Speakers Annex Lecture | Lisa Pasold on the Intriguing History of the Eiffel Tower

Architectural Wonders: Brilliant Buildings That Explain the Modern World

Fridays, October 30-December 4, 10:30 AM – Noon

In this exciting new series, an all-star roster of leading writers and experts will take you on a thrilling tour through architectural history, each delivering a talk on their favourite modern buildings.

With critic Christopher Hume in the closing and opening sessions, and Speakers Annex favourites leading the other sessions, explore the intriguing stories of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, stunning buildings in Prague, and groundbreaking buildings by Arthur Erickson, Frank Gehry, and others.

Explore the ways that each of these brilliant designs shaped the look and feel of the world we inhabit today, and come away from the series with a fresh new sense of perspective on the buildings and cities around us, alive to the rich history of their architectural wonders.

November 20: Lisa Pasold on the Intriguing History of the Eiffel Tower

Speakers Annex favourite Lisa Pasold, a Canadian writer based in Paris, will explore the fun and dramatic story of the most iconic landmark in Western design history.  As she recounts how Gustave Eiffel’s monumental tower took the world by storm at the end of the 19th Century, she’ll examine the divergent—and extremely French— responses it garnered from the country’s architects and artists, before assessing the tower’s remarkable legacy on the global design scene. Learn how it became a talismanic symbol of the modern age, an influential template for urban design landmarks in many other cities,  and the defining image of the city of Paris, a beacon for city-lovers , and lovers of architecture, in every part of the world.