The Tower of London
The Tower of London, the oldest fortified palace in Europe, was built by William the Conqueror in the late 1000's. It has served as a fortress, prison, palace, and the final resting-place of many people
("Tower of London" Encarta 1). Its history is full of amazing and horrific stories of life and death. To truly appreciate this magnificent group of structures a look must be taken into its history through it's architecture, uses, and those held in the prisons and dungeons.
The Tower Of London is not actually one tower, it is a group of 13 towers located on 7.5 hectares of land known as Tower Hill ("Tower of London" Encarta 1). To the south of the tower is the Thames
Rivers, which used to feed a moat that was drained in 1830. The general shape of the tower is a square with two lines of defensive walls surrounding it. The outer wall is defended by six towers on the river face, and there are two semi-circular bastions at the northeast and northwest corners (Tower of London Virtual Tour
3). The original tower, also known as the White Tower, is flanked by four turrets (Encarta 1). By looking carefully at the architecture of the tower you can see the painstaking workmanship put into every little detail. The group of thirteen towers collectively known as the Tower of London has five areas, which are especially interesting. One such tower was...
Towers extend from each of the four corners. Exterior walls enclose the premises. The walls were clearly built for defensive purposes with towers on each corner. The tower of London exists, with some later modifications, till this
the building that caused the tower to burn and collapse on itself, but during the cleanup despite
When one sees the Notre Dame de Paris cathedral in person or in pictures they are likely to be awestruck. The twin towers of the western façade rise high into the sky, seemingly in an attempt to scrape heaven. Spiky arches seem to grow out of the sides and claw at the ground. Inside it is cavernous with colored light filtering in through the large, intricate stained glass windows. All of these physical qualities make Notre Dame a prime example of Gothic architecture. It does not stand alone in that distinction. One is also likely to see several hundred examples of this style on varying scales throughout Europe. Because, despite its humble origins, Gothic architecture became the standard for religious buildings in the early 11th century thanks to innovative use of new and old design techniques which resulted in majestic buildings that symbolized the builder’s version of heaven.
This style of architecture first emerged in northern France around 1140. It started with the construction of great churches in Paris and evolved to more greater height, light, and volume. Later on, they used gothic architecture for secular buildings like castles, palaces, bridges, city walls, and gates. In England, two highly important buildings: Canterbury Cathedral and Westminster Abbey were created using Gothic architecture.
The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament, serves as the meeting place for the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The Old Palace was a medieval building that was destroyed by fire in 1834. After the fire, a competition was held for architects to submit plans for the new building that should be in a Gothic or Elizabethan style hoping to embody the conservative values of England. A Royal commission chose Charles Barry’s designs for a Perpendicular Gothic palace. Barry’s own style was more classical than Gothic which is why Augustus Pugin’s involvement was so crucial in Barry winning the competition. Barry’s plans reflected more of his knowledge of the neo-classical style through its symmetry. Pugin was the leading authority on Gothic architecture at the time. Almost all of the remains of the Old Palace were incorporated into the new design. Their work on the Palace began in 1840 and, while most of the work was finished by 1860, the New Palace of Westminster was not complete until a decade later. One of the most identifiable features of the Palace is the Elizabeth Tower, commonly identified by its main bell, “Big Ben”. The building is also known for two main spaces; the Lord’s Chamber and the Common’s Chamber. It is well identified by its main façade which runs parallel to the River Thames. The Palace, as it stands today, has been conserved very well to best display the designs as Charles Barry and Pugin intended them to be displayed. The Palace was, and remains, the center for political life in the United Kingdom, just as it remains a major iconic landmark of London. Many articles and books have been written discussing and disputing the history and design of the New Palace of Westminster, as well as the...
Next, The Eiffel Tower is a renowned monument for France. Being that it was originally built as an entrance way, some precautions were made. The safety token was moveable staging, guard rails and screens only one man died during construction. (Eiffel Tower). The tower stands 320 meters tall it uses over 18,000 pieces in the steel structure. Each year the high heats cause the structure to grow six inches, but then retracts back after the summer time. So, that is why the idea of thermal rivets were used in assembly, because the rivets allow the structure to keep its shape. Over 2.5 million rivets were used. (Eiffel ...
...er is still an economic boost to the city of London as a must see. Because the structure was so impressive, it brought quite a bit of tourism to the city. The designs were extremely important to the people because it showed the greatness of their country and still held the conservative belief that was once lost in the past. It just goes to show just how important it was to the church, the people, and to the commonwealth of the cities and towns that had such amazing structures erected.
