Paris028 La Pyramide Inversée (The Inverted Pyramid) It was designed by architects I.M. Pei, Cobb Freed and Partners, and installed as part of the Phase II government renovation of the Louvre Museum. It was completed in 1993. In 1995, it was a finalist in the Benedictus Awards, described by the jury as "a remarkable anti-structure … a symbolic use of technology … a piece of sculpture. It was meant as an object but it is an object to transmit light." The Inverted Pyramid figures prominently on the concluding pages of Dan Brown's international bestseller The Da Vinci Code. The author, or rather the protagonist of his novel, reads esoteric symbolism into the two pyramids: The Inverted Pyramid is perceived as a Chalice, a feminine symbol, whereas the stone pyramid below is interpreted as a Blade, a masculine symbol: the whole structure could thus express the union of the genders. Moreover, Brown's protagonist concludes that the tiny stone pyramid is actually only the apex of a larger pyramid (possibly the same size as the inverted pyramid above), embedded in the floor as a secret chamber. This chamber is said to enclose the body of Mary Magdalene. At the climax of the movie made from Brown's novel, the camera moves through the entire glass pyramid from above and then dives into the floor below to reveal the supposed hidden chamber under the tiny stone pyramid, containing the sarcophagus with the remains of the Magdalene. In reality, the stone pyramid sits on top of the floor and does not extend below it; indeed it is so designed that it can be removed during maintenance work.