Last night I saw the Eiffel tower up close. It’s one of those things that you kind of see all the time from all over the city, but it’s pretty incredible to see it up close. At sunset walking down from the north I had no idea that it had this big “national mall” like lawn with a park including these grand steps up to a museum on one end and the “school of the military” on the other. It made me wonder about how we frame things. Here is this giant tower next to a river that lights up and can be seen from all over the city. It is an icon familiar to people all over the world and it is treated as the pride of the city. It’s not a monument to anything or anyone and it didn’t symbolize anything when it was built, but here it is one of the most recognizable structures on the planet. It was built to be seen, it was built to become what it has become(so I guess it’s a resounding success). It has been framed not just by the landscaping, but also by the propaganda of regional pride. In Seattle we have the space needle (not quite the Eiffel tower, but still), but it doesn’t have any of the prestige, pride or “framing.” It was built for the world’s fair and has become somewhat lost in the landscape of a growing city. They are both tourist places, but i was surprised when a diplomat from Switzerland mentioned the Space Needle and I would never be surprised by someone’s mention of the Eiffel tower. Anyway I guess my lesson learned today is that it’s all about how you frame it.