The Louvre Pyramid is the glass-and-metal entrance structure in the museum’s Cour Napoléon courtyard, designed by Chinese-American architect I.M. Pei and inaugurated by President François Mitterrand on March 4, 1989. Standing 21.6 meters tall with a 34-meter square base, it is built from 603 rhombus-shaped and 70 triangular glass panes set at a 51.52-degree angle echoing ancient Egyptian pyramids.
Despite fierce public debate when it was proposed — critics called the modernist design out of step with the Louvre’s classical facades — the pyramid is now one of the most photographed structures in Paris and is credited with nearly tripling the museum’s annual visitor numbers after opening. It sits above the underground lobby that now serves as the main entrance to the Louvre, flanked by three smaller pyramids that double as skylights.
The pyramid itself is viewable and photographable at any hour from the courtyard, which is open to the public around the clock, while entry into the museum below follows the Louvre’s own opening hours.