I Love Observation Towers, and I'm Rating Eight of Them in "Eiffel Towers" Because, Well, Duh
Here are some of the best I've visited!
I love observation towers. (Okay, that sounds a little strange when I say it out loud.)
But being high above a city or a coastline with a view usually only afforded to our feathered friends is a special feeling most of us don’t get every day.
I even like it better than flying over a city. For starters, you get more than just a fleeting glimpse. You can take it all in. And moving around the observation deck, you can see the entire city.
It’s about as close to feeling like a god as I think you can be.
What exactly is an observation tower? How does it differ from a skyscraper with an observation deck?
It’s a structure built primarily to offer panoramic views out over cities. (They often serve as radio and TV towers as well.)
Many skyscrapers also have observation decks offering panoramic views. But those observation decks are add-ons, not the reason the skyscraper was built, which is usually for commercial or residential purposes.
Observation towers are typically slender structures with a viewing capsule at the top and do not include residential space. Any commercial spaces are strictly for visiting tourists.
The Space Needle in Seattle is an observation tower. The Columbia Center, also in Seattle, is a high-rise with an observation deck.
Thanks to the invention of elevators, observation towers as tourist attractions came into their own at the end of the 19th century.
When the Eiffel Tower opened in 1889, it stood 300 m (984 ft) and was the tallest building in the world. Thanks to those new-fangled elevators, millions of visitors rode to the top for spectacular views of Paris.
Like mushrooms after a good rain, observation towers have been springing up around the world ever since.
Some are testaments to man’s ingenuity; others to man’s ability to badly imitate others’ work.
Here are eight I have visited, along with a few thoughts on each.
Space Needle, Seattle, Washington
Since Seattle is my adopted hometown, I’m starting there.
Perhaps I’m biased, but of all the futuristic towers built — and there are some bad ones; hello, the Stratosphere in Las Vegas — the Space Needle, at 184 meters (605 feet), stands head and saucer above the rest. (At least figuratively; plenty are actually taller.)
It wasn’t the first building with a saucer on top — that was the Theme Building in 1961 at LAX airport in Los Angeles, which only stands 135 feet tall.
A year later, Seattle literally took it to an entire other level, reaching 605 feet and creating an iconic image — that saucer, those spindly legs — known around the world.
The Space Needle was constructed incredibly quickly, taking only 400 days and opening just in time for the 1962 World’s Fair.
While Seattle isn’t as earthquake-prone as San Francisco, quakes are a real possibility. The Space Needle rests on a foundation of a 30‑foot‑deep, 120‑foot‑wide concrete base. That base weighs almost as much as everything above ground. That allows it to sway and absorb the energy from a quake without cracking.
Another thing I love about the Space Needle is that it’s located just outside the city core. That means it not only offers great views of downtown but also of Puget Sound, the Cascades, and the Olympic Peninsula.
It’s one of the best views from an observation tower I’ve ever seen, earning it…
🗼🗼🗼🗼🗼
Coit Tower, San Francisco
Perched atop San Francisco’s Telegraph Hill, Coit Tower might not be the most aesthetically pleasing observation tower, but it has a pretty interesting history.
Completed in October 1933 and standing a very modest 210 feet (64 m), the tower was paid for by a rather eccentric woman named Lillie Hitchcock Coit.
Apparently, as a young girl, Mrs. Coit lent a hand pulling a firetruck up Telegraph Hill. That led to a lifelong relationship between her and the fire department, culminating in her leaving the money to build Coit Tower as a monument to San Francisco’s firemen who died fighting blazes.
Which might explain why the tower rather looks like a giant firehose nozzle. The tower is actually built in the Art Deco style popular at the time — and thanks to a New Deal program, includes a series of impressive murals inside depicting Depression-era California.
Coit Tower might not have the best views (though they aren’t terrible) or the greatest architecture, but thanks to those murals and that history, I give it…
🗼🗼🗼
Brighton i360, Brighton, UK, and Spinnaker Tower, Portsmouth, UK
Not all observation towers are created equal — and here are two that emphatically prove it.
In fact, the Brighton i360 is so hideously ugly, I have to wonder if the architect who conceived it actually hated the city.
That column looks like a concrete sewer pipe fell out of the sky, and no one could be bothered picking it up.
Standing at 162 metres (531 ft) tall, this tower at least puts a unique spin on the observation tower. That’s because it’s also a ride that carries guests from the Brighton beachfront up into the sky.
I will allow that the viewing pod, which is completely clear, offers visitors incredible views. But even when seen from a distance, i360 does not improve Brighton’s skyline.
Several other things bug me.
First, the entire “ride” takes about twenty-five minutes. That means guests have only a brief moment at the top to savor the view. It also means most visitors will have to wait at least 25 minutes for their turn, and possibly longer, depending on the length of the line.
Yeah, no.
