A sketch of the viewing platform adding to the Eiffel Towers to celebrate the Eiffel Towers 120th Anniversary.(Photo source: yangtse.com) Photo Gallery>>>

    BEIJING, March 24 (Xinhuanet) -- Eiffel Tower will have a new look in time for its 120th anniversary in 2009, according to media reports Monday.

    Serero Architects of Paris was authorized to redesign Eiffel's public viewing platform and reception areas. It won it from an open competition.

    According to the new plan, the top floor plate of the tower will be extended by grafting a high performance carbon Kevlar structure on it. The structure will be temporarily bolted to the slab without requiring any modification of the existing structure.

    The design is based on a generative script, creating branches out of the primary structure of the tower. Inspired by the structural concept of Eiffel of three-dimensional cross bracing beams, the script unfolds along curved lines the "DNA" of the tower.

    A spokesperson for Serero explained that the plan to restructure the top of the tower aims to increase the quality of access. Average waiting times for the tower's elevators currently run at more than an hour at peak times.

    The design is already causing controversy, with critics questioning the wisdom of tinkering with the famous silhouette and spending money on upgrading a tourist attraction which attracts 6.9 million visitors a year.

    (Agencies)