PARIS — In a feat of optical illusion, French street artist JR completed a collage Friday that plunges the Louvre’s pyramid into a vast chasm to mark the famed glass structure’s 30-year anniversary. The Louvre defended the choice by saying an aerial view of the work would be projected to the public by two plasma screens in the courtyard. The Louvre’s pyramid, designed by Chinese-American architect I. M. Pei and inaugurated on March 29, 1989, has often been the target of complaints or controversy. Chinese engineer Yuan Chen, 30, brushed off criticism that a China-born architect shouldn’t have designed Paris’ second most recognizable peak. “If it’s so popular after 30 years, then he must have got something right.”——Thomas Adamson can be followed at http://www.twitter.com/ThomasAdamson–K

Source: National Post March 29, 2019 19:03 UTC