Le grand hoax: Eiffel Tower extension is fake

World news

This is a hoax. We have no idea where this came from.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Old ladies might love to wear silly hats, but this particular old lady - 120 years old next year - will not be wearing the silly hat shown in the picture.

Yesterday, the rumour mills of both Paris and London were buzzing with the shock "news" that the Eiffel Tower may be given a new look for the 120th anniversary of its construction, in 2009.

A reputable firm of French architects, Serero, had posted elaborate designs and computer-generated images - pictured on this page - on its website, showing a large, temporary, viewing platform at the top of the 905ft tower.

The computer-generated images, which had been online since the start of the week, made the world's most celebrated metal structure look like a steel mushroom or an avant-garde lampshade.

A host of style and architecture websites reported the story, claiming that Serero Architects' plans had "won" a competition organised by the tower's management company, La Societe d'Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (SETE).

Soon, British newspapers were getting in on the act. The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph both informed the readers of the potential new addition to Paris' skyline.

There was but one problem: the tower management company has never planned to change the appearance of one of the most instantly recognisable buildings in the world.

"This is a hoax," a tower spokeswoman said last night. "We have no idea where this came from. The whole thing is preposterous. There is no question of changing the way that the Eiffel Tower looks, even temporarily. We have plans for the 120th anniversary, of course, but nothing like this."

Nevertheless, a spokesman for David Serero architects, who declined to give his name, insisted that the company had been, "invited to enter a limited competition", and that, "we would not have drawn up such elaborate plans unless we thought that there was a genuine competition".

However, he added that the suggestion that his company had "won" was a pure internet rumour, fed from site to site (and then onto the pages of English broadsheets) without being checked. Easter came early this year. So, it seems, has April the first.