crown

Subscribe Now

FOLLOW US

Sign in

Photos | From outrage to icon: Paris marks 30 years of Louvre’s pyramid

It was once decried as an architectural "obscenity", but as the Louvre's glass pyramid turns 30 on Friday, it has become a cherished icon of the French capital. One eminent writer called for revolt in the streets when French president Francois Mitterrand's flamboyant culture minister Jack Lang first unveiled its plans. The pyramid celebrates its 30th anniversary in March 2019. Until its inauguration in 1989, the Louvre pyramid prompted controversy and polemic: some calling it out as cultural desecration, but 30 years later, the work of Chinese-American architect Ieoh Ming Pei is celebrated as a masterpiece.

Updated on: Mar 29, 2019 12:21 PM IST

Share via

Copy link

1/10

The Louvre museum pyramid designed by architect Ieoh Ming Pei is pictured at dawn in Paris, France. Plonking a modernist pyramid into the centre of a Renaissance palace was considered sacrilege, with one satirical magazine calling it a tomb and joking that then French president Francois Mitterrand -- who was suffering from cancer -- “wants to be the first pharaoh in our history”. (Christophe Archambault / AFP)

Updated on Mar 29, 2019 12:21 PM

The Louvre museum pyramid designed by architect Ieoh Ming Pei is pictured at dawn in Paris, France. Plonking a modernist pyramid into the centre of a Renaissance palace was considered sacrilege, with one satirical magazine calling it a tomb and joking that then French president Francois Mitterrand -- who was suffering from cancer -- “wants to be the first pharaoh in our history”. (Christophe Archambault / AFP)

2/10

The Louvre Pyramid under construction on august 7, 1987. Pei -- who will be 102 next month -- remembers “receiving many angry glances in the streets”, with up to 90% of Parisians said to be against the project at one point. Yet in the end, even that stern critic of modernist “carbuncles”, Britain’s Prince Charles, pronounced it “marvellous”. (Patrick Kovarik / AFP File)

Updated on Mar 29, 2019 12:21 PM

The Louvre Pyramid under construction on august 7, 1987. Pei -- who will be 102 next month -- remembers “receiving many angry glances in the streets”, with up to 90% of Parisians said to be against the project at one point. Yet in the end, even that stern critic of modernist “carbuncles”, Britain’s Prince Charles, pronounced it “marvellous”. (Patrick Kovarik / AFP File)

3/10

French contemporary artist and photographer Jean Rene (C), aka JR, poses with volunteers during preparation works of his installation in the main courtyard Cour Napoleon of the Louvre Museum. Over the next few days, JR will create a huge collage with the help of 400 volunteers to celebrate its 30th birthday by revealing “the Secret of the Grand Pyramid”. (Thomas Samson / AFP)

Updated on Mar 29, 2019 12:21 PM

French contemporary artist and photographer Jean Rene (C), aka JR, poses with volunteers during preparation works of his installation in the main courtyard Cour Napoleon of the Louvre Museum. Over the next few days, JR will create a huge collage with the help of 400 volunteers to celebrate its 30th birthday by revealing “the Secret of the Grand Pyramid”. (Thomas Samson / AFP)

4/10

The construction site of the Louvre Pyramid on July 28, 1988. The sphinx-like Mitterrand, who had embarked on a string of grand projects to transform the French capital, hedged his bets from the start. “It’s a good idea, but like all good ideas it is difficult to do,” the wily old Socialist leader had warned his culture minister Jack Lang. (Joel Robine / AFP File)

Updated on Mar 29, 2019 12:21 PM

The construction site of the Louvre Pyramid on July 28, 1988. The sphinx-like Mitterrand, who had embarked on a string of grand projects to transform the French capital, hedged his bets from the start. “It’s a good idea, but like all good ideas it is difficult to do,” the wily old Socialist leader had warned his culture minister Jack Lang. (Joel Robine / AFP File)

5/10

The louvre Pyramid under construction on July 28, 1988. A whole wing of the Louvre was then occupied by the French ministry of finance, which held the purse strings of the state, and would be difficult to budge. The museum’s huge “Napoleon Courtyard was an appalling car park,” Lang told AFP. “The museum was handicapped by the lack of a central entrance.” (Joel Robine / AFP)

