panorama of the City of New York.
The Panorama of the City of New York is sponsored by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and New York State Assembly members Mike Gianaris, Mark Weprin, Audrey Pheffer, Nettie Mayersohn and Ivan Lafayette, The New York Mets Foundation and the supporters of the Adopt-A-Building Program.
View the winning pictures from our Gala 2011 Panorama Picture Contest!
View pictures from our Gala 2011 Photo booth, May 12, 2011!
View pictures of the Panorama on its Flickr page
Add your own pictures to our Panorama Flickr Group!
⁂
Quoting now from The Panorama section in Wikipedia’s Queens Museum of Art article:
The best known permanent exhibition at the Queens Museum is the Panorama of the City of New York which was commissioned by Robert Moses for the 1964 World’s Fair. A celebration of the City’s municipal infrastructure, this 9,335-square-foot (867.2 m2) architectural model includes every single building constructed before 1992 in all five boroughs; that is a total of 895,000 individual structures. The Panorama was built by a team of 100 people working for the architectural model makers Raymond Lester Associates in the three years before the opening of the 1964 World’s Fair. The Panorama was one of the most successful attractions at the ’64 Fair with a daily average of 1,400 people taking advantage of its 9 minute simulated helicopter ride around the City. After the Fair the Panorama remained open to the public and until 1970 all of the changes in the City were accurately recreated in the model by Lester’s team. After 1970 very few changes were made until 1992, when again Lester Associates was hired to update the model to coincide with the re-opening of the museum. The model makers changed over 60,000 structures to bring it up-to-date.
In March 2009 the museum announced the intention to update the panorama on an ongoing basis. To raise funds and draw public attention the museum will allow individuals and developers to have accurate models made of buildings newer than the 1992 update created and added in exchange for a donation. Accurate models of smaller apartment buildings and private homes, now represented by generic models, can also be added. The twin towers of the World Trade Center will be replaced when the new buildings are created, the museum has chosen to allow them to remain until construction is complete rather than representing an empty hole. The first new buildings to be added was the new Citi Field stadium of the New York Mets. The model of the old Shea Stadium will continue to be displayed elsewhere in the museum.
⁂
Quoting now from the explanatory sign at the exhibit:
THE PANORAMA OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK
The Panorama of the City of New York, the world's largest scale model of its time, was the creation of Robert Moses and Raymond Lester. Presented in the New York City Pavilion as the city’s premiere exhibit at the 1964/65 New York World’s Fair, it was intended afterwards to serve as an urban planning tool. Visitors experienced the Panorama from a simulated “helicopter” ride that travelled around perimeter or from a glass-enclosed balcony on the second floor, while news commentator Lowell Thomas provided audio commentary on “The City of Opportunity.” One of the “helicopter” cars is now on view in the Museum’s permanent exhibition, A Panoramic View: A History of the New York City Building and Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
Constructed at the Lester Associates workshop in Westchester, New York, the Panorama contains 273 separate sections, many of which are four-by-ten-foot rectangular panels. They are composed of Formica flakeboard topped with urethane foam slabs from which the typography was carved. Lester Associates’ staff consulted geological survey maps, aerial photographs, and books of City insurance maps, to accurately render the City’s streets, highways, parks, and buildings. Once the Panorama’s modules were completed at Lester Associates’ workshop, they were assembled on site in the New York City Building. It took more than 100 workers, three years to complete the model.
Built on a sale of 1:1,200 (1 inch equals 100 feet), the Panorama occupies 9.335 square feet and accurately replicates New York City including all 320 square miles of its five boroughs and 771 miles of shoreline, as well as the built environment. It includes miniature cars, boats, and an airplane landing and taking off at LaGuardia Airport.
The majority of the City’s buildings are presented by standardized model units made from wood and acrylic. Of more than 895,000 individual structures, 25,000 are custom-made to approximate landmarks such as skyscrapers, large factories, colleges, museums, and major churches. The amount of detail possible on most buildings is limited; at a scale of 1 inch to 100 feet, the model of the Empire State Building measures only 15 inches. The most accurate structures on the Panorama are its 35 major bridges, which are finely made of brass and shaped by a chemical milling process.
The model is color coded to indicate various types of land use. The dark green areas are parks. Parkways are also edged in dark green. Mint green sections are related to transportation including train and bus terminals. The pink rectangles that dot the City show the locations of recreational areas including playgrounds and tennis and basketball courts. Clusters of red buildings are indicative of publicly subsidized housing.
