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Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris - France Introduction |
Description | Pictures | Credits| Drawings
1971-77
Centre Georges PompidouParis - France
Client: Ministry of Cultural Affairs, Ministryof National
Education (1971-1977, Centre
Georges Pompidou); Centre GeorgesPompidou (1996-2000, Renovation
of theCentre Georges Pompidou)
Studio Piano & Rogers (1971-1977, CentreGeorges
Pompidou);Renzo Piano Building Workshop, architects(1996-2000,
Renovation of the CentreGeorges Pompidou)
100,000 square meters in the heart of Paris dedicated to the
figurative arts, music, industrial design andliterature. The
building reflects the program laid down in the competition, which
indicated that culture begiven a less institutional and traditional
setting. With its parody of technology, but above all with itsgreat
expanse of public spaces that find their main expression in the
public plaza, it has become anactive urban and cultural entity.
As the symbol of modern architecture inParis, the Georges
Pompidou NationalCenter of Art and Culture (popularlyknown as
Beaubourg) occupiesapproximately 100,000 square meters inthe heart
of the city and is devoted tothe plastic arts, music and reading.
Whenthe idea for the center was firstconceived in 1971 through
anarchitectural competition it alreadyseemed like a deliberate
provocation.What was sought was a less traditional,less
institutional site in which to houseculture while reserving a large
area forpublic spaces.Beaubourg was conceived as somethingof a
parody if not the very opposite of atechnico-industrial facility.
Arrangedvertically, it is part medieval village andmade up of
stacked spaces with cross-cutting streets. By its nature, with
a
large square at its base, it symbolizedcontact between surfaces
or betweenpeople indoors or outdoors.Like the Eiffel Tower in its
day,Beaubourg generated passionate debatesamong passersby as well
as by thepowers that be at every stage of itsdesign and
construction. Its locationseemed to make perfect sense since
theCenter sought to make culture availablewithin an urban setting.
To have built itoutside the city would have betrayed the
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project's guiding principles.Undertaking the project proved to
be anextraordinary adventure. Besides itsopponents who did
everything in theirpower to block it, the construction workposed
numerous technical and logisticalproblems that were resolved only
by a
remarkable degree of conviction anddetermination. At the opening
in 1977the general public immediately embracedthe Center, its
museum of modern art(one of the largest in the world), thesquare
and its neighborhood. Studentsand researchers readily adopted
itslibrary, the Bibliothque Publiqued'Information, and tourists
gladly tookthe trip up its winding, "caterpillar-like"exterior
glass escalator to gainunparalleled views of the neighborhoodand
the city.About 25,000 people visit the site everyday. And in 20
years more than 150million visitors passed through its
doors.Indeed, its immense popularity made itnecessary to close the
Center for twoyears to renovate and enlarge publicspaces. The
Pompidou Center alsohouses other departments, includingIRCAM and
the Brancusi Studio.
(1996-2000) Renovation of theCentre Georges Pompidou
The George Pompidou Center is morethan just a museum; it is a
multipurposecultural center. After 20 years ofoperation, the
center's activities had tobe rethought in light of certain
realities:the museum needed more space, and thelibrary needed to be
more accessible.The first major decision of the overhaulwas to
relocate all of the offices to aneighboring building. The spaces
thathad been freed up were devoted to thecenter's primary
activities.The third level will house the Museum ofModern Art, and
the fifth floor will bereserved for temporary exhibitions.
Thelibrary, which is located on the first,second and third levels,
will have aseparate access, thereby facilitating thetraffic of
library-users.The main forum was also modified: alarge opening in
the sweep of the mainentrance connects the three underground
levels (performance rooms), the groundlevel (entrance, ticket
office andinformation desk) and the two mezzaninelevels (boutiques
and caf). All are linkedby elevators and stairways. The idea wasto
make the new forum more accessibleto the public, with a ground
level thatseems to merge with the outdoors.As for the exterior,
besides thesandblasting, the only change was theinstallation of
weather-board canopy overthe main entrance.