Updated on Mar 29, 2019 12:21 PM

The louvre Pyramid under construction on July 28, 1988. A whole wing of the Louvre was then occupied by the French ministry of finance, which held the purse strings of the state, and would be difficult to budge. The museum’s huge “Napoleon Courtyard was an appalling car park,” Lang told AFP. “The museum was handicapped by the lack of a central entrance.” (Joel Robine / AFP)

6/10

The Louvre pyramid at dawn. Pei’s masterstroke was to link the three wings of the world’s most visited museum with vast underground galleries bathed in light from his glass and steel pyramid. Such was his success that the conservative French daily Le Figaro, which had led the campaign against his “atrocious” design for years, celebrated his genius on the 10th anniversary of the pyramid’s opening in 1999. (Christophe Archambault / AFP)

Updated on Mar 29, 2019 12:21 PM

The Louvre pyramid at dawn. Pei’s masterstroke was to link the three wings of the world’s most visited museum with vast underground galleries bathed in light from his glass and steel pyramid. Such was his success that the conservative French daily Le Figaro, which had led the campaign against his “atrocious” design for years, celebrated his genius on the 10th anniversary of the pyramid’s opening in 1999. (Christophe Archambault / AFP)

7/10

Pei was not the obvious choice for the job. But Mitterrand was so impressed with his modernist extension to the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC that he insisted he was the man for Louvre. One meeting with the French historic monuments commission in January 1984 ended in uproar. Not even Pei’s winning of the Pritzker Prize, the “Nobel of architecture” in 1983, assuaged his detractors. (Christophe Archambault / AFP)

Updated on Mar 29, 2019 12:21 PM

Pei was not the obvious choice for the job. But Mitterrand was so impressed with his modernist extension to the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC that he insisted he was the man for Louvre. One meeting with the French historic monuments commission in January 1984 ended in uproar. Not even Pei’s winning of the Pritzker Prize, the “Nobel of architecture” in 1983, assuaged his detractors. (Christophe Archambault / AFP)

8/10

Lang told AFP he is still “surprised by the violence of the opposition” to Pei’s ideas. “The pyramid is right at the centre of a monument central to the history of France (the Louvre is the former palace of the country’s kings.)” The Louvre’s then director, Andre Chabaud, resigned in 1983. The present incumbent Jean-Luc Martinez, however, is in no doubt that the pyramid helped turn the museum around. (Christophe Archambault / AFP)

Updated on Mar 29, 2019 12:21 PM

Lang told AFP he is still “surprised by the violence of the opposition” to Pei’s ideas. “The pyramid is right at the centre of a monument central to the history of France (the Louvre is the former palace of the country’s kings.)” The Louvre’s then director, Andre Chabaud, resigned in 1983. The present incumbent Jean-Luc Martinez, however, is in no doubt that the pyramid helped turn the museum around. (Christophe Archambault / AFP)

9/10

Martinez is all the more convinced having worked with Pei in recent years to adapt his plans to cope with the museum’s growing popularity. Pei’s original design was for up to two million visitors a year. Last year the Louvre welcomed more than 10 million. “The Louvre is the only museum in the world whose entrance is a work of art,” Martinez insisted. (Kenzo Tribouillard / AFP)

Updated on Mar 29, 2019 12:21 PM

Martinez is all the more convinced having worked with Pei in recent years to adapt his plans to cope with the museum’s growing popularity. Pei’s original design was for up to two million visitors a year. Last year the Louvre welcomed more than 10 million. “The Louvre is the only museum in the world whose entrance is a work of art,” Martinez insisted. (Kenzo Tribouillard / AFP)

10/10

Pei is not alone in being savaged for changing the cherished landscape of Paris. In 1887, a group of intellectuals that included Emile Zola and Guy de Maupassant published a letter in the newspaper Le Temps to protest the building of the “useless and monstrous Eiffel Tower”, an “odious column of sheet metal with bolts.” (Kenzo Tribouillard / AFP)

Updated on Mar 29, 2019 12:21 PM

Pei is not alone in being savaged for changing the cherished landscape of Paris. In 1887, a group of intellectuals that included Emile Zola and Guy de Maupassant published a letter in the newspaper Le Temps to protest the building of the “useless and monstrous Eiffel Tower”, an “odious column of sheet metal with bolts.” (Kenzo Tribouillard / AFP)

Related Photos

Home/Photos/News/Photos | From Outrage To Icon: Paris Marks 30 Years Of Louvre’s Pyramid

© 2026 HindustanTimes