Episode 16 - The Louvre Pyramid of IM Pei

In 1981, the newly elected president, François Mitterand, announced his Grand Travaux project that would change the face of Paris, and none more so than the Musée du Louvre. 

Mitterand had one man in mind for the job, the Chinese American architect I.M. Pei, a master architect who blended glass, concrete, stone, and metal. 

In this episode, we dive deep into the project and the design elements of the pyramid, including just how many panes of glass are really in the pyramid, and one of my favorite movies that adds the pyramid as a main star. 

Transcript

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Bonjour, bonjour, and welcome to episode 16 of Paris in Blue, Blanc, Rouge with me, Claudine Hemingway. In this week's episode, I picked a subject done by one gentleman that shares my birthday with me.

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Or I share my birthday with him, I should say.

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There's quite a few people. My birthday was just this last weekend on April 26th, and there's quite a few people, including Delacroix, Marie de Medici, Jean Le Banc, which was a French king in the 14th century, and then also one gentleman by the name of I Am Pay. And I am Pay is, of course, known for designing and creating the amazing pyramid of the Louvre and the huge grand project that was involved with. But today I want to focus purely on the pyramid itself. There's so much that went into this project, and I'll share more of it later. But the pyramid itself is such an icon on the face of Paris, and it definitely did not start out that way with how people thought about it. So it is also kind of tied into a few really uh special moments of my life that kind of changed everything, um, including my love for a certain book uh and movie, which is the Da Vinci Code. So I saw this movie, you know, when it came out years ago, and I think because, and this was long before I ever came to the Louvre, this movie came out 20 years ago. It was 2006, if you could believe that. And the book, of course, was before that, which was a major, you know, bestseller. But the movie itself uh included, you know, it's filmed in the Louvre, and then it also has to do with uh Saint-Soupise, and those are two things that I loved. And when I first came to Paris 10 years ago, those were literally the two things at the top of my list, the Louvre and Saint-Soupice, partially because of this movie, um, but also just because I wanted to see the Louvre. But the pyramid itself takes such a huge starring role in the beginning and end of this movie. And so definitely watch it again. Um, but in the Da Vinci Code, if you're watching it, Bezu Fash that is played by Jean Renault, who I love because of this movie, he has Tom Hanks that thinks what he thinks of the Louvre pyramid. And Hanks' character, who is Robert Langdon, responds, it's magnificent. And Renault responds, it's a scar in the face of Paris. So it already starts off pretty good with them. But that is still sort of a, you know, some people actually still feel that way that maybe the pyramid is actually a scar in the face of Paris, but not as many as they originally were. So there was a lot more. So the Grand Project of the Louvre, as I said, was a massive undertaking, and we'll go into that later. But today is again only about the pyramid in IMP. So today the pyramid of the Musee de Louvre is a museum's icon. From every exit sign, map, and photo used in the press, the glass pyramid of IMP is a de facto image that represents the greatest and largest museum in the world. Even when I'm looking for, like I've tried to find a Louvre Christmas ornament, I want one of the building, you will find one that's the pyramid. You will find um, if you find like a line uh drawing of the uh profile of Paris, it's the pyramid. It's it's yeah, everywhere. And when I was in there the other day on Sunday, I would just literally have pyramid on my mind. And everywhere I looked, on you know, the maps inside, the directional signs, as I said, every single thing, it'll just say an arrow, a sortie, and a picture of the pyramid. And that's all kind of a little bit of what I have planned. So even the crown jewel thieves, one of them thought that the Louvre only was the pyramid, and that was it, just the pyramid and what was underneath it. There's still a handful of people who had very strong feelings against this icon, but what doesn't these days. However, compared to many who despised the idea when it was announced before a single pane of glass was created, it is quite beloved these days. The 1980s saw an upheaval in the world of Parisian museums. The collection of the Louvre was expanding quickly from its small space, and the impressionists of the Je de Palme were overflowing, resulting in the creation of a new museum of art beginning in 1848. The Musee d'Orsay opened in 1986, solving just a fraction of the problem. The Louvre before the pyramid was spread across the first floor of the Dinon Wing, a small portion of its ground floor, and the two floors of the Souli Wing, a far cry from the Louvre we know today. Yet the collection of what was hidden from display was incredible. The Louvre had seven departments at the time painting, sculpture, obje d'art, prints and drawings, and then the Egyptian, Greek, and Roman antiquities. What would have been seven separate incredible large museums anywhere else were all housed in one historic palace. Admission to the Louvre had skyrocketed in the late 1970s, and the former entrance under the Pavillon Denon became inadequate to handle the