Red, blue, green, yellow, and white colored lights were installed on the surface of the Panorama in 1964 to identify structures housing City agencies relating to protection, education, health, recreation, commerce, welfare, and transportation. Overhead lights have been designed to run in a dawn to dusk cycle, and the nighttime effect is enhanced by ultraviolet paint, illuminated by blacklight.
In 1992, the City began a renovation of the Queens Museum of Art and the Panorama. Using their original techniques, Lester Associates updated the Panorama with 60,000 changes. In the current instalation, designed by Rafael Viñoly Architects, visitors follow the course of the original “helicopter” ride on an ascending ramp that enables them to experience the Panorama of the City of New York from Multiple Perspectives.
A few years ago, I got to see a 1:1500 scale model of London at the Building Centre there. It is a large scale model of the heart of the city in three dimensions, with representations of most buildings, landmarks, parks, the Thames, and the (at the time yet to be built) Olympic Park.
It's extremely impressive.
And it is as nothing compared to The Panorama at the Queens Museum of Art.
Here's two panorama photos to give a sense of the scale:
⁂
Quoting from the Museum’s page on the The Panorama of the City of New York:
The Panorama is the jewel in the crown of the collection of the Queens Museum of Art. Built by Robert Moses for the 1964 World’s Fair, in part as a celebration of the City’s municipal infrastructure, this 9,335 square foot architectural model includes every single building constructed before 1992 in all five boroughs; that is a total of 895,000 individual structures.
The Panorama was built by a team of 100 people working for the great architectural model makers Raymond Lester Associates in the three years before the opening of the 1964 World’s Fair. In planning the model, Lester Associates referred to aerial photographs, insurance maps, and a range of other City material; the Panorama had to be accurate, indeed the initial contract demanded less than one percent margin of error between reality and the model. The Panorama was one of the most successful attractions at the ‘64 Fair with a daily average of 1,400 people taking advantage of its 9 minute simulated helicopter ride around the City.
After the Fair the Panorama remained open to the public, its originally planned use as an urban planning tool seemingly forgotten. Until 1970 all of the changes in the City were accurately recreated in the model by Lester’s team. After 1970 very few changes were made until 1992, when again Lester Associates changed over 60,000 structures to bring it up-to-date.
In the Spring of 2009 the Museum launched its Adopt-A-Building program with the installation of the Panorama’s newest addition, Citi Field, to continue for the ongoing care and maintenance of this beloved treasure.
The Queens Museum of Art has a program giving you the opportunity to “purchase” NYC real estate on The Panorama of the City of New York for as low as $50. To learn how you can become involved click here.
We hope that you will take time to enjoy the Panorama of the City of New York.
The Panorama of the City of New York is sponsored by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and New York State Assembly members Mike Gianaris, Mark Weprin, Audrey Pheffer, Nettie Mayersohn and Ivan Lafayette, The New York Mets Foundation and the supporters of the Adopt-A-Building Program.
View the winning pictures from our Gala 2011 Panorama Picture Contest!
View pictures from our Gala 2011 Photo booth, May 12, 2011!
View pictures of the Panorama on its Flickr page
Add your own pictures to our Panorama Flickr Group!
⁂
Quoting now from The Panorama section in Wikipedia’s Queens Museum of Art article:
The best known permanent exhibition at the Queens Museum is the Panorama of the City of New York which was commissioned by Robert Moses for the 1964 World’s Fair. A celebration of the City’s municipal infrastructure, this 9,335-square-foot (867.2 m2) architectural model includes every single building constructed before 1992 in all five boroughs; that is a total of 895,000 individual structures. The Panorama was built by a team of 100 people working for the architectural model makers Raymond Lester Associates in the three years before the opening of the 1964 World’s Fair. The Panorama was one of the most successful attractions at the ’64 Fair with a daily average of 1,400 people taking advantage of its 9 minute simulated helicopter ride around the City. After the Fair the Panorama remained open to the public and until 1970 all of the changes in the City were accurately recreated in the model by Lester’s team. After 1970 very few changes were made until 1992, when again Lester Associates was hired to update the model to coincide with the re-opening of the museum. The model makers changed over 60,000 structures to bring it up-to-date.
