The Musée d’Orsay was originally built as a train station to bring visitors to the 1900 World’s Fair. Architect Victor Laloux built the Gare d’Orsay with modern features such as luggage ramps and elevators, as well as the 400-room adjacent Hotel d’Orsay. Laloux’s plan “dressed” the station’s exterior, covering it with white limestone to match the prestigious neighborhood and nearby Louvre palace. However, as technology advanced, the station’s platforms could no longer accommodate the larger, modern electric trains, subsequently causing the station to close in 1939. After a being used for a brief period at the end of World War II, the station fell into disuse. In the 1970s, a movement began to restore and preserve the magnificent building, designating it a historic monument in 1978.
Today’s museum was inaugurated in 1986 after President Valery Giscard authorized renovations, overseen by the French architectural firm Philippon, Colboc, and Bardon, and Italian architect Gae Aulenti. Though visitors can still see remains of the train station in the Grand Nave and the Restaurant, the museum has also seen recent modernizations. In 2011, under the direction of Président Guy Cogeval, the museum celebrated its 25th anniversary, following a two-year $27 million renovation of its main galleries.