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Louvre Adding LED Lights to Pyramid, In a Lazily French Way

by Amar Toor on July 2, 2010 at 08:20 AM

louvre pyramidDespite the twin facts that most everything closes at 7 p.m. and no one who lives there is ever, ever happy, Paris, for some reason, is still known as the 'City of Lights.' [Ed. Note: We feel like we have to say this every time Amar tackles Paris. He lives there. He is grumpy.] Yet, when all the bars close at midnight, and everyone goes home to the warm bed of someone other than their wife, one hideous contraption continues to radiate, long into the night: the pyramid at the Louvre. As this faithful writer can attest, the pyramid is one of the few bright spots in a late-night walk otherwise marked by the smell of urine, the sound of singing Frenchmen, and the sounds and smells of Frenchmen who sing while urinating. But, as the financial crisis continues, and as its population stubbornly refuses to "work," France, like every other decaying European nation, has been forced to cut corners -- even at one of its last major tourist attractions.

According to CNET, authorities at the Louvre have decided to replace the pyramid's lighting system with LED bulbs in an effort to both save money and perpetuate the myth that trash-laden Paris is an environmentally conscious city. The LED system, provided by Toshiba, will reportedly be in place by 2012 -- which, in French time, probably means "never." In a statement, Toshiba went all poetic on us, saying, "Light has an emotional power that creates atmosphere and enriches life. Toshiba celebrates this quality as akari, a Japanese concept that conveys the ability of lighting to appeal deeply to our senses and emotions. It will seek to convey this understanding at the Louvre." That, dear readers, is deep.

There is, of course, the very real possibility that the new LED system could change the color of the pyramid at night, which probably goes against architect I.M. Pei's original intent. Yet, ignoring the external world is a practice Paris has been engaging in for centuries. Now, if they could just find a way to get their soccer team to stop acting so French... [From: CNET]

Tags: architecture, design, EnergyEfficient, france, french, green, led, LedLighting, lighting, Louvre, paris, pyramid, top, toshiba

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