Eiffel by Eiffel (Hardcover)

Philippe Couperie-Eiffel

ISBN 10: 3283012393 / ISBN 13: 9783283012397

Published by Edition Olms, Hombrechtikon, 2014

About this Item

Hardcover. Gustave Eiffel was the man behind the landmark that became the symbol par excellence of Paris and so the dominant image of France around the world. However, the work of Gustave Eiffel (1832-1923) is obviously not limited to the tower that bears his name. From 1856, when he was commissioned to design a railway bridge in Bordeaux (his first large-scale metal construction), he imposed his style all over the world. The bridge over the Douro in Portugal, the Garabit viaduct, the church in Manila, the Manaus Municipal Market in Brazil and even the framework of the Statue of Liberty are just some of his over 300 masterpieces. Then disaster struck in 1892 when a report directly linked him to the Panama scandal that had come to light three years before. This was the start of a nightmare that would ultimately turn out to be completely unjustified. Deeply wounded, Eiffel withdrew, cloaking himself in his pride. His eldest daughter Valentine stuck by him, not only offering support, but also building up a remarkable collection of memorabilia and documents. She left this precious legacy to her beloved nephew Philippe Couperie-Eiffel, having partly brought him up.For the first time, to mark the 90th anniversary of his famous ancestors death, Philippe Couperie-Eiffel has updated this treasure trove and offers us the chance to get to know the great architect and family man through a wide range of previously unpublished archives. Shipping may be from our UK warehouse or from our Australian or US warehouses, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9783283012397

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Eiffel by Eiffel (Hardcover)
• Publisher: Edition Olms, Hombrechtikon
• Publication Date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3283012393
• ISBN 13: 9783283012397
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

Exceptional documents retracing Gustave Eiffel's work worldwide
An all-inclusive panorama of achievement of one of the 19th century's most remarkable architects
The Eiffel family records, opened to the public for the first time
A collector volume to mark the 90th anniversary of Gustave Eiffel's death

He was the creator of the supreme symbol of Paris, the beacon that radiates the city's aura across the world, but it would be short-sighted to restrict the work of Gustave Eiffel (1832-1923) to the tower that bears his name, despite his struggle to gain acceptance for his utopian vision. From the age of 26, when the young engineer was entrusted with the construction of a railway bridge in Bordeaux, both firing his ambition and earning him the respect of his colleagues, Eiffel made his mark on every corner of the globe with his striking and distinctive designs for over 300 buildings, including the Douro Bridge in Portugal, the Garabit Viaduct in France, Pest Station in Hungary, the Post Office in Saigon and even the framework of the Statue of Liberty in the USA.

In 1892, the 60-year-old was crushed by a judgment that wrongly implicated him in the Panama Canal scandal, which had erupted three years earlier. With his reputation in ruins, Eiffel decided to withdraw from the public eye. only to enter a phase of still greater creativity. With his innovative design for the first aeroplane to have wings beneath the fuselage, his research into aerodynamics and his development of the science of meteorology, he revealed himself to be a polymath as well as a visionary of the industrial age.

But Eiffel never allowed his public activities to dominate his private life, and he passed on to his descendants his humanist principles and his profound sense of family values. It is this legacy that Eiffel's great-great-grandson Philippe Coup©rie-Eiffel has chosen to champion and that he invites us to discover in these pages. The wealth of archive material, much of it previously unpublished, presents an intimate portrait of Gustave Eiffel, creator of the impossible.

About the Author

Philippe Coupérie-Eiffel is the direct descendant of Gustave Eiffel. He is the keenest advocate of his ancestor’s memory.