The largest stage of construction on the Louvre, June 1987. The Cour Napoléon, which had been used as a parking lot beforehand, was completely torn up to make room for a massive underground structure & the glass pyramid entrance. When construction ended the Louvre became the largest museum on Earth
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The reconstruction of the Louvre was one of the largest and most controversial building projects in modern European history. From its inception organizations sprung up to protest the remaking of the Louvre & attack those involved, especially President Mitterrand who critics dubbed ‘Mitterramses’ and ‘Tontonkhamen’ (a play on the French word for uncle ‘tonton’) for his support of the pyramid. If you want to learn more about the fascinating and often ridiculous story behind the remaking of the world’s largest museum listen to the episode by The French History Podcast https://www.thefrenchhistorypodcast.com/chapter-12-le-grand-louvre/