In March 2009 the museum announced the intention to update the panorama on an ongoing basis. To raise funds and draw public attention the museum will allow individuals and developers to have accurate models made of buildings newer than the 1992 update created and added in exchange for a donation. Accurate models of smaller apartment buildings and private homes, now represented by generic models, can also be added. The twin towers of the World Trade Center will be replaced when the new buildings are created, the museum has chosen to allow them to remain until construction is complete rather than representing an empty hole. The first new buildings to be added was the new Citi Field stadium of the New York Mets. The model of the old Shea Stadium will continue to be displayed elsewhere in the museum.
⁂
Quoting now from the explanatory sign at the exhibit:
THE PANORAMA OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK
The Panorama of the City of New York, the world's largest scale model of its time, was the creation of Robert Moses and Raymond Lester. Presented in the New York City Pavilion as the city’s premiere exhibit at the 1964/65 New York World’s Fair, it was intended afterwards to serve as an urban planning tool. Visitors experienced the Panorama from a simulated “helicopter” ride that travelled around perimeter or from a glass-enclosed balcony on the second floor, while news commentator Lowell Thomas provided audio commentary on “The City of Opportunity.” One of the “helicopter” cars is now on view in the Museum’s permanent exhibition, A Panoramic View: A History of the New York City Building and Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
Constructed at the Lester Associates workshop in Westchester, New York, the Panorama contains 273 separate sections, many of which are four-by-ten-foot rectangular panels. They are composed of Formica flakeboard topped with urethane foam slabs from which the typography was carved. Lester Associates’ staff consulted geological survey maps, aerial photographs, and books of City insurance maps, to accurately render the City’s streets, highways, parks, and buildings. Once the Panorama’s modules were completed at Lester Associates’ workshop, they were assembled on site in the New York City Building. It took more than 100 workers, three years to complete the model.
Built on a sale of 1:1,200 (1 inch equals 100 feet), the Panorama occupies 9.335 square feet and accurately replicates New York City including all 320 square miles of its five boroughs and 771 miles of shoreline, as well as the built environment. It includes miniature cars, boats, and an airplane landing and taking off at LaGuardia Airport.
The majority of the City’s buildings are presented by standardized model units made from wood and acrylic. Of more than 895,000 individual structures, 25,000 are custom-made to approximate landmarks such as skyscrapers, large factories, colleges, museums, and major churches. The amount of detail possible on most buildings is limited; at a scale of 1 inch to 100 feet, the model of the Empire State Building measures only 15 inches. The most accurate structures on the Panorama are its 35 major bridges, which are finely made of brass and shaped by a chemical milling process.
The model is color coded to indicate various types of land use. The dark green areas are parks. Parkways are also edged in dark green. Mint green sections are related to transportation including train and bus terminals. The pink rectangles that dot the City show the locations of recreational areas including playgrounds and tennis and basketball courts. Clusters of red buildings are indicative of publicly subsidized housing.
Red, blue, green, yellow, and white colored lights were installed on the surface of the Panorama in 1964 to identify structures housing City agencies relating to protection, education, health, recreation, commerce, welfare, and transportation. Overhead lights have been designed to run in a dawn to dusk cycle, and the nighttime effect is enhanced by ultraviolet paint, illuminated by blacklight.
In 1992, the City began a renovation of the Queens Museum of Art and the Panorama. Using their original techniques, Lester Associates updated the Panorama with 60,000 changes. In the current instalation, designed by Rafael Viñoly Architects, visitors follow the course of the original “helicopter” ride on an ascending ramp that enables them to experience the Panorama of the City of New York from Multiple Perspectives.
A few years ago, I got to see a 1:1500 scale model of London at the Building Centre there. It is a large scale model of the heart of the city in three dimensions, with representations of most buildings, landmarks, parks, the Thames, and the (at the time yet to be built) Olympic Park.
It's extremely impressive.
And it is as nothing compared to The Panorama at the Queens Museum of Art.
Here's two panorama photos to give a sense of the scale:
⁂
Quoting from the Museum’s page on the The Panorama of the City of New York:
The Panorama is the jewel in the crown of the collection of the Queens Museum of Art. Built by Robert Moses for the 1964 World’s Fair, in part as a celebration of the City’s municipal infrastructure, this 9,335 square foot architectural model includes every single building constructed before 1992 in all five boroughs; that is a total of 895,000 individual structures.
