As an American visiting Paris, I am always astounded by how detailed and beautiful all of the buildings are. In Paris, even train stations and McDonald’s are lined with intricate and unique designs!
The Louvre is no exception to this, as it takes your breath away just from its sheer size and architectural beauty. The former palace is now one of the largest museums in the world. Although the Louvre’s architecture is ingenious, it can also negatively impact the viewers’ experiences. In this blog post, I will discuss some of the factors that limit the Louvre’s experience, and also provide some suggestions on how to improve.
The Louvre is an extremely confusing building to navigate. There are several floors, corridors, stairways, and halls that intertwine one another. Although the architectural design is impressive, the complex layout can fatigue and frustrate visitors, detracting from the overall experience. One improvement I would suggest would be to add extra markers that are at eye level, or possibly on the floor. The room number is placed high above and was inconsistent in its placement from room to room. I would add room numbers by each doorway, while also including a smaller number that indicates what room comes next. This would significantly improve navigation in the building and decrease frustration with navigation.
As a side note, there were very few places that you could pick up or view a map. Placing more stations that hold handout maps would greatly improve navigation.
The high ceilings and large windows allow for natural light to flood in, beautifully highlighting artworks. However, this natural light also creates glare and uneven lighting that affect how the painting is viewed. The photo above shows this glare cutting through the painting, making it more difficult to view the painting as a whole. As someone who knows nothing about preserving artwork, it is difficult to offer advice. It is possible that this glare is intentional. However, as someone who lacks knowledge of artwork, I found the uneven lighting and glare to take away from the piece and negatively impact the viewing experience.
Overall, the Louvre was a magical experience like nothing I’ve ever experienced or will experience, in my life. The architecture and design were magnificent and breathtaking. However, this architecture and design sometimes took away from the viewing experience by frustrating visitors with confusing navigation and uneven lighting/glare. I look forward to visiting more museums to compare their navigation/lighting tactics to the Louvre’s.
Revolutionary Cities 