I.M. Pei to Renovate His Louvre Addition

Architect I.M. Pei has confirmed that he is developing a solution to manage overcrowding in the Louvre’s entrance. Pei and museum officials agreed to move forward in mid-September.
Pei’s former firm, Pei Cobb Freed, completed the 70-foot-tall Pyramide du Louvre and 665,000-square-foot underground entry and concourse in 1989. Pei says attendance at the Louvre has increased almost 70 percent since the popular project was completed, and now hosts 7.5 million visitors each year. Consequently, the public space has become crowded and loud, and has lost much of the peaceful aura the architect originally intended. “It’s a real concern for me,” says Pei, who had anticipated a less dramatic jump in attendance after his “Grand Louvre” project was completed. “If we don’t do it, the place is going to look like an airport.”
Pei does not yet know the specific measures his team will carry out, but he says that a resolution should be sympathetic to the surrounding architecture. He adds that it should also allow visitors to access the collections despite construction.