The Eiffel Tower Was Originally Designed to Be Torn Down After 20 Years

The Eiffel Tower was built as a temporary structure. Designed by Gustave Eiffel for the 1889 Paris Exposition Universelle (the centennial of the French Revolution), the tower was approved with a 20-year permit. After 1909, it was scheduled to be dismantled and sold for scrap.

It also wasn't initially loved. Many prominent Parisians — Maupassant, Zola, Dumas the younger — signed an open letter against its construction, calling it "useless" and a "monstrous nightmare." Maupassant famously claimed he ate at the tower's restaurant because it was the only place in Paris from which he could not see the tower itself.

What Saved It

By the time the 1909 demolition approached, the tower had taken on a new and unexpected role: radio communications. As the tallest structure in the world, it was perfect for transmitting and receiving radio signals.

The French military used it for long-range telegraphy starting in 1903. In 1910, Paris extended Eiffel's lease specifically because it was needed as a radio antenna. During WWI, it was used to intercept enemy communications — including, in 1917, a transmission that led to the arrest and execution of the spy Mata Hari.

The Tower's Records

• Tallest building in the world from 1889 to 1930 (when surpassed by the Chrysler Building)
• It is repainted every 7 years, requiring 60 tonnes of paint
• It contracts 6 inches in winter and expands in summer
• It welcomed its 250-millionth visitor in 2010
• The original "Eiffel" font is still copyrighted by the Société d'Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel

The Lasting Lesson

The Eiffel Tower was almost lost because it had no clear purpose. It was saved by a technology — radio — that did not exist when it was built. Many works of art, architecture, and engineering have survived only because they happened to become useful in ways their creators could not have anticipated.