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Witness History: The battle of the Louvre pyramid

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09/12/2019 GMT

The battle of the Louvre pyramid

BBC World Service - Witness History, The battle of the Louvre pyramid

How Paris was eventually won round to the Louvre museum's great glass pyramid

The Louvre museum's great glass pyramid caused a storm of controversy when it was first proposed in the mid 1980s. But today it is one of Paris' most famous and loved landmarks.

In 1983 French president Francois Mitterand commissioned a major renovation of Paris' most famous art museum, the Louvre. But the resulting great glass pyramid, designed by American architect IM Pei, caused a storm of controversy, dividing Parisian public opinion as the Eiffel Tower had done a century earlier. Louise Hidalgo talks to IM Pei's colleague and friend, Yann Weymouth, who worked with him on what is now recognised as one of the great landmarks of the city.

Picture: the Louvre pyramid shortly after its opening in 1989 (Credit: Jarry/Tripelong/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

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