crowds, forcing people to take one route to reach everything. During World War II, as art was scattered and hidden throughout France, the curators and officials had time to think about the layout of the Louvre. Once the art returned, the paintings and sculpture areas were rethought and redesigned within each room. Each director after would have lofty ideas of adding more space to the museum, but it took a French president to bring it to fruition. Francois Mitterrand was elected on May twenty first, nineteen eighty one, and came into office with the idea of redesigning and expanding Parisian's architectural history, a scope that hadn't been seen since Napoleon III and Baron Haussmann. Two months later, on july twenty seventh, nineteen eighty-one, the Grand Projet of Paris was born, which would include the Arc of La Difunse, the Opera Basti, the Buran Columns of the Palais Royal, the Library of Bercy, and of course the Louvre Pyramid. Tontong Coman, as Mitterrand was nicknamed, did have a love of Egyptian history and antiquities, but he wasn't the reason behind the pyramid. That was the choice of the designer, Chinese American architect Yo Ming Pei. Born on April 26, 1917, in China, Ian Pei enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania to study architecture, but later decided to go to MIT to study engineering. Noticing his talents for design, he is later convinced to return to his first vocation. But the two combined create this amazing architect that we know today. Through engineering, he learned how things worked and the intricate ways materials like glass and concrete can interact. Projects undertaken by the French state must go through an open competition with a committee picking the architect or designers. Each and every company used for Notre Dame had to go through the same process, but Mitterrand decided to skip this step when it came to his grand design of the Louvre. Mitterin placed Emile Biasini in charge of overseeing the project, who spent his career within and around the Ministry of Culture. Biasany was familiar with Pey's work at the JFK Presidential Library in Boston and the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art in DC, both inaugurated in 1979 and liked Pei's adaption to a contemporary building in the heart of historic structures. The Grand Louvre project was more than just a pyramid and entry. It was a massive reorganization of the museum itself. For the monumental undertaking, Mia Zanit brought in each of the head curators of the Louvre to drop their wish list of everything they could want. Pei made his first of numerous secret trips to Paris in November of 1982, shrouded in mystery. Even the Louvre officials weren't told of this clandestine visit. For days, Pei walked through the Tuileries Garden, designed by Andre Le Notre and inside the Louvre, following visitors as they made their way to the big hits in the museum. The courtyard before the mid-19th century still has houses up to the edge of the Rue de Rively. Under Napoleon III with architects Louis Visconti and Hector Loufel, the Richelieu Wing was built. The houses were all removed, and the courtyard became a parking lot for ministry officials and a garden. A statue of Leon Gabetta was placed in 1888, and in 1900, a statue of Lafayette that was a gift from American school children was added and later placed in the Corps de Ren. I am Pei had been involved in the competition for the creation of La Défense in the early 1970s and lost out to Emile Ayot. After that, he said he wouldn't take on all that work and devote that much time again. Pei was in his 60s and he said if he was wanted, he needed to be the first choice. Mitterin and Biasini knew who they wanted and would deal with a fallout later. The fact that the design would be so controversial outweighed the rogue choice, was just about every Parisian uniting behind one thing, the hatred of this project. Under strict secrecy, Pei worked out a few ideas that wouldn't alter the historic structure. The building encompassing the Corps Napoleon dates to the mid-19th century and Napoleon III, including the covering of the oldest remaining part of the Louvre, of the Sully Wing. I can't even imagine the outrage people would have had if they had touched the building itself. Including me. I am Pei saw himself as more of a landscape designer than an architect on this project. The structure needed to be something that would blend into the historic building, enhancing it, but also bringing a modern use to tackle the issues of the time. It had been decided that the Louvre would take over more of the building, including the Richelieu wing, allowing the display area to double in size, which could also more than double the daily admission. To bring that all through the Denon entry would have been a disaster. But how would he do it? The courtyard was the best option, but it still met with major challenges. Being so close to the Seine was the largest factor and excluded Pei from going too deep into the earth before reaching the water table. Keeping any of these ideas to himself, he came up with a few options. The first was a glass cube, then a bubble-like dome. Both what looked quite odd. Then three different pyramids in varying size, one with a 30 degree slope that reached the top of the first floor, a second, which is a bit higher with a 45 degree slope reaching the tip of the second level. However, both appeared to be a bit too flat and the museum itself loomed over them. The third and final was a pyramid we see today. It reaches the tip of the tympanum of each of the three pavilions. One of the biggest questions that many visitors have is why