USNR

The picture makes it looks as if the Tower is having a bad hair day. Leave it to the French to commit such an atrocity!

Margaretlb

I believe it's a hoax. When they remodeled the Jules Verne, every article removed was weighed in that the restaurant could not increase its weight allowance. How could they both build a platform plus accomodate extra people?

AAFrequentFlyer

This does not seem like April's Fool day hoax. Almoat all the architectural magazines are reporting on this as well as www.sereno.com, the architects own website features drawings and pictures of what it will look like,

but they are all saying that this new platform will be temporary. Up in early 09 and taken down 1 year later.

AAFrequentFlyer

sorry, here is the correct link:

http://www.serero.com/index_en.htm

ira

Hi St Cirq,

>It's a Paris thing to shock people with strange architecture that sooner or later just becomes part of the landscape.

I haven't yet come to like the ET as it is now.

ira

Hi AA,

>they are all saying that this new platform will be temporary. Up in early 09 and taken down 1 year later.

They said that about the original tower, too.

Travelnut

If they go through with this, I will have to arrange all my explorations so they face away from "le horreur".

LuckyLuc

Let all take a step back. On this morning French TV show on A2 Télématin, the news was that the Société d`Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel did not approve ANY project, not even the one everybody was talking about around the world.

So Mademoiselle la tour can slept peaceful and so can we!

dbenya

According to yesterday's NYTimes, it's all a . . . misunderstanding:

France: No Eiffel Redesign Planned, Says Architect Who Made Proposal

By BASIL KATZ
Published: March 27, 2008

David Serero, principal of Serero Architects, said in a telephone interview that his firm’s proposal was merely a spontaneous design it had submitted to the Eiffel Tower management group in view of the tower’s approaching 120th anniversary and, he said, was neither a response to a design competition nor solicited by the tower’s management.

The Guardian’s Web site reported Monday that the Eiffel Tower’s management group, the Société d’Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel, had approved a temporary restructuring of the observation platform, which would alter the tower’s overall shape. After the report was picked up by other news organizations, the management group said that it had never solicited a redesign and that it envisaged no changes to the tower’s appearance.

Mr. Serero said his firm submitted unsolicited designs and put them on the Web, where they were later seen by news organizations.

AnnMarie_C

Whew! Well that's a relief, thanks for the update.

Travelnut

Ok, all the planets have realigned.
Thank you.

dutyfree

Ira-I LOVE the blinking lights!

seafox

Travelnut - I almost lost my mind when I read of the impending decision to turn the tower into a giant IUD. I also have since learned that in fact this is not going to happen. The images of the new platform alone made me wonder if it could be real. It did get the shorts of many Parisians in a knot, so a little fun was had by all. The image now sits on my desk top - for a few days anyway.

Travelnut

oh no, I never want to see that image again.