Archinect - News

The Louvre's attendance in 2021 dropped to 1986 levels

2022-01-07T16:55:00-05:00

The Musée du Louvre welcomed only 2.8 million visitors last year, less than 30% of its pre-Covid record levels when it received around ten million. The Louvre has not seen such low figures since 1986, before the opening of the glass pyramid and the Grand Louvre project which steadily boosted attendance over the past four decades.

This level of attendance is nearly the same as the previous year, however French museums were closed for one month less in 2021 than in 2020. According to an official source at the culture ministry, general attendance at French museums dropped by 60-70% for the second year compared to pre-covid levels. The current omicron surge stifles hope for a comeback in museum attendance in 2022.

This comes as museums across Europe, specifically those in Denmark, the Netherlands, and London, have closed due to new covid lockdown measures in response to omicron.

Previously on Archinect: Museums are closing across Europe as Omicron variant rapidly spreads

Will a Louvre x Airbnb partnership be "disastrous" for the tourist-choked museum?

2019-09-20T12:21:00-04:00

In May of this year Airbnb conducted a competition allowing two winners the ability to spend a night at the iconic Louvre Museum in Paris. This "night at the museum" created quite a bit of buzz, however, not everyone was pleased with the museum's new attention and partnership with the billion dollar homestay company.

According to some, Paris is already a place flooded with tourists and visitors. Previously we've reported on the Louvre's overwhelming number of tourists and museum visits and how visitor attendance is affecting the museum staff and community. Recently, the Louvre stated they are teaming with Airbnb by allowing visitors to book after-hours guided tours of the museum when the site is otherwise closed. According to a news release from The Art Newspaper visitors "can be booked via Airbnb whose 'hosts' will show visitors key works (prices start at €30)."

One individual who is irked and disappointed by the Louvre's recent decision is Paris' city deputy mayor of housing, Ian...

The Mona Lisa: Mysterious, on the move, and very popular

2019-08-13T10:03:00-04:00

Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting has been moved to a new room in the Louvre while its usual home is renovated. That’s causing some commotion for visitors.

This year, as the Salle des États, where the Mona Lisa painting has hung since 2005, is being renovated, a debate over how to address the growing number of tourists visiting the famous painting has come to a fore in Paris.

The exhibition hall, according to The New York Times, is being renovated in advance of a new exhibition celebrating the 500th anniversary of Da Vinci’s death that is set to debut in October.

As visitor attendance at the Louvre skyrockets, museum staff express they've had enough

2019-05-31T13:55:00-04:00

The Louvre in Paris turned away thousands of tourists waiting in line to enter the museum yesterday after security staff staged a walkout. The employees are on strike to protest the museum’s handling of its exploding attendance, which exceeded 10 million people last year. This growth has resulted in “unprecedented deterioration in visiting conditions, and obviously working conditions,” according to the guards’ union.

The beloved Louvre in Paris is one of the most visited museums in the world. With its iconic pyramid expansion designed by the late I.M. Pei it has become a must-see site. Just last year, the museum attracted 10.2 million visitors, a record-breaking attendance in the museum's history. Other than its breathtaking architectural design and fantastic art collection, the Louvre's publicity has skyrocketed thanks to various celebs who have used the museum as a backdrop for personal use.

However, with the increase in visitor numbers, foreign tourists have outnumbered local Parisian visitors making the number of museum-goers almost too much to handle. Museum staff have found difficulty in managing the crowds and have demanded an increase in visitor services staff as well as the adoption of a new cap on the number of visitors allowed to enter the museum at one time. Recently, the museum has initiated new programs to address these issues. However, Louvre employees do not see these measures so...

Here's your chance to win a sleepover inside the Louvre's glass pyramid

2019-04-03T16:06:00-04:00

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the I.M. Pei-designed Musée du Louvre Pyramid, Airbnb has partnered with the museum to offer the exclusive opportunity of a night inside the iconic glass structure.

Courtesy of Airbnb

According to contest's website, the night begins with a VIP after hours tour of the museum, followed by a Renaissance-inspired apéritif with the Mona Lisa and dinner with the Venus of Milo (because, of course), before an intimate acoustic concert in Napoleon III’s lavish apartments gets the lucky winner sleepy enough for bedtime under the stars of Paris inside the glass Pyramid.

Courtesy of Airbnb

The vacation rental site has offered the chance to win a night in extraordinary spaces before, such as the JDS-designed Holmenkollen Ski Jump in Oslo, BIG's LEGO House in Denmark, artsy artsy Amsterdam "tents", a floating house on the River Thames, Australian IKEA showrooms, or the spacious Great Wall of China (which was eventually canceled due to public outcry).