a pyramid? There are many reasons that I will share, but did you know that wasn't even the first or even the second pyramid here at the Louvre? In 1792, after the storming of the Tuileries, a celebration was held on August 25th, the feast day of Saint Louis, and included a large wooden pyramid by architect Bernard Poyer. It was built just outside the Louvre, covered in black cloth and set on fire. 150 years before Mitran launched his grand travaux, the nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte wanted a monument built for his uncle commemorating his Egyptian campaign. On August 15, 1839, it was once the feast day of Saint Napoleon, not a real thing, and was set afire in the shadows of the Louvre. I'm sure many would have liked to set fire to Pei's creation after it was announced, but luckily that hasn't happened. Pei first had the idea of a pyramid when he designed the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston, but decided against it. Incorporating glass and concrete into his many creations became a signature in the second part of his career, and his best work was still ahead. The Louvre project wasn't just about creating a new entrance. It would involve a massive underground city dedicated to exhibition spaces, offices, storage, workshops, and not to mention shops, restaurants, massive parking, an expo center, auditorium for the Occol de Louvre, and an atelier for the greatest restoration group in the world. The pyramid, you could say, is just the tip of the iceberg. When it came time for Pei to put pen to paper, he used that garden that was just right outside the door as his inspiration. The Palais de Louvre sits in the center of Paris. At the time, the first fortress was built at the end of the 12th century. It was just outside the wall of Philippe Auguste. Over the centuries, the buildings changed, was destroyed, rebuilt in the 16th century. The Palais de Tuileries built by Catherine de Medici in the 16th century would eventually be joined by the Louvre and would include a large garden around it. In the 18th century, Louis XIV had his garden designer Andre La Notre create a lovely park and more importantly lay out the grand access point. A straight line that would cut through the center of the garden and later stretch to the outside of Paris at La Diffense and begin at the Arc de Triomphe de Carousel. One of the most important aspects of a French garden is its geometric lines and every detail is carefully thought out. La Notre would create the gardens of Volivicamp, Versailles, and the Tuileries, and many more, all with its clean lines and design. It would be the biggest inspiration for Pey, who even extended the ground access to Link with his own project. Pei's creation would not only give the museum a new entrance, but it would also bring the outdoors and light in, as well as unite the two once inside. How can one create a massive entrance that at the time would be used by a little over four million people a year and also highlight the building's history and beauty? Pei approached the project as a palace rather than a museum. Perhaps the greatest thing about the pyramid itself is how it could almost disappear, whether you were under it or just outside looking through it. From every angle the building can be seen, and from behind the Jardin de Tuileries and the Arc de Triomphe de Carousel is in front of you. He also pulled in the faceted plan of the roof and the Luxer obelisk that sits around the access line as inspiration. Pei's background in not only architecture but also engineering, along with some pretty big dreams, brought the structure to life. Future president Jacques Chirac was the mayor of Paris at the time and hadn't weighed in on the idea one way or another. Pei believed 90% of Paris hated the idea, and as soon as the plan was presented on January 24th, 1984, the headlines of every French paper was filled with the objections to the ideas. Even the New York Times called it an architectural joke. Chirac had the idea that if they showed what the pyramid would look like in the courtyard, maybe they could garner a bit more support. Just in time for the May 1st holiday in the Corps Napoleon, one of the largest cranes in France held Teflon cables stretched out to each corner, forming the shape of the actual pyramid. Without glass and using only cables, they were able to show the structure itself would not block the beautiful buildings surrounding it. Thousands of visitors arrived in each of the four days that it was in place, and in the end, many changed their mind and now had a 56% approval. The next step was to bring Pei's vision to life, all with its very exacting details. The most important part, the glass, took the most time to create. Pei wanted the glass to be perfectly clear and white, that is without any bubbles or color and will not oxidize over time, turning yellow then brown. Many companies were considered, but only one could pull off this daring job, which also has links to another famous mirrored hall. In 1665, Jean Baptiste Colbert founded the Royal Manufacturer of Mirror Glass to compete with Venice, which cornered the market on the craft. After all, a king couldn't order glass from another country to cover the walls of his gallery. Between 1678 and 1684, the beautiful gallery de Glass was created at Versailles. Look closely and see how the mirrors are made up of several pieces instead of one long piece. France still hadn't created the ability to make large sheets of glass. The same royal manufacturer would become the Saint Gobain company that still exists today and one that was up to the technical challenges of Pay's