The 1889 Universal Exposition, celebrating the centennial of the French Republic, is dominated by the building of the Eiffel tower that still remains, for many, the very symbol of Paris. A remarkable testimony to French virtuosity as regards metal constructions, the tower designed by Gustave Eiffel immediately became an object of fascination for his contemporaries.
Other constructions, such as the Palais des Machines or the Palais des Industries, benefited from the combined know-how of engineers and architects.
The series of photographs by Hippolyte Blancart, a well-to-do pharmacist and informed amateur, illustrates elegantly the modernism of building design.
Blancart’s photographs display picturesque facets of the Exposition: typical restaurants, diverse shows, kiosks, petty crafts.
Through these snapshots, Paris is seen as the host, for several months, of a mixture of age-old traditions and of visionary projects.
