Spectacular View Of The Eiffel Tower Is All Done With Mirrors

What Parisian wouldn’t want an apartment with a view of the Eiffel Tower? Alas, not every window can face the famed landmark, and for some, the million Euro view is tantalizingly out of reach. Such was the case for [Lurluberlu], but with a little optical trickery he was able to peer around a corner to deliver spectacular views of the Eiffel Tower to his bedroom.

[Lurluberlu] devised a simple horizontal periscope using two full-length mirrors. The video after the break shows the build – as a side note, we’re very jealous of his hand tool packed workshop. With some plywood backing and simple swivels, the mirrors were mounted on his window sill to bounce the iconic tower’s image inside. After a little adjustment, the image is perfectly framed by the window, and with the lights off in the apartment, the view from the bed is quite spectacular. Our bet is that it’s quite a bit cheaper than moving to a flat with a better view.

Of course, with a little ingenuity (and a balcony) anyone can have a view of the City of Light. Or anywhere else for that matter.

[via reddit]

57 thoughts on “Spectacular View Of The Eiffel Tower Is All Done With Mirrors

  1. Well it’s alright but it needs a beret, some stinky cheese, a 2CV, some accordion music, a chick with hairy pits… OK, it’s fine. (But what did he use to apply the wood blocks to the window ledge, will it hold up?)

      1. Sorry my poptart wrapper caught the edge of my phone screen and it must have passed over “report comment”. Disregard. On another note, poptart wrappers are conductive enough to activate a touchscreen.

          1. That’s what I thought, too. Until I visited Paris. It’s a myth — there are no Parisien shopkeepers, they’re all multicultural, multilingual imports who must speak at least English, Japanese and German to even get a job.

            Anyway, everyone I met in Paris was pleasant. Maybe it had something to do with my high-school French, maybe not. But I had no problems at all with surly service people. The only impolite person I met was an American who felt he had been shortchanged on his tour of Versailles because the tour guide had a French accent to her English.

            // on an electrical junction box: “Ne pas uriner – risque du choc!”

    1. I’ve used similar stuff that’s called “Power Grab”. It is nice for sticking things that will eventually end up with a screw through it, where you just need it to stick for assembly. Of course it would claim to be a worthy glue after curing, but in my experience it deteriorates rather quickly in minimally exposed conditions.

      1. For marble I could only suggest (the limited strength of) silastic. Anything that is made for porous materials isn’t going to work. Anything that hardens is not going to work. You need an air displacement glue. Also its better to put a big blob in the middle and press that until it comes out to the edges and clean the excess off. This way you don’t get air bubbles between the surfaces. Air bubbles press flat (obviously) and can isolate a large amount of surface area.

      1. I agree. Having the mounts centred is a problem. If off-centre they would be like weather veins and hold one direction. With centred supports they will spin in heavy breeze until their off-balance rips them of the mounts or the mounts off the marble.

        Still OK for a proof of concept as he intended but some refinement to go.

  2. Excellent wood working workshop. Nice use of limited space. As for so many “hand” tools – well you’re neighbours probably wouldn’t appreciate you using and angle grinder in that environment.

  3. This is a very, very dangerous way to fit a heavy piece of glass and untreated wood out of your window! The idea is great, but almost anything else is wrong… First and most important, glue wood to marble is just plain crazy, proper fitting hardware for shutters can be bought anywhere for just few bucks. Marine grade plywood should be protected around cut borders or it will not last long. Glue a mirror like that for outside use is also a very bad idea, it just take very little water to get behind and freeze when temperature drops to detach the whole glass from the panel.
    Make a framed glass, just like in a transparent window,use a laminated glass mirror, and fit with shutter blinds hardware. Still probably against the law in France, but you’ll have less chance to kill someone.

    1. He uses ‘special glue’ and marine wood and rust-proof screws.
      And those mirrors look very light when he’s handling them, might be acrylic?
      And below the window is a grass area it seems, so the chance that if it fell a person would be under it seems small.

      And of course that person might be a terrorist.. so it’s a lucky thing the mirror fell and prevented mayhem eh.

    2. I suspect the use of glue may be the only method that wont damage the building, and incur the wrath of the building owner.

      As to the weight and construction method, I would have sealed all of the wood, and glued the glass to metal fittings screwed to the wood with a suitable all weather adhesive designed for the purpose. Modern adhesives are more than capable of supporting the weight, after all, a lot of the glass facings you see on modern buildings rely on adhesives of one form or another.

      1. We were talking about the glue that attaches the mirror to the board. the board is in turn attached to the building, in a rather low-invasive manner.
        And in europe they have different views on what you can alter in a rental (assuming it is a rental).

