Overcrowded Louvre Launches €270 Million Design Competition

Summary

• The Musée du Louvre in Paris has kicked off an international architectural competition, as a part of its massive five-year renovation plan.
• The winner will helm the design for a new Mona Lisa exhibition space, as well as a new entrance on the building’s eastern facade.
• The announcement comes amidst rising concerns for the institution’s ability to maintain operations, following unannounced staff strike and €10 EUR ticket for non-EU visitors.

After weeks of mounting tensions and a sudden staff strike that left thousands queued outside its gates, the Musée du Louvre has launched an international architectural competition ahead of its much-needed restoration.

The Parisian powerhouse opened the competition on June 27 with aims to expand its storied space and ease its visitor congestion through a newly designed entrance and exhibition space for one of its prized centerpieces, the “Mona Lisa.” Five finalists will be decided by a 21-person jury in October, with the overall winner announced early next year.

To prevent massive crowds at the museum’s current access points, a new entrance will be planted on the museum’s eastern facade, though Unlike I.M. Pei’s iconic glass-and-steel pyramid, the museum is seeking proposals that will blend seamlessly with the facade’s 17th-century classical colonnades.

Breathing room for “Mona Lisa” is also on the table. Set beneath the Cour Courée courtyard, da Vinci’s most famed piece will call a new, 33,000-square-foot, subterranean gallery its home. The space will offer require a separate timed-entry access from the main galleries, in an effort to thin constant crowds that overwhelm the painting’s current room.

The initiative follows growing concerns over the Louvre’s aging infrastructure and its ability to manage its nearly 9 million annual visitors. According to an internal letter from director Laurence des Cars, leakd by Le Parisien, much of the building suffers from water leaks and unstable climate conditions, putting the collection at risk.

In January, French President Emmanuel Macron pledged plans for a five-year renovation plan, which he dubbed a “New Renaissance” for the institution. With a projected cost of €400 million EUR ($417 million USD) for the overhaul, Le Monde, who first reported the €10 EUR ticket hike for non-European Union visitors, speculates that the funding for the expansion will be supplemented by the uptick.