The Louvre Pyramid in Paris, designed by architect I.M. Pei, was highly controversial when first proposed but has become an iconic landmark. When first unveiled, 90% of the public opposed the design, seeing it as an intrusion on the historic Louvre. Critics called it a "house of the dead" and a "megalomaniacal folly." However, it has since come to be appreciated for making the museum more accessible and transparent, serving as a focal point without detracting from the original architecture. The pyramid symbolizes the museum's role in preserving history and artworks for contemplation.

1. PRESENTATAION BY:
Salimat Yewande Bakare
19500348
Architectural Theory and Criticism
LOUVRE PYRAMID, PARIS

2. ARTICLES
 From scandal to icon - the tumultuous history of the
Louvre pyramid and its creator. (Published by The
Local Newspaper, France)
 Louvre Pyramid - The Initial Controversy And Two
Decades Later
 From Iron to Glass: Transparency and Pluralism
(Published by New Praire Press)

3. “When I first showed the idea to the public, I would say 90 percent were against it.
The first year and a half was really hell. I couldn’t walk the streets of Paris without
people looking at me as if to say: ‘There you go again. What are you doing here?
What are you doing to our great Louvre?’ ” I.M Pei
1

4. The pyramid was “an architectural
joke, an eyesore, an anachronistic
intrusion of Egyptian death
symbolism in the middle of Paris,
and a megalomaniacal folly
imposed by Mr. Mitterrand.” (New
York Times)
Le Monde’s (French newspaper)
architecture critic at the time called
the structure “a house of the dead”
and said Pei was treating the
courtyard of the Louvre “like an
annex of Disneyland or bringing
Luna Park back from the dead.”
CONTROVERSY

5. "The pyramid is right at the centre of a monument central to the history of France. The
project also came at a time of fierce ideological clashes” Minister of Culture

6. "The Louvre is the only
museum in the world whose
entrance is a work of art,”
Jean-Luc Martinez. (Curator)
This pyramid not only captures
the eye, but represents an effort
to safeguard the museum. It is
thus a doubly apt metaphor for
the museum itself, a place where
works of art are preserved,
safeguarded, and contemplated.

7. “The ancient pyramidal form made of the modern materials glass and steel constitutes
a dialogue between the old and the new, for it is at once much older and newer than
the existing Louvre buildings.” (Cannel 1995)

8. “We need to give to the new Louvre a center. A reception, a generous area with light
and with space.” It didn’t need to be a pyramid, he explained, it could be “a dome, an
arch or a cube.” But esthetically,” he insisted, “It is the shape I find most pleasing to the
eye.”

9. “The Pyramid really does not overshadow the original building. In fact, I believe, in a
subtle unexpected way it breaks the monotony of the original architecture, which is
otherwise awe inspiring when you look at its total massing but perhaps somewhat
monotonous in its repetition of the same architectural elements over long stretches.”
2

10. The Pyramid was serving a very useful purpose,
namely, that of providing essential facilities to the
many thousands of visitors and it did so with the least
bit of encroachment on the integrity of the original
architecture.

11. "I.M. Pei’s plan distributes people effectively from the central concourse to myriad
destinations within its vast subterranean network... Several other museums have
duplicated this concept, most notably the Museum of Science and Industry in
Chicago." (Mark Pimlott)

12. The colorless glass permits vision through and does not obstruct the vision across
the pyramid. For this reason it floats lightly and sits there with its own distinct
personality at the heart of the Louvre's original buildings without taking anything
away from them but adding a focal point of interest.

13. This shimmering entryway evokes
the idea that a museum is a shrine
where artists and works of art are
worshipped.
Within its framework of steel tubing
and cables, the pyramid creates
the effect of a computer-generated
digital image projected onto a
historical setting; not an image
with a single face, but with an
infinity of potential faces.
Pei's pyramid has come to
symbolize, is not that it is new
or different, but that it is so
altogether, unrelentingly
abstract.
3

14. The glass of the pyramid and the pyramidions and the water in the attendant basins
multiply and distort the images of the museum and the world in a game of mirrors,
virtual images of an elusive reality.

15. "I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a
foundation of necessity," I.M Pei

17. REFERENCES
 https://www.thelocal.fr/20190517/louve
 http://hiraksen.blogspot.com/2012/10/louvre-pyramid-initial-
controversy-and.html
 https://newprairiepress.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1394&c
ontext=sttcl