Courtesy of...

For its 30th birthday, Artist JR creates a large-scale optical illusion at the Louvre Pyramid

2019-04-01T19:05:00-04:00

When built in 1989 by Chinese-American architect I.M. Pei, the glass pyramid was derided as a sacrilegious addition to the historic Louvre Museum. But three decades later, the once-reviled Louvre Pyramid has become a beloved Paris landmark and highly-visited tourist attraction.

This weekend, the iconic project celebrated its 30th anniversary. For the festivities, the Paris museum enlisted the French street artist JR who, three years ago, covered the pyramid in a giant trompe l’oeil that made it disappear behind a giant black-and-white photo.

A continuation on this prior piece, his latest work saw the help of 400 volunteers, who worked for four days to surround the glass pyramid with 2,000 strips of paper. His latest stunt installation, the collage created the optical illusion that the pyramid was rising from a rock quarry.

Shortly after its announcement, it was destroyed underfoot as visitors left the paper collage in shreds. On the project's planned destruction, JR said "the imag...

Jean Nouvel's Louvre Abu Dhabi opens

2017-11-07T15:00:00-05:00

The Louvre Abu Dhabi has finally opened its doors a decade after the agreement between the French and Emirati governments was signed to establish the mega-museum on Saadiyat Island. [...] An underwhelming entrance via a nondescript car park might be improved in years to come by an adjoining garden. “It should appear in a few years,” Nouvel said, adding that this was dependent on funding.

The video above shows the installation of Giuseppe Penone’s sculpture ‘Leaves of Light’ and the beautiful movement of the spots of light coming through the structure's massive dome.

Also watch Jean Nouvel describe his design for the "first universal museum in the Arab world" in a brief video interview here.

Too risqué for the Louvre, the Domestikator will be shown at Pompidou

2017-10-13T13:36:00-04:00

After the Louvre demurred, an art installation many consider to be sexually explicit will instead be displayed outside the Pompidou Center in Paris.

The Louvre might not want it, but the Pompidou will take it!

The 40-foot-tall, semi-building, semi-sculpture, "Domestikator," by the Dutch art and design collective Atelier Van Lieshout, was intended to be shown in the Tuileries Gardens, next to the Louvre. But the Museum cancelled the project; the Louvre's president and director, Jean-Luc Martinez explained: “Online commentaries point out this work has a brutal aspect. It risks being misunderstood by visitors to the gardens.”

Joep van Lieshout, Atelier Van Lieshout’s founder, replied, “The piece itself is not really very explicit. It’s a very abstracted shape. There are no genitals; it’s pretty innocent.”

While Louvre faced censorship accusations, the "Domestikator" will find asylum at the Centre Pompidou. Parisians and tourists will be able to see the work from October 18 to 22; we hope they don't misunderstand it.

Louvre pulls "sexually explicit" architectural sculpture; faces censorship accusations

2017-10-03T18:15:00-04:00

Officials at the Louvre have been accused of censorship after withdrawing a work from its Tuileries Gardens in Paris for being sexually explicit. The work by the Dutch art and design collective Atelier Van Lieshout, entitled the Domestikator, was due to go on show later this month as part of the Hors les Murs public art programme organised by representatives of the Fiac contemporary art fair (19-22 October).

The Art Newspaper explains: "[...] the erotic nature of the large-scale architectural structure, the outline of which depicts a couple having sex, prompted the Louvre’s decision to bar the work from the gardens which are overseen by the museum."

Louvre director Jean-Luc Martinez tried to defend the decision by pointing to online feedback the installation had received.

AIA honors I.M. Pei's Grand Louvre with 2017 Twenty-Five Year Award

2016-12-15T20:54:00-05:00

When I.M. Pei's Grand Louvre in Paris was first completed in 1989, it was denounced as a modernist insult to its historic location, the 800-year-old Grand Palais. But 27 years later, the 71-foot-tall glass pyramid has become as treasured as the artwork it houses. In an announcement today, the AIA announced the Grand Louvre - Phase I project as the 2017 Twenty-Five Year Award recipient.

The Twenty-Five Year Award distinguishes a building that has gracefully stood the test of time over the last 25-35 years. Chaired by LMN Architects' Mark Reddington, the 2017 jury selected the project that best “demonstrate[s] excellence in function, in the distinguished execution of its original program, and in the creative aspects of its statement by today’s standards.” The nine-person jury also included Adrian Smith, Timothy J. Johnson of NBBJ, and William Q. Sabatini.

