soon, however, pei and his team won the support of several key cultural icons, including the conductor pierre boulez and claude pompidou, widow of former french president georges pompidou, after whom the similarly controversial centre georges pompidou was named. in an attempt to soothe public ire, pei took a suggestion from then-mayor of paris jacques chirac and placed a full-sized cable model of the pyramid in the courtyard. during the four days of its exhibition, an estimated 60,000 people visited the site. some critics eased their opposition after witnessing the proposed scale of the pyramid.[125] pei demanded a method of glass production that resulted in clear panes. the pyramid was constructed at the same time as the subterranean levels below, which caused difficulties during the building stages. as they worked, construction teams came upon an abandoned set of rooms containing 25,000 historical items; these were incorporated into the rest of the structure to add a new exhibition zone. read
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