Ferris' idea was a wheel, a giant wheel large enough to provide a bird’s eye view the entire Chicago exhibition and surrounding landscape. A wheel made of steel that Ferris said would "out-Eiffel Eiffel."  The idea was too ostentatious for even Burnham.  "Too fragile," was his reply to the concept of a giant wheel held up by slender rods rivaling the height of the recently opened Statue of Liberty.