The Panorama was built by a team of 100 people working for the great architectural model makers Raymond Lester Associates in the three years before the opening of the 1964 World’s Fair. In planning the model, Lester Associates referred to aerial photographs, insurance maps, and a range of other City material; the Panorama had to be accurate, indeed the initial contract demanded less than one percent margin of error between reality and the model. The Panorama was one of the most successful attractions at the ‘64 Fair with a daily average of 1,400 people taking advantage of its 9 minute simulated helicopter ride around the City.
After the Fair the Panorama remained open to the public, its originally planned use as an urban planning tool seemingly forgotten. Until 1970 all of the changes in the City were accurately recreated in the model by Lester’s team. After 1970 very few changes were made until 1992, when again Lester Associates changed over 60,000 structures to bring it up-to-date.
In the Spring of 2009 the Museum launched its Adopt-A-Building program with the installation of the Panorama’s newest addition, Citi Field, to continue for the ongoing care and maintenance of this beloved treasure.
The Queens Museum of Art has a program giving you the opportunity to “purchase” NYC real estate on The Panorama of the City of New York for as low as $50. To learn how you can become involved click here.
We hope that you will take time to enjoy the Panorama of the City of New York.
The Panorama of the City of New York is sponsored by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and New York State Assembly members Mike Gianaris, Mark Weprin, Audrey Pheffer, Nettie Mayersohn and Ivan Lafayette, The New York Mets Foundation and the supporters of the Adopt-A-Building Program.
View the winning pictures from our Gala 2011 Panorama Picture Contest!
View pictures from our Gala 2011 Photo booth, May 12, 2011!
View pictures of the Panorama on its Flickr page
Add your own pictures to our Panorama Flickr Group!
⁂
Quoting now from The Panorama section in Wikipedia’s Queens Museum of Art article:
The best known permanent exhibition at the Queens Museum is the Panorama of the City of New York which was commissioned by Robert Moses for the 1964 World’s Fair. A celebration of the City’s municipal infrastructure, this 9,335-square-foot (867.2 m2) architectural model includes every single building constructed before 1992 in all five boroughs; that is a total of 895,000 individual structures. The Panorama was built by a team of 100 people working for the architectural model makers Raymond Lester Associates in the three years before the opening of the 1964 World’s Fair. The Panorama was one of the most successful attractions at the ’64 Fair with a daily average of 1,400 people taking advantage of its 9 minute simulated helicopter ride around the City. After the Fair the Panorama remained open to the public and until 1970 all of the changes in the City were accurately recreated in the model by Lester’s team. After 1970 very few changes were made until 1992, when again Lester Associates was hired to update the model to coincide with the re-opening of the museum. The model makers changed over 60,000 structures to bring it up-to-date.
In March 2009 the museum announced the intention to update the panorama on an ongoing basis. To raise funds and draw public attention the museum will allow individuals and developers to have accurate models made of buildings newer than the 1992 update created and added in exchange for a donation. Accurate models of smaller apartment buildings and private homes, now represented by generic models, can also be added. The twin towers of the World Trade Center will be replaced when the new buildings are created, the museum has chosen to allow them to remain until construction is complete rather than representing an empty hole. The first new buildings to be added was the new Citi Field stadium of the New York Mets. The model of the old Shea Stadium will continue to be displayed elsewhere in the museum.
⁂
Quoting now from the explanatory sign at the exhibit:
THE PANORAMA OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK
The Panorama of the City of New York, the world's largest scale model of its time, was the creation of Robert Moses and Raymond Lester. Presented in the New York City Pavilion as the city’s premiere exhibit at the 1964/65 New York World’s Fair, it was intended afterwards to serve as an urban planning tool. Visitors experienced the Panorama from a simulated “helicopter” ride that travelled around perimeter or from a glass-enclosed balcony on the second floor, while news commentator Lowell Thomas provided audio commentary on “The City of Opportunity.” One of the “helicopter” cars is now on view in the Museum’s permanent exhibition, A Panoramic View: A History of the New York City Building and Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
Constructed at the Lester Associates workshop in Westchester, New York, the Panorama contains 273 separate sections, many of which are four-by-ten-foot rectangular panels. They are composed of Formica flakeboard topped with urethane foam slabs from which the typography was carved. Lester Associates’ staff consulted geological survey maps, aerial photographs, and books of City insurance maps, to accurately render the City’s streets, highways, parks, and buildings. Once the Panorama’s modules were completed at Lester Associates’ workshop, they were assembled on site in the New York City Building. It took more than 100 workers, three years to complete the model.
