In response to a public debate about rebuilding the historic wing of the Louvre in Paris, Carl Fredrik Svenstedt Architecte shared with us their initiative to extend the Louvre. Destroyed by the French Republic at the end of the 19th century as a symbol of royal and imperial power, this proposal aims to build a more democratic building better suited to the site and our times. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The recent French debate surrounding the potential reconstruction of the Tuileries Palace demonstrates that the Louvre is still a major symbolic and political issue. The historical Tuileries were burned down by the Commune in 1871 and dismantled by the Republic many years later as the symbol of monarchical and imperial power. The project for the extension of the Louvre positions itself in a historical continuum, with a firm conviction that it should mark the aspirations of our time. The spatial representation of democracy is renewed with each inflexion of history.
