Selldorf Architects and Studios Architecture set to add subterranean entrances to Musée du Louvre
New York studio Selldorf Architects and Paris-based Studios Architecture have won the competition to design the biggest renovation to the Musée du Louvre for 35 years.
Announced as the winner by the French minister of culture, Catherine Pégard, the studios are set to create a pair of new entrances for the historic museum, as well as a dedicated exhibition space for the Mona Lisa painting.
Selldorf Architects and Studios Architecture's proposal was selected from a shortlist of five submissions, which included London studio AL_A with Paris design agency NC Nathalie Crinière, Japanese studio Sou Fujimoto Architects, US architecture studio Diller Scofidio + Renfro with French firm Architecturestudio and Japanese studio SANAA with French studio Dubuisson Architecture.
"Following the jury's deliberations, which commended the high quality of the proposals submitted by the candidates, the project submitted by Studios Architecture Paris and Selldorf Architects was chosen for the quality of its architectural proposal and its integration into the heritage, urban, and landscape context," said the Musée du Louvre.
"The project fully incorporates the challenges of visitor experience, clear pathways, simplicity, and greenery, all while taking relevant security considerations into account."
Named the Louvre New Renaissance, the renovation will be the largest project undertaken at the museum since architect IM Pei added the landmark glass and steel pyramid in the museum's courtyard in 1989.
It will see the eastern block of the world's most visited museum – known as the Colonnade – overhauled, along with the moat alongside it.
The studio's proposal will add a pair of subterranean entrances to the museum from within the moat, which will be accessed by a pair of symmetrical ramps.
Each ramp will extend above the moat before being recessed into the walls, with cafes and bookshops located underneath. The moat itself will be turned into a garden designed by BASE Landscape Architecture.
Within the museum, along with a dedicated exhibition space for the Mona Lisa, the gallery spaces will be renovated to modern standards and in light of the much-publicised break-in at the museum last year.
The renovation project has met resistance from some staff at Musée du Louvre, who last year went on strike demanding that plans be scrapped in favour of carrying out building maintenance.
The museum announced that the staff will now be consulted on the plans.
"In the coming months, a period of consultation will begin in close dialogue between the Louvre and the selected team, aimed at refining the chosen project with all stakeholders," it said.
"This consultation will be conducted first with those who bring the Louvre to life on a daily basis, its staff, in conjunction with all the stakeholders in this collective project – city of Paris, State services in charge of heritage, security, etc – and then with the public."
Led by Annabelle Selldorf, Selldorf Architects has renovated numerous museums around the world. Last year, it completed the renovations of two of the world's best-known cultural institutions, the National Gallery's Sainsbury Wing in London and The Frick Collection in New York.
The images are courtesy of Musée du Louvre.
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