Built on a sale of 1:1,200 (1 inch equals 100 feet), the Panorama occupies 9.335 square feet and accurately replicates New York City including all 320 square miles of its five boroughs and 771 miles of shoreline, as well as the built environment. It includes miniature cars, boats, and an airplane landing and taking off at LaGuardia Airport.
The majority of the City’s buildings are presented by standardized model units made from wood and acrylic. Of more than 895,000 individual structures, 25,000 are custom-made to approximate landmarks such as skyscrapers, large factories, colleges, museums, and major churches. The amount of detail possible on most buildings is limited; at a scale of 1 inch to 100 feet, the model of the Empire State Building measures only 15 inches. The most accurate structures on the Panorama are its 35 major bridges, which are finely made of brass and shaped by a chemical milling process.
The model is color coded to indicate various types of land use. The dark green areas are parks. Parkways are also edged in dark green. Mint green sections are related to transportation including train and bus terminals. The pink rectangles that dot the City show the locations of recreational areas including playgrounds and tennis and basketball courts. Clusters of red buildings are indicative of publicly subsidized housing.
Red, blue, green, yellow, and white colored lights were installed on the surface of the Panorama in 1964 to identify structures housing City agencies relating to protection, education, health, recreation, commerce, welfare, and transportation. Overhead lights have been designed to run in a dawn to dusk cycle, and the nighttime effect is enhanced by ultraviolet paint, illuminated by blacklight.
In 1992, the City began a renovation of the Queens Museum of Art and the Panorama. Using their original techniques, Lester Associates updated the Panorama with 60,000 changes. In the current instalation, designed by Rafael Viñoly Architects, visitors follow the course of the original “helicopter” ride on an ascending ramp that enables them to experience the Panorama of the City of New York from Multiple Perspectives.
A few years ago, I got to see a 1:1500 scale model of London at the Building Centre there. It is a large scale model of the heart of the city in three dimensions, with representations of most buildings, landmarks, parks, the Thames, and the (at the time yet to be built) Olympic Park.
It's extremely impressive.
And it is as nothing compared to The Panorama at the Queens Museum of Art.
Here's two panorama photos to give a sense of the scale:
⁂
Quoting from the Museum’s page on the The Panorama of the City of New York:
The Panorama is the jewel in the crown of the collection of the Queens Museum of Art. Built by Robert Moses for the 1964 World’s Fair, in part as a celebration of the City’s municipal infrastructure, this 9,335 square foot architectural model includes every single building constructed before 1992 in all five boroughs; that is a total of 895,000 individual structures.
The Panorama was built by a team of 100 people working for the great architectural model makers Raymond Lester Associates in the three years before the opening of the 1964 World’s Fair. In planning the model, Lester Associates referred to aerial photographs, insurance maps, and a range of other City material; the Panorama had to be accurate, indeed the initial contract demanded less than one percent margin of error between reality and the model. The Panorama was one of the most successful attractions at the ‘64 Fair with a daily average of 1,400 people taking advantage of its 9 minute simulated helicopter ride around the City.
After the Fair the Panorama remained open to the public, its originally planned use as an urban planning tool seemingly forgotten. Until 1970 all of the changes in the City were accurately recreated in the model by Lester’s team. After 1970 very few changes were made until 1992, when again Lester Associates changed over 60,000 structures to bring it up-to-date.
In the Spring of 2009 the Museum launched its Adopt-A-Building program with the installation of the Panorama’s newest addition, Citi Field, to continue for the ongoing care and maintenance of this beloved treasure.
The Queens Museum of Art has a program giving you the opportunity to “purchase” NYC real estate on The Panorama of the City of New York for as low as $50. To learn how you can become involved click here.
We hope that you will take time to enjoy the Panorama of the City of New York.
The Panorama of the City of New York is sponsored by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and New York State Assembly members Mike Gianaris, Mark Weprin, Audrey Pheffer, Nettie Mayersohn and Ivan Lafayette, The New York Mets Foundation and the supporters of the Adopt-A-Building Program.
View the winning pictures from our Gala 2011 Panorama Picture Contest!
View pictures from our Gala 2011 Photo booth, May 12, 2011!
View pictures of the Panorama on its Flickr page
Add your own pictures to our Panorama Flickr Group!