glass. Glass normally contains apharic oxide and other substance that can solarize and change its color. Pay also wanted the glass to be thicker at 21 millimeters or 78 of an inch, which can help to absorb the heat. 675 diamond shapes make up the four outdoor pyramids with 118 triangles along the lower edge. Each piece of glass would stretch vertically the same way they did long ago instead of flattening in a machine, which would damage the fragile panes. After the entire order was stripped just to outside of London to be polished. The glass pyramid, as well as the three small ones surrounding it, was placed in aluminum frames that would fit tightly together like a puzzle, much like the creation of a gothic cathedral in the Middle Ages, Pei wanted to capture as much light as he possibly could with the least obstruction. The glass defines the pyramid, but it's the intricate rigging system that holds it all together, creating a web-like structure. How to hold this all together was a big question. Pei found his answer on a sailboat of all places. 2,150 joints were created, much like you find in the rigging system of a sailboat. Wax molds were made that hot steel was poured into, then shot blasted to polish, and then dipped in a diluted muric acid chemical bath. The 6,000 shiny tensile steel bars between could be adjusted to keep the entire structure in place. It's quite a sight to see up close from outside the pyramid. How to fit this massive structure of glass aluminum steel and have it almost float above the entrance was another story. Originally, Pei thought of having a long sloping entry from the sidewalk straight into the lower entrance, but it would cast a portion of the space into darkness. Because the Louvre is located so close to the sand, they could only go so far down. It would all be about the ceiling itself that would hold up the pyramid. Pei loved working with concrete because he could shape it and control it wherever it went. The pyramid itself covers 10,764 square feet and weighs over 220 tons. The edges of the pyramid are seated in a complex envelope that includes a supply vent and a shutter that can be opened to release the air and with suspension cables bracing the structure even deeper and all encased in concrete. The smooth concrete is mastered between Pei and the Dumez firm and was the same kind he used in other projects, including the National Gallery and the JFK Library. To create the design, he set created a deep set boxes with angled walls. Jean-Pierre Ari, the concrete whisperer, used Oregon Pine to create a mold. Oregon Pine is loved for its hard wood that resists bending and can be sanded to a very smooth finish. Carefully selected, the pine needs to be without any knots or blemishes as it was cut into slender strips and glued together. Once together they were covered in resin, then white cement lacquer before being sanded and stripped and became as smooth as glass. Each of the massive sections was filled with tinted concrete while workers hung from scaffolding to keep anything from shifting. Looking up today as you enter the Louvre at this masterpiece with a little wink to Oregon. To hold the entire thing in place, Pei added four large pillars under each corner of the pyramid that almost disappear. The entry through the pyramid is supported in the center with a truncated column that was intended to hold a sculpture, but the powers at B couldn't decide on what it would be. Wing victory was a first option, thank goodness that never happened. Other ideas included the bronze mercury abducting psyche and the lead mercury by Pigal and even Rodin's thinker. On the south side, a set of double escalators takes visitors to the center of the pyramid, but it's a spiral staircase that surrounds the elevator that's really the showstopper. Pei created an elevator whose shaft disappears into the floor as it comes down, and the beauty of the staircase is on full display. Once it rises to the top, the entire shaft is revealed and a small platform pops out to connect the upper floor, allowing visitors to enter. For the inner walls, Pei used his very favorite stone, a yellow Magny limestone that is known as the Magny le Louvre stone now. From the Cot d'Or Burgundy region, just 23 kilometers southeast of Chaton sur Saint. For the inner walls, Pei used his favorite stone, a yellow Magny limestone that is known as Magny le Louvre stone now. From the Côte d'Or Burgundy region, just 23 kilometers southeast of Chaton sur Saint. For the floors, he used Chasson Bernet stone in a similar color that is also from the same region, and all three blend perfectly together. Surrounding the pyramid outside are three smaller, three-sided pyramids that allow the light and to guide the visitors to the entrance of each of the three wings. I left to stop under them and catch a view of the top of the Richelieu and Denon pavilions. Constructed with the same method minus the rigging as they were easier to stabilize with only ten panes of glass on each side. Since the entire Grand Louvre project also included the vast underground area, Pei included another pyramid as you exit. An inverted pyramid that was created with the same glass but without the rigging system is balanced below by a small stone pyramid, almost as if it's peeking out from below, and the entire pyramid lies beneath. You may know this pyramid from the end of the Da Vinci Code as Tom Hanks runs through the streets of Paris to stand above and look down through the magic of Hollywood to find the resting place of, spoiler alert, Mary Magdalene. Sorry to report that the only thing below is the parking lot. That scene filled me with