Louvre Pyramid

The Louvre Pyramid is a large glass-and-metal entrance and skylight in the main courtyard of the Louvre Palace in Paris, designed by the Chinese-American architect I. M. Pei. It stands surrounded by three smaller pyramids of the same style that serve as lightwells, with low triangular reflecting pools on three sides, and a companion Inverted Pyramid lights the underground passageways. Announced as part of the Grand Louvre project by President Francois Mitterrand in 1981, with Pei chosen as architect in 1983, it was completed in 1989. The structure reaches 21.6 metres and has a square base 34 metres on each side, built from 603 rhombus-shaped and 70 triangular glass segments, 673 panes in all. It serves as the main entrance to the museum, bringing daylight to the underground visitors hall. Its modernist look set against the Renaissance palace caused years of aesthetic and political argument, and it has since become a landmark of Paris and a symbol of the museum.