A Magic Carpet Rises Over the Louvre's New Islamic Arts Gallery
Founded in 2003 (compare to the museum's 1793 opening date), Islamic Arts is the Louvre's newest department, boasting a collection of 18,000 objects from the 7th to the 19th century, ranging in provenance from Spain to India.
The department is set to open this summer, but its innovative, jewel-like roof (seen above) has just been completed in the museum's Visconti Courtyard. The glass-and-metal structure is the most dramatic change to the Louvre's architecture since I.M. Pei's 1989 pyramid and 1993 inverted pyramid above the Carrousel du Louvre mall in front of the museum.
The undulating roof was designed by architects Rudy Ricciotti and Mario Bellini, who hail from France and Italy, respectively. Ricciotti poetically describes the 150-ton structure as a "golden cloud" and Bellini as a "dragonfly's wing." The diaphanous descriptions are appropriate for the roof's design — as there was no satisfactory way to anchor it to the older, more traditional surrounding buildings, the roof is supported only by eight slim pillars anchored to the ground. The roof's transparent composition allows light to pass through, revealing the museum's classical architecture just beyond. When completed, the Islamic Arts gallery will stretch over 30,000 square feet, including two additional underground levels.
Le Figaro reports that the museum still needs to raise €10 million ($13 million) of the project's €98.5 million ($128 million) pricetag.
Picture: © M. Bellini / R. Ricciotti / musée du Louvre
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