The strength of a gothic building is made to reside in a finely organized framework rather than in its walls. This framework, which consists of perfectly placed piers, arches and buttresses, frees up any unessential impediment of walls and presents a light feeling. The stability of the building depends only on inert massiveness in its outermost parts, whose opposing forces counteract each other in a perfect stability of thrust and counterthrust. Gothic architecture is an artistic, strategic system of engineering, schemes for building were followed for elevations, termed quadratum (four sided) and triangulorum (three sided). 2 This system allowed them to raise their ideal structures according to symbolic measure and numbers reflecting the geometry of the New Jerusalem and its prototype, the Temple of Solomon. (Figure 1.1)
stories high, with large pillars in the front. Ivy grows up one side of the
This building is capable of such thing by including shops, museums, offices, restaurants and apartments within (Jodidio, 2012, p. 91). The purpose of the design is to be “a sharp and light presence in the London Skyline” (Piano, 2000). The London Bridge Tower opened in 2012 and is currently the tallest building in Europe, although for Renzo, the height of The Shard was never something he strived for (Jodidio, 2012, p. 91) (The Shard,
Built in 1889 to commemorate the hundred year anniversary of the French Revolution, the Eiffel Tower has been a topic of discussion for numerous years. Designed by Gustave Eiffel and Morris Koechlin, the Tower was built originally as a temporary structure. The pieces of this eye-catching building were to be disassembled and melted down after twenty years. This did not happen, however. The Eiffel Tower has become a colossal icon throughout the world; the Tower has brought in enormous revenue and has a scientific impact on French and all of Europe’s society.
The Eiffel Tower, also known as La Tour Eiffel in French, is a world famous structure located in Paris, France. The construction of the Eiffel Tower began in July 1887 and was completed in March 1889. The Eiffel Tower was chosen in a contest, out of hundreds of artist proposals, to being a center piece at the Exposition Universelle, World’s Fair, hosted by Paris in 1889. The purpose of the contest was to select a building which would commemorate the one-hundredth anniversary of the French Revolution in 1789, demonstrate France’s industrial expertise to the world, and serve as the center piece of the World’s Fair. The Eiffel Tower is currently located on Champ-de-Mars, the center of Paris. Originally, the tower was built as temporary monument and was planned to be demolished after twenty years of its construction. Before its completion, the tower received several oppositions to ending its construction. A group of about three hundred artists, sculptors, writers and architects sent a petition to the commissioner of the Paris Exposition, pleading to end the construction of the Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel Tower was accused of taking away the beauty and light of the capital. However, the petition was ignored and the construction continued. The decision to demolish the tower was also eliminated due to the monument’s abilities and functions, which were discovered after its completion. The Eiffel Tower contains a meteorology laboratory for scientists’ to use for studying and inventing purposes on gravity and electricity. The tower also serves a significant role due to its antenna, which was added in 1930. The French military used the Eiffel Tower’s antenna as a wireless telegraph transmitter to communicate with ships in the Atlantic Ocean and...
Undoubtedly, Eiffel Tower is one of the greatest monuments of the world. It was built for the 1889 International Exposition and was created to mark the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution While the Eiffel Tower has welcomed 32,250,297 people to L'exposition de Paris, Parisians did not welcome the tower at first. Many famous artists and writers protested against the construction of the tower claiming that it will change the image of Paris and will put other monuments in shade. Also, many felt that it was dangerous because of its height it might fall, ugly, and did not reflect their city's culture. In ...
Even though, the Eiffel Tower is a renowned monument for France. Being that it was originally built as an entrance way, some precautions were made. The safety procedures distributed were moveable staging, guard rails and screens. So, only one man died during construction (“Building Eiffel Tower”). The tower stands 320 meters tall, it uses over 18,000 pieces in the steel structure. Each year the high heats cause the structure to grow six inches, but then retracts back after the summer time. So, that is why the idea of thermal rivets were used in assembly because the rivets allow the structure to keep its shape. Over 2.5 million rivets were used (“Building Eiffel Tower”). This construction cost France over 7.31 million francs. The tower was many different colors until they officially settled for bronze. It was red, mustard yellow, and even chestnut brown (“Chisholm”).
Limestone and lime mortar are the main materials used for the construction of the tower. Marble covers the tower from outside and each level of the tower has arches and columns. The architect who was in the charge of the construction was called Giovanni Di Simone. The leaning of the foundation that caused the leaning of the whole tower led the architect to change the design many times. The foundation of the tower was laid in 1173 and it was made of lime and marble that are characterized by their strength and durability. The rotation of the tower was the main problem as it caused the leaning. In order ...