Only fifty miles separates Brighton from Portsmouth, but when it comes to their observation towers, they might as well be in different galaxies.
Where the i360 looks like it was conceived by a failed architectural Scrooge with a grudge against beauty, Portsmouth’s Spinnaker Tower is the complete opposite.
Not only does it reflect the town’s maritime past, but its elegant design, mimicking a sailboat’s sail, fits in almost seamlessly with Portsmouth’s waterfront.
It might only stand 170 meters (560 feet), but it’s a thing of beauty with great views, earning it…
🗼🗼🗼🗼
Meanwhile, the Brighton i360 mars an otherwise nice seafront, earning it…
🗼🗼
Tokyo Tower
When it comes to observation towers, few countries are as committed to them as Japan. In fact, Japan has twenty, with Tokyo claiming two, including the Tokyo Skytree, which stands 634 meters (2,080 feet). That makes it one of the tallest structures in the world.
But based on the reviews, including the hassle of getting there, and then having to wait in two lines to get to the top, I skipped it.
Instead, I went to the smaller Tokyo Tower with much smaller expectations.
But as soon as I drew near, I started to wonder if I’d underestimated it.
If you’re thinking that Tokyo Tower, which opened in December 1958 and stands at 333 meters (1,092 ft), looks a lot like that famous tower in Paris, you aren’t mistaken.
And it didn’t happen by accident.
Emerging from the devastation of World War II, Japan sought to make a statement: the country was back, looking toward the future.
And what better way to do that than a massive radio and television antenna to bring television to the Japanese people?
The orange-and-white palette was meant to comply with aviation safety regulations. While it should have turned the tower into an eyesore, it actually really works.
I found it striking, and I loved how it makes the tower stand out from a distance...
...which is why I give it
🗼🗼🗼🗼
Tsūtenkaku Tower, Osaka, Japan
It’s hard to make a case that Osaka’s Tsūtenkaku Tower is aesthetically pleasing. This 103-meter (338-feet) structure has the subtlety of a punch to the face.
Where other observation towers are slender and pleasing to look at, Tsūtenkaku rises above Osaka like a metallic sumo wrestler. It doesn’t help that it’s basically an ad for Hitachi, which owns it, or that a very kitschy slide has been attached to the side.
And once inside, you run a gauntlet of dated products for sale from Glico. This Japanese food conglomerate created Pocky, the chocolate-covered pretzels you see everywhere in Japan.
But at night? Much like Osaka itself, Tsūtenkaku is illuminated in neon blues, greens, and yellows, transforming it into something still tacky but that blends in perfectly with the sort of tacky Shinsekai neighborhood it looms over: even the retro candies and very outdated displays inside the tower work.
The whole thing is kitschy and garish and yet impossible not to love at least a little, earning it…
🗼🗼🗼½🗼
Petřín Tower and Žižkov Television Tower, Prague, Czech Republic
While it isn’t surprising that a megacity like Tokyo has two observation towers, it surprised me that Prague, with a population of 1.4 million, has two as well.
If Petřín Tower, 63.5 metres (208 feet) tall, also reminds you of the Eiffel Tower, that’s because a Czech hiking club visited Paris’ World’s Fair, and fell in love with the French landmark.
But rather than bringing back a souvenir replica Eiffel Tower, members of the club raised enough to build their own tower in 1891.
The tower does have lovely views out over Prague, and I have to admit that if you’re going to rip off something, you might as well rip off something classic.
Prague’s second observation tower can’t be accused of stealing anyone else’s ideas. If you’ve spent time in Prague, you probably know the city can be a little weird. Chalk it up to that Bohemian past.
And the Žižkov Television Tower, which began construction in 1985 and stands 216 metres (709 feet) high, fits right in with that Czech weirdness.
Where other observation towers are generally slender and simple, Žižkov looks as if Salvador Dalí decided to take a crack at designing one.
Upon completion, the tower was not well-received by the general public, who hated the way it intruded on the skyline and also saw it as a symbol of Soviet oppression.
But over time — and after ten crawling baby sculptures were affixed to the structure’s columns in 2000, because why not? — the Czech people decided maybe it wasn’t so bad.
I actually love the structure both for its weirdness and the designers’ willingness to swing for the fences, which is why I give Žižkov …
🗼🗼🗼🗼
Meanwhile, Petřín Tower, which pretty much only imitates the Eiffel Tower, without really doing anything else interesting, only earns…
🗼🗼🗼
That’s it! Feel free to share your favorite observation towers or any thoughts about these!
Michael Jensen is a novelist and editor. For a newsletter with more of my photos, visit me at www.MichaelJensen.com.
I love Coit Tower ... something so odd about it. Maybe it's just absorbed the San Fransisco vibes ...
"That column looks like a concrete sewer pipe fell out of the sky, and no one could be bothered picking it up."
LMAO. It's funny because it's true!