The Most Important Landmarks Of Paris: The Louvre Pyramid And The Eiffel Tower

Some of the most important landmarks we respect and love today were not always seen that way. The culture from when they were unveiled didn’t understand and backlashed against it. The Louvre was one of those landmarks. It created history the day it was unveiled and although it was once negatively seen we now look back and appreciate what happened that day. The Louvre Pyramid built by I.M Pei should continue to be preserved and visited because it is an important piece of architecture in Paris and holds a history that helped art evolve.

The Louvre pyramid was unveiled on March 29, 1989. The structure is made of metal poles and 673 glass panes. The structure reaches a height of 72 feet and its base is 116 feet with a surface area of 11,000 square feet. An underground lobby was created because the pyramid could not withstand the enormous number of visitors that came on a daily basis. I.M Pei didn’t accept the mission or tell his colleagues he was personally chosen until after carefully considering and studying the louvre. He took many trips there to evaluate and come up with many ideas. The formation acted as a lobby entrance with a warm welcoming reception area.

Francois Mitterand, a socialist just won president and wanted to leave his mark on Paris. He chose to completely renovate, update, and add to the Louvre. Mitterand personally chose I.M Pei to create this pyramid for the louvre, he put lots of investments into the arts, he preferred Pei’s Chinese-American architecture which the public disagreed with, this created tension about the artwork before it was even released.

When the pyramid was first introduced it almost immediately got backlash being called a “joke” or an “eyesore”. Pei even stated in a PBS documentary “When I first showed the idea to the public, I would say 90 percent were against it” “The first year and a half was really hell. I couldn’t walk the streets of Paris without people looking at me as if to say: ‘There you go again. What are you doing here? What are you doing to our great Louvre?’“ The modernist style it represented went against the classic french renaissance style the public was used to and comfortable with. It was nothing they had ever seen before and they weren’t ready for that change. Typical work from then included asymmetrical rectangular buildings that almost the whole city was covered in, so when Pei brought this new style it took the general public by surprise and they didn’t understand. It was seen as a disfigured bad representation of the Louvre and it was out of place with the rest of the architecture. Mitterand brought a new style of contemporary art and it brought horror to the public although it is seen as such high regard now.

Despite being seen as such a horrific landmark when it was first revealed, it is now a piece of work seen in such high respect and has more visitors than the Eiffel Tower. As a matter of fact, President Emmanuel Macron had his inauguration in front of the Louvre. It sent a message of Macron embracing the culture and defying other political views the same way Mitterand did.

Typical work did include expression but still followed rules. It was creativity with order and Pei’s vision didn’t follow that. This structure was very unusual for its time. Its design contained a whole different culture of Pei’s Chinese-American vision. At the time spires and rectangular buildings were the norms for luxurious Paris. When I.M Pei created a design unlike the rest of the classic work it stuck out like a sore thumb. Paris individuals enjoyed the consistency of their high-class luxury work and weren’t open to any other cultures coming in to change that.

Another example of unappreciated art in Paris is the Eiffel tower. The Eiffel tower created by the Eiffel company and revealed on March 31, 1889. At the time the public did not approve of the building and even protested against it. Parisians formed a protest group called “Protests by artists against the tower of Mr.Eiffel” They wrote the following statement that got over 40 signatures of well-known artists at the time; “We, defenders of “the beauty of Paris that was until now intact” are protesting “in the name of the underestimated taste of the French, in the name of French art and history under threat, against the erection in the very heart of our capital, of the useless and monstrous Eiffel Tower, which popular ill feeling, so often an arbiter of good sense and justice, has already christened the Tower of Babel. Will the city of Paris continue to associate itself with the baroque and mercantile fancies of a builder of machines thereby making itself irreparably ugly and bringing dishonor to itself? Because the Eiffel Tower that even the commercial Americans didn’t want, will without a doubt dishonor Paris.” Then began to mock the tower calling it things such as ‘a gigantic black factory chimney,” Just like the Louvre pyramid, although it once was a hated terror of work, it has now become one of the most well known and respected pieces of architecture.

Personally, I believe that this structure was a major part of history and leaves a great legacy. It was very unique for the time period and I believe it should’ve been appreciated and respected other than bashed and hated. For the time period, it was first created in, I believe Pei was very innovative and brave to take on that task. He knew going in that people would react negatively and still chose to do his own work instead of following along with the traditional styles. I think the same for Mitterand. He already got backlashed for coming up with the idea of renovating and creating new things to the Louvre. Once again, instead of listening to the public tear his ideas down he kept stuck with it and pursued his vision. I respect Mitterand and Pei for being determined and thinking outside the box to create something that will help shape art for the next millennial.

The Louvre Pyramid is not only a wonderful piece of art that helped shape new styles for the contemporary period in France but also an important landmark that shaped history and changed Paris’ culture. It made the community change their views on not only the artwork but outside culture coming in and influencing people’s ideas and thoughts. It inspired future artists and allowed them to create new works of their own ideas instead of what the public would want. Mitterand and Pei both determined enough to defy the publics’ approval and design something they enjoyed and they wanted to leave for Paris.