Resurfaced plans show how cars were nearly able to drive around the Eiffel Tower
Old plans have been resurfaced which shows how cars were nearly able to drive around the Eiffel Tower.
The idea of a drive-thru Eiffel Tower wasn’t meant to be but images of the plans drawn up back in 1936 show how the Parisian skyline might have ended up looking very different.
In the drawing, people were shocked to see a concept plan for a version of the Eiffel Tower that includes a spiral ramp similar to what would be found in a modern day carpark.
The ramp would allow cars to climb up a third of the way of the tower before driving around it and descending on the other side, making the French landmark accessible by car.
Advert
The imagery has caused quite a stir on social media, with many people questioning why anyone would even want the Eiffel Tower to have a car ramp.
With the image being shared on Reddit, one user wrote: “This is one of many reasons why we need to move away from car-oriented urban planning. No one should have thought of this, let alone create this concept art.”
Another joked: “Man, that’s just poor design. Where’s the drive through McDonald’s at the ‘top’?”
A third commented: “The Eiffel Tower if it was in America.”
And a fourth user added: “People are obsessed with new tech. We see it today with things like AI, back then it was cars. It was an obsession of society and naturally it caused planners to plan pretty dumb and over-imaginative stuff.”
However, this isn’t the only landmark in Paris that could have looked very different if alternative designs had been approved.
Another one is the Arc de Triomphe situated in the middle of a busy roundabout in the French capital.
But while the archway is an iconic structure, people may be shocked to find out that it was almost constructed to look like a giant elephant.
This was due to concept designs proposed by French architect Charles Ribart back in the 18th century.
He hoped that the structure would consist of three storeys and have a spiral staircase hidden inside the elephant’s body to allow visitors to reach a lookout above the elephant’s head.
But it wasn’t meant to be as Ribart’s plans were turned down by the French authorities and instead, the designs by Jean Chalgrin in 1806 for the archway as it looks today were given the go-ahead.