I ran across an interesting article yesterday while scanning the internets. Apparently Wednesday December 16, 1832 commemorates the birth and life of Gustav Eiffel. As it is probably already apparent, Eiffel was the architect and designer of such amazing structures as the Garabit viaduct, the iron structure of the Statue of Liberty (Enlightening the World), and of course the Eiffel Tower. Accomplishing all of these feats before the turning of the 20th century, landmarks that remain visible nearly a century thereafter is amazing to me.
As technology continually progresses we see the lifespan of these enormously complex system dwindle from a few years, to sometimes just one or less. Sure some people may carry such devices around for a few years thereafter, but for a device to last for over a century! - impossible.
Don't get me wrong, designing a device to be sold on the market as opposed to designing a building are two very different tasks with two very different purposes.
It's just amazing. That a single person could design two very different things with their very hands. In 100 years one thing may never be thought of, while another stands in the minds of millions.
Yet I suppose this is the continual endeavor of art.
Technology is not art, though technology can be used in artistic ways, as I have analyzed on a number of ocassions. Regardless, the point of this blog is to bring up the memory of an incredible designer, and just as importantly the idea of time in what we create. Tech niches will only last for a very short period of time, whether we are referring to the iPhone or Facebook, but designs with a much deeper, significant meaning - may be our only means of standing the test of time.
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