The Phare du Monde Pleasure Tower
Illustration of Eugène Freyssinet’s Phare du Monde, or Lighthouse of the World, from 1933. The structure was designed for the 1937 World’s Fair in Paris, but it was never constructed. This image originally appeared in a 1933 issue of Modern Mechanix.[1]
Pictured above is a tower proposal from 1933 for the 1937 World’s Fair in Paris. It features an external spiral ramp leading to a parking garage 1640 feet (500 meters) from ground level.[2] Once at the top, visitors would find a restaurant, hotel and observation deck, and the spire contained a lighthouse beacon and a meteorological cabin. The view? Sublime. The design? Utterly ridiculous, unless taken as a satirical statement on civilization’s reliance on the automobile.
Imagine driving up a spiral ramp with 30 revolutions, just to park your car at the top while you experience the world below from 2000 feet (609 meters). Spiral ramps in parking garages generally contain around 5-10 revolutions depending on the floor count, with a tight radius for turning. Now imagine 30, with a much larger radius, meaning travel times increase. It feels like drivers would get quite dizzy after completing the drive up or down. There’s also the possibility of car accidents, engine stalling on the way up and loss of control on the way down. Why not just design a system of lifts to remove all these risks? I suppose that’s not as eye-catching as the ability to drive up there, and the design is nothing if not eye-catching.
Illustration of Eugène Freyssinet’s Phare du Monde, or Lighthouse of the World, from 1933. The structure was designed for the 1937 World’s Fair in Paris, but it was never constructed. Image source unknown.
I see the design less as an actual proposal and more as a response to society’s obsession with the automobile at this point in history. Most world cities at the time were being adapted to function with vehicular traffic, and in newer cities, urban planners considered vehicular traffic paramount. When viewed through this lens, the design is masterful (and hilarious as well). It sits right outside the realm of realistic, yet it’s not impossible to see this somehow getting built given the aforementioned vehicular obsession at the time. This was the age of the skyscraper and the automobile, and what better way to appeal to the masses than allowing people to bring their car with them up into the clouds? It’s not enough to soar to great heights in an elevator when you can drive to great heights in your car, as long as you don’t mind getting quite dizzy in the process.
Check out other unbuilt designs here.
[1]: "Pleasure-Tower Half Mile High." Modern Mechanix, July 1933, 45.
[2]: Tauranac, John. The Empire State Building: The Making of a Landmark. New York: MacMillan, 1996. 29.