the dream to do the same thing on my first trip to Paris, only to find there's no way to walk out there on top of the pyramid unless you wanted to scale over the rat-infested bushes. Last summer, one of those creatures found his way into the inverted pyramid and was captured on video trying to find his way out. Thankfully, I did not see that. Did you know, though, that there was in fact a six-pyramid plan for the center of the Corcare? To balance out and create Pei's own access line, the project was going to stretch deep under the far courtyard. However, when the archaeological dig revealed the medieval base and the origins of the fortress of the 18th century wall of Louis Laveau, plans were altered. Today the pyramid is more loved than hated, but I still hear a few grumblings from time to time. I, for one, love it, and the pyramid is strongly imprinted on one of my most memorable moments. It was ten years ago in September 2016 on my very first visit when I went to the Louvre on a late Wednesday afternoon. Walking through the rooms alone with the beautiful art in front of me, I could have danced on air. When it was time to leave to go meet a friend, I exited the Denon Wing and entered the center of the pyramid. Looking up towards the Richelieu pavilion, I saw a colored in the most beautiful pinkish orange, and I knew I had to get out quickly. I left and rushed through the center of the Tuileries and found my way to the very end of all of Paris was in front of me. The sky was stunning, and before me was the Eiffel Tower, the Obelisk, the Arc de Triomphe, and the Pegasus statues over the entrance. It was in that very moment that I knew that everything had turned in my life to lead me here to this very moment, and this is where I belong. This past Sunday morning on our birthday, I visited the Louvre and looked more closely at every detail of Pei's creation. Loads of people were filling in through the pyramid door, making their way down the escalator and following the path to Mona Lisa. I am Pei died on May 16, 2019, at 102 years old, just weeks after the 30th anniversary of the pyramid on March 29th. Watching people take their photos in front of it and pretending to touch the tip brought a little tear to my eye. If only Pei could see the pyramid now. When it was created, it was intended to manage up to 5 million people a year. In over 35 years, that number has doubled. One of my favorite things is arriving in the Court Napoleon on the bi-monthly cleaning day of the pyramid. A special roomba-like contraption connected to a hose climbs up and down the pyramid slowly, washing and scrubbing the glass, while a few men stand below watching and driving the little washer. It normally takes two days, and the front entrance is only done on Tuesday on the closing day. I long for years to see this, and now when I hear the slight humming of the cleaner before I enter the Cornapollon, I race over there to see it. As for the Da Vinci Code, the opening and the final scenes have incredible views of the pyramid and interior, and you should watch it today. And there's even an almost three-hour version, extended version, you can find on Apple TV. Definitely check it out. So let me know if you guys have gone and seen the pyramid and how much you love it. Uh, I know that there are a few people out there that still don't like it, and that's just, you know, to each your own, we can't all like the same things. But it is pretty amazing. And I literally, I stood inside the other day and watched people come in, and I really did get a little choked up. Just seeing how amazing it is and knowing how much time it took 12 years for the entire Grand Louvre project. And Pei was involved in in all the other aspects. He was involved in the whole Richelieu wing, um, which in included basically demolishing the entire innards of it on par um part of it because they didn't destroy where the Napoleon III apartment are. Um, but he was involved in all of this, and so there's all there's just you can't turn anywhere, uh turn a corner in the center or the Richelieu wing and not be touched by something that I am pay did. So it's pretty amazing. And this is coming from somebody that doesn't really like any kind of contemporary anything. I was gonna say architecture, but I do love it. And you know, maybe it's because we have the same birthday, but um, I, you know, I you fell in love with it long before I ever knew that we did. But um I hope that when you go to the Louvre the next time, you look at the pyramid and look at it a little closer. Go around the outside, um, and you could get pretty close to the edge and you could really look at that rigging system. It's pretty amazing. Um, but you know, I don't recommend going into the pyramid entrance when it's been, you know, a hot summer weeks on end. Um, and I feel so bad for those agents working up there. And that is part of the reason why they have striked. That has been one of the complaints, is how sneaking hot it is up there. And it is insane. It'll be like 120 degrees into that thing. It's just crazy. But I hope you come to visit Paris and you could book a tour with me, and we will walk all around the outside of the Louvre, and I'll tell you all of these great details. And I will also um coming up shortly, I'll do a video taking you, and I want to do it early, early in the morning so I could get really close to these things without a lot of people there. But we'll explore the rest of this project over the next few months and everything else that was created because it is really fascinating. But until then, thank you so much for joining me, and I hope to talk to you soon.