La tour de Babel à Paris

In the article we are reprinting this month under the rubric “Futures of Yesteryear” Marie Bordoy dreams of seeing a Tower of Babel constructed in Paris, emulating the Eiffel Tower.
The unprecedented success of the Eiffel Tower encouraged this woman, who was influential in the Paris building trade in the late 19th century, to envisage adding a magnificent monument -covering 32,000 square meters, 140 meters high, with seven floors and hanging gardens- to the Bois de Boulogne. In this unique edifice, intended to be among the most modern and extraordinary, people would have spoken every language under the sun. It was to be not just a visitor attraction, a place of leisure and entertainment, but also a meeting place for industrialists, manufacturers and inventors from all over the world. Thirty million visitors were expected to travel from the four corners of the Earth to see it.
The plans for this architectural marvel, commissioned from Dominique Minaca, conjured up a magical world of distant peoples, combining utility and pleasure, splendour and originality -but never became a reality.