San Jose's Electric Light Tower and its connection to the Eiffel Tower

Built in 1881, the San Jose Electric Light Tower was one of the 50 tallest man-made structures on earth upon completion. It stood nearly as tall as the Signia Hotel in Downtown San Jose, but was built over 120 years ago. Not only was it extremely innovative for its time (illuminating a half-mile radius), but there several connections between this project and the Eiffel Tower in Paris. This is all the more reason to build a new landmark that pays homage to San Jose's Electric Light Tower.

You can now rent Tom Wohlmut's exceptional documentary linking the San Jose Electric Light Tower to the Eiffel Tower over here. The 56 minute film takes you through a journey of how San Jose's innovative light tower was built, how it brought San Jose international recognition, and how it was tragically destroyed. 

There were also several short interviews recorded about the relationship between the two towers that not many people had the chance to see. You can find those videos embedded below. 

Mario Fontana ETH-Zurich from TAW on Vimeo.

Bernard Meurtin Interview from TAW on Vimeo.

Corentin Interview Ver 1.0 from TAW on Vimeo.

Inspirational video for a new San Jose Landmark

Why should the capital of innovation continue to be deprived of a world-class landmark? Urban Confluence is working to fix this problem with a global competition to design a modern version of the San Jose Light Tower next to the SAP Center. The submission deadline has been extended to January 15th, 2020 and you can learn more over here.

In the meantime, Urban Confluence has provide an inspirational video (below). I can't wait to see the winning designs!

The Light Between Two Towers is getting recognized

The documentary film relating the San Jose Electric Light Tower and the Eiffel Tower has received its first two awards. It was recognized as an Official Selection for both the Rome Independent Prisma Awards and the Depth of Field International Film Festival. If you haven't seen the movie yet, we highly recommend doing so. You can watch The Light Between Two Towers over here. 

Watch the Light Between Two Towers

You can now rent Tom Wohlmut's exceptional documentary linking the San Jose Electric Light Tower to the Eiffel Tower over here! The 56 minute film takes you through a journey of how San Jose's innovative light tower was built, how it brought San Jose international recognition, and how it was tragically destroyed. The tower was one of the tallest man-made structures in the world when it was built and it illuminated a half-mile radius.

I was fortunate to watch the premier at 3Below Theaters and hope they will feature it there regularly for the full theatrical experience. The film is so packed with San Jose history that it should be required watching for all students in San Jose schools. Please support this great project and watch it using the link below.

Click here to watch the Light Between Two Towers!

San Jose Light Tower v2.0 has a location!

There is finally has an official location for the resurrection of our most famous landmark. The City Council voted unanimously to approve the Arena Green near SAP and Diridon as the future home of a new San Jose Light Tower.

The next step is an international idea competition for the design of the tower called "Urban Confluence Silicon Valley." Individual teams will submit creative designs for the project and there will be an award for the top three.

The icing on the cake is that there will be a little extra height available for the new tower (see yesterday's post). By raising building height limits to FAA regulations, will gave the tower an extra 100 feet of potential. I'm sure the height will be full maxed and hope there are some options for virtual increasing that height as well (lighting, drones, etc.).

The official announcement from The San Jose Light Tower Corporation is below.