the Louvre reveals the winners of its redesign competition
Almost seven months later Francesca The Ministry of Culture has revealed the five finalist teams competing transform at the Louvre Museum, the institution officially selected its winning proposal. As part of the ambitious Louvre – Nouvelle Renaissance Initiative (find previous designboom coverage here), STUDIOS Architecture and Selldorf Architects have been named laureates of the international Grande Colonnade competition, tasked with redesigning the museum’s eastern entrance and visitor experience nearly forty years after Ieoh Ming Pei’s iconic pyramid transformed the Louvre.
Announced by France’s Culture Minister Catherine Pégard, the winning team was selected from a shortlist that also included proposals from Diller Scofidio + Renfro, SANAA, I’m Fujimotoand Amanda Levete Architects (AL_A). The jury praised the proposal for the quality of its architectural vision and “Sensitive integration of cities, cultural heritage and landscape”, citing traffic clarity, limited intervention, vegetation strategy and attention to visitor comfort and safety.
redefining the world’s most visited museum | image courtesy of the Louvre Museum
reconnection of the Louvre with Paris
The proposal focuses on re-opening the historic eastern facade of the Louvre through the Grande Colonnade, restoring its relationship with the city, while creating new public entrances and traffic routes designed to ease congestion at the pyramid. Built around the of the museum on the historic East-West axis, the plan introduces a sequence of landscaped public spaces extending from Saint-Germain-l’Auxerrois to the Colonnade and the Cour Carrée beyond. A large belvedere overlooking the Louvre facade and newly planted moats creates a contemplative public platform, while two symmetrical ramps gradually descend to the docks below.
Partially sheltered within the stone retaining walls, these paths lead visitors to two new underground museum entrances located on the Seine and Rue de Rivoli sides of the palace. Embedded below the ramps, the architects introduce new dining, bookshop and retail spaces accessible from the moat level, balancing the planted areas with mineral surfaces to improve thermal comfort and create shaded public environments. The underground extension also connects visitors to new exhibition spaces and an exclusive viewing route for the Mona Lisa, intended to redistribute the overwhelming concentration of visitors currently focused on the Denon Wing.
the announced shortlist marks a milestone in the transformation of the Louvre | image courtesy of the Louvre Museum
Nouvelle Renaissance redefines the museum visitor experience
Announced by Emmanuel Macron in January 2025, the Louvre – Nouvelle Renaissance represents a huge scientific, cultural, architectural and environmental undertaking. The project envisages renewing the museum’s infrastructure and creating new spaces and access points that will redefine the way visitors experience the Louvre.
The first element, entitled Louvre – Grande Colonnade, focuses on creating new public entrances through the eastern part of the palace, restoring the original intention behind Louis XIV’s monumental facade.
These new access points will ease congestion at IM Pei’s glass pyramid and improve circulation throughout the museum, while offering visitors a more comfortable and inclusive welcome. Beneath the Cour Carrée and surrounding gardens, a new underground extension will introduce an additional museum wing, including a dedicated gallery for the Mona Lisa. This so-called Parcours Joconde aims to reposition Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece and redistribute the intense flow of visitors currently converging on the Denon wing.
A new large exhibition space will also be built, allowing the Louvre to host larger and more varied temporary exhibitions and strengthening its role as a modern cultural venue. The broader aim is to reconnect the museum with the urban landscape that surrounds it, from the moats of the Grande Colonnade to the facades overlooking the Place du Louvre.
The Nouvelle Renaissance represents a huge undertaking | image courtesy of the Louvre Museum
preserving cultural heritage by building for the future
The second component, Louvre Demain, introduces a long-term master plan to renovate the museum’s infrastructure and technical systems, ensuring that the monumental space meets 21st century standards of sustainability and accessibility. The architectural interventions will be carried out under the supervision of François Chatillon, Architect of Historical Monuments.
Through the Louvre – Nouvelle Renaissance, the museum seeks to balance historic grandeur with contemporary needs, extending the legacy of Pei’s Grand Louvre project of the 1980s and 1990s, which transformed the Cour Napoléon and Richelieu wing but left the eastern facade largely untouched. The initiative intends to complete this vision by reuniting the classical architecture of the palace with the city that surrounds it.
redefining the way visitors experience the Louvre | image © Franck Bohbot
a new large exhibition hall will also be built | image © Franck Bohbot
Garden Court, The Frick Collection, New York, led by Selldorf Architects | image © Joseph Coscia Jr.
project information:
name: Louvre – New Renaissance
location: Louvre Museum | @museelouvreParis, France
architect: STUDIOS Architecture | @studiosarchitecture with Selldorf Architects
