"Beyond its strictly Parisian statement, it touches the most general human image-repertoire: its simple, primary shape confers upon it the vocation of an infinite cipher ... [Gustave] Eiffel saw his Tower in the form of a serious object, rational, useful; men return it to him in the form of a great baroque dream which quite naturally touches on the borders of the irrational."

- Roland Barthes, “The Eiffel Tower,” 1964

Who would have guessed that the Eiffel Tower, a widely despised structure at the time of its completion exactly 130 years ago, would not only become an icon, but the icon of icons? Did its image become so pervasive in the modern era because it is not a sacred monument, as Roland Barthes had observed, but rather a secular one? Is it because it signaled the escalation of the Industrial Revolution, both in its simplicity and its ingenuity of structural form?

Whatever the reason, the iconic structure has inspired over 30 imitators spread across the globe of varying scales and levels of detail. To celebrate the 130th anniversary of the Eiffel Tower's completion, let's take a look back at a few of the structures erected as an homage to the original genius of the Iron Lady.

First breaking ground in 1997, Paris Las Vegas quickly became the most famous Eiffel Tower replica. This may be due to the fact that it is not only one of the largest replicas, but also one of the most faithfully detailed. It was originally going to be a full scale replica, but was abruptly reduced to half that size given its proximity to the Las Vegas airport. 

At nearly 1,100 feet, Tokyo Tower is the second tallest replica of the Eiffel Tower and the second tallest building in Tokyo. Built in 1958, its design purposefully deviated from the iconic wrought-iron color of the original towards a white and international orange palette (this is the same paint color applied to the equally iconic Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California). Tokyo Tower is also among the most pragmatic of the structures replicated the Eiffel Tower, as it not only acts as an observation tower but also as an antenna, broadcasting signals for Japanese media outlets.

A hundred miles Southeast of Shanghai, China, in the suburbs of Hangzhou, there is an Eiffel Tower occupying center stage of a multi-acre replica of Paris. Known as Tianducheng, the residential development was constructed in 2007 and quickly became the subject of many short news features. Bianca Bosker’s book, Original Copies: Architectural Mimicry in Contemporary China, uses Tianducheng as a prime example throughout. “Its Eiffel Tower borders a parterre garden taken from Versailles and a reproduction of the Arena of Nimes, a historic amphitheater located in a city far south of Paris,” Bosker writes. “Tianducheng’s developers have helped themselves to French icons from throughout the country and assembled them next to each other without concern for geographical accuracy.”