As the world’s largest and the most visited museum, the Louvre Museum has become a landmark like no other, featuring incredible pieces of art and history to become a landmark for Paris. While the Louvre Pyramid was created to better serve the audiences that visit the Louvre on a daily basis, the striking form and function of the Pyramid have enabled it to also become a symbol of the Louvre as well as a new icon of Paris. In doing so, the Louvre Pyramid showcases what it can mean for a monument to build upon a legacy while also creating an identity that can be utilized in countless ways.
Part of the ‘Grand Louvre’ Project
To cope with the increased attendance and confusing layout of the Louvre Museum, The “Grand Louvre Project” was announced in 1981. It included a redesign of the museum and the addition of space. Chinese-American architect I.M. Pei was personally commissioned to handle the redesign which would include coming up with a new way for visitors to access the Louvre.
Deciding to utilize the gravel-filled Cour Napoléon by excavating the space to create a new underground entrance, Pei put together a design that would be marked with a translucent sculptural gesture to both define the visitor’s arrival and to light the underground addition, all while respecting the historic buildings. When the Grand Louvre project was completed in 1989, the exhibition space doubled, with the Pyramid acting as the new visitor entrance and offering access to the museum’s three pavilions.
The pyramid is about 22 meters (72ft) tall from its base and measures just over 35 meters (116ft) wide. It is surrounded by three smaller pyramids and reflecting pools with modern fountains. Since it was completed it has been complemented with the creation of the Carrousel du Louvre, which is anchored by an inverted glass pyramid, known as the Pyramide Inversée (Inverted Pyramid). This pyramid is a smaller version of Pei’s pyramid, turned it upside down right and suspended right above a small stone pyramid.
When it was proposed and built, the Louvre Pyramid sparked considerable controversy in the media and public opinion, as Pei was much criticized for this bold addition to a monument that symbolized the history of France. Eventually, that opposition subsided and has allowed the Louvre Pyramid to become a tourist attraction in its own right.
A Symbol of the Louvre and for Paris
As the largest and most famous museum in the world that draws millions of visitors every year, the Louvre Museum was hardly in need of an icon to provide it with a more defined identity. However, in doing so, the Louvre Pyramid has showcased what kind of additional power such symbols can means for a place, regardless of how famous or notable they might be otherwise.
The Louvre Pyramid appears on all sorts of maps and guides and has come to serve as a symbol for the museum itself. Paris attractions like the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe and the Pantheon are all conveyed with easily recognized symbols, and the Louvre Pyramid enables the Louvre to be included in this sort of shorthand communication. Without an icon to utilize, the Louvre would not be as easily recognized or included in such materials.
The Louvre Pyramid itself is more than a symbol though as it has been embraced by the city and entire country of France. President Emmanuel Macron had his inauguration in front of the Louvre Pyramid, while numerous events are held in the space throughout the year.
The initial negative feedback that the Pyramid elicited has completely subsided, to the point that now some consider the pyramid to be “as synonymous with the Louvre as the Mona Lisa.” The Louvre Pyramid now rivals the Eiffel Tower in defining the Parisian landscape and countless maps and guides of the city use the icon of the Pyramid to showcase where and how it can be visited.
By creating such a powerful symbol that represents the Louvre Museum but is also a landmark in and of itself, the Louvre Pyramid showcases how monuments can serve functional purposes while also creating an icon.
Building on a Legacy
Countless museums across the world contain treasures that are of significant cultural and social value, but these treasures are not synonymous with the places they reside in. The Mona Lisa is the world’s most famous painting, but its’ identity is tied to the fame of the portrait itself, not the place where it resides.
By creating an icon that is now synonymous with the Louvre that is also associated with the legacy of the Great Pyramids of Giza, the Louvre Pyramid highlights what it can mean for a monument to truly define the identity of a space like a museum in order to make it that much more accessible to visitors and residents. Doing so can build upon the notoriety that a place has already established to open up countless new opportunities in the space and beyond.
