Overview
- The international team, announced Monday by the culture ministry, will design a new eastern entrance and a standalone Mona Lisa gallery that requires a separate ticket.
- The project moves into planning and consultations with the museum, heritage and security bodies, and Paris officials, with work expected to begin around 2028.
- Estimated costs remain unsettled, with Macron’s aides citing €700–800 million while the Court of Auditors projects about €1.15 billion.
- Leaders frame the overhaul as a fix for crowding and fragile systems exposed by a 2025 jewel theft, staff strikes, leaks, and a ticket scam at the museum.
- A jury praised the winning scheme for respecting the site and improving circulation, including new subterranean entries by the eastern façade and landscape work by BASE.