⁂
Quoting now from The Panorama section in Wikipedia’s Queens Museum of Art article:
The best known permanent exhibition at the Queens Museum is the Panorama of the City of New York which was commissioned by Robert Moses for the 1964 World’s Fair. A celebration of the City’s municipal infrastructure, this 9,335-square-foot (867.2 m2) architectural model includes every single building constructed before 1992 in all five boroughs; that is a total of 895,000 individual structures. The Panorama was built by a team of 100 people working for the architectural model makers Raymond Lester Associates in the three years before the opening of the 1964 World’s Fair. The Panorama was one of the most successful attractions at the ’64 Fair with a daily average of 1,400 people taking advantage of its 9 minute simulated helicopter ride around the City. After the Fair the Panorama remained open to the public and until 1970 all of the changes in the City were accurately recreated in the model by Lester’s team. After 1970 very few changes were made until 1992, when again Lester Associates was hired to update the model to coincide with the re-opening of the museum. The model makers changed over 60,000 structures to bring it up-to-date.
In March 2009 the museum announced the intention to update the panorama on an ongoing basis. To raise funds and draw public attention the museum will allow individuals and developers to have accurate models made of buildings newer than the 1992 update created and added in exchange for a donation. Accurate models of smaller apartment buildings and private homes, now represented by generic models, can also be added. The twin towers of the World Trade Center will be replaced when the new buildings are created, the museum has chosen to allow them to remain until construction is complete rather than representing an empty hole. The first new buildings to be added was the new Citi Field stadium of the New York Mets. The model of the old Shea Stadium will continue to be displayed elsewhere in the museum.
⁂
Quoting now from the explanatory sign at the exhibit:
THE PANORAMA OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK
The Panorama of the City of New York, the world's largest scale model of its time, was the creation of Robert Moses and Raymond Lester. Presented in the New York City Pavilion as the city’s premiere exhibit at the 1964/65 New York World’s Fair, it was intended afterwards to serve as an urban planning tool. Visitors experienced the Panorama from a simulated “helicopter” ride that travelled around perimeter or from a glass-enclosed balcony on the second floor, while news commentator Lowell Thomas provided audio commentary on “The City of Opportunity.” One of the “helicopter” cars is now on view in the Museum’s permanent exhibition, A Panoramic View: A History of the New York City Building and Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
Constructed at the Lester Associates workshop in Westchester, New York, the Panorama contains 273 separate sections, many of which are four-by-ten-foot rectangular panels. They are composed of Formica flakeboard topped with urethane foam slabs from which the typography was carved. Lester Associates’ staff consulted geological survey maps, aerial photographs, and books of City insurance maps, to accurately render the City’s streets, highways, parks, and buildings. Once the Panorama’s modules were completed at Lester Associates’ workshop, they were assembled on site in the New York City Building. It took more than 100 workers, three years to complete the model.
Built on a sale of 1:1,200 (1 inch equals 100 feet), the Panorama occupies 9.335 square feet and accurately replicates New York City including all 320 square miles of its five boroughs and 771 miles of shoreline, as well as the built environment. It includes miniature cars, boats, and an airplane landing and taking off at LaGuardia Airport.
The majority of the City’s buildings are presented by standardized model units made from wood and acrylic. Of more than 895,000 individual structures, 25,000 are custom-made to approximate landmarks such as skyscrapers, large factories, colleges, museums, and major churches. The amount of detail possible on most buildings is limited; at a scale of 1 inch to 100 feet, the model of the Empire State Building measures only 15 inches. The most accurate structures on the Panorama are its 35 major bridges, which are finely made of brass and shaped by a chemical milling process.
The model is color coded to indicate various types of land use. The dark green areas are parks. Parkways are also edged in dark green. Mint green sections are related to transportation including train and bus terminals. The pink rectangles that dot the City show the locations of recreational areas including playgrounds and tennis and basketball courts. Clusters of red buildings are indicative of publicly subsidized housing.
Red, blue, green, yellow, and white colored lights were installed on the surface of the Panorama in 1964 to identify structures housing City agencies relating to protection, education, health, recreation, commerce, welfare, and transportation. Overhead lights have been designed to run in a dawn to dusk cycle, and the nighttime effect is enhanced by ultraviolet paint, illuminated by blacklight.
In 1992, the City began a renovation of the Queens Museum of Art and the Panorama. Using their original techniques, Lester Associates updated the Panorama with 60,000 changes. In the current instalation, designed by Rafael Viñoly Architects, visitors follow the course of the original “helicopter” ride on an ascending ramp that enables them to experience the Panorama of the City of New York from Multiple Perspectives.