Detail View: Archivision Base to Module 9: Pei's Pyramids
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Preferred Title:
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Pei's Pyramids
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Alternate Title:
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Pyramide du Louvre
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Image View:
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Spiral stair, depicting general treatment
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Creator:
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I. M. Pei (American architect, born 1917)
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Location:
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site: Musée du Louvre (Paris, Île-de-France, France)
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Location Note:
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Cour Napoléon
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Date:
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1989 (creation)
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Cultural Context:
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French
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Style Period:
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Modernist, Modern
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Work Type 1:
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pyramidal roof
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Work Type 2:
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lobby
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Classification:
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architecture
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Material:
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glass; steel rods and cable; granite
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Technique:
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construction (assembling)
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Relation Work:
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part of Musée du Louvre
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Subjects:
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interiorPyramids; stairs; interior; stair as feature; stair: circular
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Description:
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Of all the Grands Projets in Paris, none created such a stir as the Pei Pyramids in the courtyard of the famous Louvre Museum. Spectacular in concept and form, they provide a startling reminder of the audacious ability of modern architects to invigorate and re-circulate traditional architectural forms...The main Pyramid is basically a complex inter-linked steel structure sheathed in reflective glass. In fact it is an entrance doorway providing a long-overdue entrance portico to the main galleries of the Louvre. As one descends into the interior entrance foyer, the dramatic nature of the intervention becomes apparent. The main Pyramid, which certainly disturbs the balance of the old Louvre courtyard, is countered by two smaller pyramids, which provide further light and ventilation to the subterranean spaces. p. 407 (Source: Sharp, Dennis; Twentieth century architecture : a visual history, London: Lund Humphries, 1991 (0853315981))
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Collection:
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Archivision Base Collection
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Identifier:
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1A1-PI-PL-E5
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Rights:
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© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.
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