Completed in 1989, this glass pyramid by I. M. Pei is the main entrance to the Louvre Museum in Paris. It was the heart of the Grand Louvre project launched by President François Mitterrand in 1981, which created a new visitors' hall beneath the palace's main courtyard.
The pyramid rises about 71 feet from a square base, built of 603 diamond-shaped and 70 triangular panes of glass on a light metal frame. Its sides slope at nearly the same angle as the ancient pyramids of Egypt. It lets daylight into the hall beneath while giving visitors views up to the palace, and it is surrounded by three smaller pyramids and triangular reflecting pools with fountains.
Its construction set off years of fierce debate. Critics called a modern pyramid an intrusion on the Renaissance palace, but it has since become a symbol of the museum and of Paris.
Comments