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The Louvre Pyramid is a large glass and metal pyramid, surrounded by three smaller pyramids, in the main courtyard (Cour Napoleon) of the Louvre Palace (Palais du Louvre) in Paris. The large pyramid serves as the main entrance to the Louvre Museum. Completed in 1993 it has become a landmark of the city of Paris.

Commissioned by then President of France François Mitterrand in 1984, it was designed by the architect I. M. Pei, who is responsible for the design of the John Hancock Building in Poston among others.

The structure, which was constructed entirely with glass segments, reaches a height of 20.6 meters (about 70 feet); its square base has sides of 35 meters (115 ft). It consists of 603 rhombus-shaped and 70 triangular glass segments.^[2]

The pyramid and the underground lobby beneath it were created because of a series of problems with the Louvre’s original main entrance, which could no longer handle an enormous number of visitors on an everyday basis. Visitors entering through the pyramid descend into the spacious lobby then re-ascend into the main Louvre buildings.

References: http://paulhsu0205.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!8354330D30600AFD!648.entry

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