The Grand Louvre was executed in two phases over the course of a decade. In Phase I, Pei built the pyramid and reorganized the museum...

Louvre relocates artwork as the Seine floods

2016-06-02T13:30:00-04:00

As heavy rainfall floods Paris, the Louvre isn’t taking chances with its priceless art collection and will close on Friday to prevent water damage. The museum will move pieces from its underground stores to higher floors to keep them safe, according to a Thursday statement. The Louvre is right next to the Seine river, which has risen 16 ft. above its normal levels due to rain over the past few weeks, AFP reports.

Abnormally heavy rains have caused flooding in northeastern France as well as parts of Germany this week. In Paris, the Seine has risen 16 feet – the highest since 1960 but still short of the standing record of 26 feet from 1910.

The rains and flooding have resulted in nine deaths in Germany, disrupted the French Open, and provoked two of Paris' major, riparian museums – the Louvre and the Musée d'Orsay – to plan for the worst.

In related news:

Artist JR covers the I.M. Pei's Pyramid in giant image of the Louvre

2016-05-24T13:28:00-04:00

Whether it be the Middle East, the favelas of Rio, slums of Kenya, New York, Le Havre or Shanghai, JR’s works leave no one indifferent, because they return our gaze and cut to the very heart of our innermost selves. [...] Invited by the “biggest museum in the world”—which also generates the most selfies—JR has set his sights on one of the Louvre’s symbols, the Pyramid, which he intends to transform with a surprising anamorphic image.

The artist JR, best known for his series of giant portraits wheat-pasted in cities around the world, has been commissioned to create a piece for the Louvre. Documenting the progress on his Instagram account, JR has been covering I.M. Pei's iconic glass Pyramid with an anamorphic image of the edifice behind it: the Sully Wing of the Louvre.

"I will never forget this day. Today I'm going to make the Louvre Pyramid disappear," JR told the Humans of Paris Facebook account. "I want to make the Louvre Pyramid disappear because I want people to see themselves alone, just their head and the Louvre.

"I find it funny seeing people taking selfies all day in front of the pyramid but always with their back to the Louvre," he continues. "It says a lot about our society where people turn their back on things and focus on themselves."

For related coverage, check out these links:

The Louvre to Undergo Reorganization

2014-12-15T18:01:00-05:00

A two-year, 53.5 million euro makeover, or nearly $67 million, is underway in the vast reception area below I. M. Pei’s glass pyramid, where long lines of waiting visitors stream into a chaotic, open space that [the museum president] [Jean-Luc] Martinez likens to a noisy airport and that leaves many people disoriented and lost. He is also revamping the museum’s basic storytelling tools: almost 40,000 banners, wall text, signs and symbols...

Designers chosen for Louvre’s €60m storage outpost

2014-11-10T15:04:00-05:00

Five architectural firms are on the shortlist to design the Louvre’s new storage facility, planned to open near the museum’s satellite in Lens, northern France. Corinne Vezzoni & Assoc and Zig Zag architecture, both from France, Neutelings Riedijk Architecten from the Netherlands, Roger Stirk Harbour + Partners from the UK and Estudio Arquitectura Baeza from Spain were chosen from 173 applicants.

Louvre director plans its grand revamp

2014-09-04T14:03:00-04:00

Jean-Luc Martinez, who was promoted to the directorship of the Musée du Louvre last year, is proposing the most ambitious renovation of the Paris museum since the Grand Louvre project of the 1980s. [...] Planning the museum’s comprehensive renovation began in June and work is due to start on the main entrance this month. [...] Martinez also plans to devote 1,500 sq. m of space to major temporary exhibitions in the Napoleon Hall, which is beneath the museum’s I.M. Pei-designed entrance pyramid.

A new golden, undulating roof for the Louvre

2012-09-19T12:52:00-04:00

When the plans were first unveiled, the architects said, the roof resembled a “a scarf floating within the space” — a somewhat loaded description, perhaps, considering that last year the French officially banned full veils in public places. The museum’s “luminous veil,” or “flying carpet” as it has also been called, covers some 30,000 square feet of gallery space on the ground and lower floors.

Carol Vogel reviews the New Islamic Galleries at the Louvre which consists of ground- and lower-ground-level interior spaces topped by a golden, undulating roof. The expansion was designed by two architects, Mario Bellini and Rudy Ricciotti, who won the international competition to create the new wing in 2005.