The world-famous Forbidden City in Beijing and the Louvre in Paris have both been converted from palaces into museums that are housed within the former buildings and that are based on the royal collections. In the history of museums, they are both outstanding examples.
  In 1190 the Louvre was first constructed as a fortress for the palace of Philippe Auguste II. During the reign of Charles V (r. 1364-1380) it was transformed into a chateau. In the mid sixteenth century, Francois I demolished it and replaced it with Renaissance style buildings. In the days of Louise XIV (r. 1639-1715) who was fascinated by architecture, the Louvre was expanded into a square shaped architectural compound, the east facade of which took on a French Baroque style. After the French revolution began in 1792, parts of the Louvre were gradually transformed into a public museum, which was 133 years earlier than the conversion of the Forbidden City into the Palace Museum. Napoleon I, after seizing power, preserved the museum function of the Louvre. In addition, he ordered the expansion of the two wings, a project that was completed by Napoleon III. Only then, after six centuries of transformation, was the Louvre finally completed.
  The Louvre and its grounds cover an area of 240,000 square meters, which is about one-third of the area of the Forbidden City. The Louvre's architectural footprint of 48,000 square meters is a quarter of that of the Forbidden City. In modern architectural terms, the Louvre is a large garden with high capacity buildings and low architectural density, while the Forbidden City is more like a courtyard with low capacity buildings of high density. The garden and courtyard concepts embody the different architectural traditions of west and east.
  As regards the overall layout, the Louvre can be said to resemble the Outer Court of the Forbidden City. Its square yard can be compared to the Forbidden City's plaza that is enclosed by the Gate of Supreme Harmony (Taihe men) and the Hall of Supreme Harmony (Taihe dian), albeit the Louvre is of larger scale with surrounding buildings of greater height. The design of the enclosure in the Forbidden City is basically a traditional Chinese courtyard. The front building of the Louvre with two wings extending out is similar in plan to the Meridian Gate (Wu men), the principal gate of the Forbidden City that also has extensions on either side of the main structure like arms stretching out to form a square.
  Both of these palatial architecture complexes integrate styles that represented local culture and historical trends. The Louvre contains examples of Renaissance, Baroque, and indigenous French architecture that clearly express the evolving styles in Western architecture. By contrast, the buildings in the Forbidden City are in the style of the last two dynasties (namely the Ming and the Qing) when Chinese traditional architectural style was stable and for symbolic and ritual reasons little was changed. But the uniform architectural style of the Forbidden City in no way undermines the richness of its spatial use. The design of large courtyards encompassing smaller ones facilitates a relaxed stroll through the Forbidden City. While the Louvre, with its U-shaped building structure, was more likely to cause visitors to encounter a cul-de-sac that forced them to double-back. Fortunately, I. M. Pei's glass pyramid covering the underground lobby that connects the two wings has solved this problem.
  Today, visitors to the Palace Museum and the Louvre can have a glimpse of the elegant palace buildings of emperors and can appreciate the spectacular art collections. The smooth integration of museum functions with palace buildings is an on-going historical responsibility for both of these palace-based institutions.