    1. Why does this commenting system still not have a ‘like’ button? It’s irritating to have to write an inane reply just to praise a post. For that matter, when are we going to get the ability to edit or delete our comments? Is this intended to be a sly hacker challenge? Do you really want us trying to hack your website?

      Okay, folks, let’s take up the gauntlet! Fix the so-last-century hackaday commenting system and win the internet!

          1. Actually yes it does, editing means people can constantly change their story, it means they take less care posting, it means you get confusing replies to comments that might have changed.

            As for voting, it draws a certain crowd, and yes that crowd doesn’t do much good for your website IMO (and my observation).

          2. @Whatnot: I disagree on both counts. Adding an upvote button obviously wouldn’t change who reads these articles–t’s not magnetic across the internet–and we’re a reasonably decent lot here (especially compared to, say, Gawker denizens). Editing can be misused, but it can also increase civility and clarity. Adding the line “edited at {time}” helps prevent confusion.

            Anyway, as a compromise, we should at LEAST be able to delete our comments. I’ve made innocent errors at times that I’d like to fix without the awkwardness of having to “reply” to myself, and I’m sure I’m not alone. Just display “comment deleted by poster” so that followup comments aren’t left dangling.

            It wouldn’t hurt to add another level or two of nesting as well…:-)

          3. But HaD is constantly trying to attract new people, with interesting things and ‘edgy’ topics, which works, but then the .. ..I’m going to use ‘idiots’, the idiots see there is no way to vote, no way to edit comment and they lose interest and go forth.

          4. @Whatnot: But you just made that up from your own suppositions. I spend a LOT of time on HaD, and I don’t think I’ve seen much evidence of that type comin’ round. We have a few kiddie kommenters, and a few more kneejerk not-a-hack types, but it is hardly mayhem around here.

            On the other hand, look what happened at Engadget after they imported Andy the Tarantula from Gizmodo. It’s the site’s writers that set the tone, and HaD is blessed with some nice folks.

        1. I think the ability to edit posts, but not actually remove the old data would be great. Viewers would still see what the original post was if they are interested, while at the same time you could correct mistakes that were overlooked and would otherwise create spam as separate replies.

    1. He mentions in the reddit post that the whole thing was intended to be temporary and just a proof of concept. I’d imagine the landlord wouldn’t take to a permanent installation, so perhaps he’s just leaving this as an option to install for, ummm, special occasions? After all, it is visible from the bed, and this is Paris…

      1. It’s tricky to assume a landlord has the same requirements (and legal rights to requirements) even if it’s in the same country you are in, but internationally it just seems a rather nice example of going out on a limb.

        Many people in various areas for instance like to have flowerpots hanging from their windowsill, Well needless to say a flowerpot would be subject to the same gravity and impact as a mirror. And yet those flowerpots are all allowed in a great many cases. And in fact as he pans you can see someone who has flowers hanging on the outside of their balcony. And you can also see other stuff attached on the other buildings.

        And BTW, as for the sturdiness of glue, I like to point out that a great many things are glued, including modern planes, planes that are exposed to radical temperature changes and a lot of moisture. So as long as you use the proper adhesive it can work perfectly fine and safe. Oh and boats, also plenty of glue in use in constructing those.

      1. Not sure, but it’s just so that messing with tech and building things does create a certain danger, and creates a personal experience with what happens if you mess up.. And in many places where you get taught on the subject you find safety is a notable part of the course.

        Also, we are screamish about blood :)

          1. You have emphasis on *THEY* to convey your point. Then you say “educate *US*” as though you have the authority to speak for everyone else.

            The other people you so casually include in *US* could well have a different opinion to yours.

            I, as a part of what you call *THEY* I could simply argue that *WE* have more experience then *those* (which of course would include you) and should be left to decide.

            Of course that is rubbish as I don’t have the authority to use *WE* to speak on behalf of others just as you don’t have the authority to use *US* to speak in behalf of others.

            So I take your intended point as a valid opinion, I however only accept it as your opinion and not the opinion of others.

            No callousness intended.

      2. I know I hate all that safety shit, Who cares how safely or unsafely something was made? We are here for hacks! If you want safety goto some Health and safety blog where all day everyday they post people doing things inline with health & safety legislation.

      3. I think it’s wise to discuss safety for those who have less experience.

        Tell me one other industry where people work with something that can travel through solid materials like metal at the speed of light and then leap though the air and kill you in an instant.

        Sure, if you an old hand then you can relax a little … or is that just becoming complacent as you prepare to be the next statistic.

        Talks about safety have never killed anyone (as far as I know) however, the lack of safety instruction is responsible for many many deaths (if not most).

        So I like to hear safety advice like – “Never look into LASER with remaining eye”.

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