EIFFEL, Gustave
(b. 1832, Dijon, d. 1923, Paris)

Street view

1875
Photo
Nyugati Railway Station, Budapest

On 6 October 1868 Eiffel entered into partnership with Théophile Seyrig, like Eiffel a graduate of the École Centrale, forming the company Eiffel et Cie. In 1875, Eiffel et Cie were given two important contracts, one for a new terminus for the line from Vienna to Budapest and the other for a bridge over the river Douro in Portugal. The station in Budapest was an innovative design. The usual pattern for building a railway terminus was to conceal the metal structure behind an elaborate facade: Eiffel's design for Budapest used the metal structure as the centerpiece of the building, flanked on either side by conventional stone and brick-clad structures housing administrative offices.