The Louvre Museum Pyramid was constructed as part of the Grand Louvre project, an ambitious decade-long project motivated by the lack of space for visitors and the collection inside the centuries-old structure. Initiated in 1981 by the then French President Francois Mitterrand, the glass pyramid was envisioned as the central feature of the project. I.M. Pei, a Chinese American architect, was entrusted with the design of the structure and presented the design to the world in early 1984.The pyramid structure, which replicates the massive proportions of the Great Pyramids of Giza, was engineered by Nicolet Chartrand Knoll Ltd of Montreal and Rice Francis Ritchie of Paris. Other additions, like the museum’s underground entrance, auditorium, restaurants, exhibition rooms, bookstore, warehouses, and the base of the central pyramid were created by the French VINCI.