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Centre Georges Pompidou

Paris / France

An immediate architectural icon of Paris - the Centre national d’art et de culture Georges-Pompidou (Centre Pompidou, or Beaubourg) - is a vast multidisciplinary structure, a culture factory that preserves and exhibits important modern art collections. It is a place where the many strands of contemporary culture intertwine: art, design, literature, music and cinema. The centre is like a huge spaceship made of glass, steel and coloured tubing that landed unexpectedly in the heart of Paris, and where it would very quickly set deep roots.

An aerial view of a large building in the middle of a city
© Michel Denancé
 

 

The project was conceived in 1969 by then French President, Georges Pompidou. An international competition was launched by the French Ministry of Culture in 1971, which Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers entered and won. The two-hectare site, the ‘Plateau Beaubourg’, lies on the edge of the Marais right in the dense urban fabric of old Paris. Half of the area is taken up by the building with the other half, following a radical design strategy, devoted to the creation of a public space – the piazza, ‘parvis’, that gently slopes down to the lower-ground-floor entrance hall.

Unique amongst all the competition entries, the Piano and Rogers project proposed to only occupy half the site, thereby binding the cultural institution to a vibrant public space
A large building with a lot of people walking around it
© Michel Denancé
A large room with a lot of windows and people sitting on benches in it
© Michel Denancé
A large library with tables and chairs and blue pipes hanging from the ceiling
© RPBW, ph. Francesca Avanzinelli
A large building with stairs leading up to it is surrounded by trees and people
© Michel Denancé
A group of people are standing around a fountain in a large building
© Michel Denancé
 

 

The entire structure of the 10-floor building (7 above ground, 3 below) is made of steel. Huge 48m warren trusses span the full width of the building. They are connected to columns at each end by a die-cast steel ‘gerberette’. This massive, visible set of structural components removes the requirement for internal support and thus enables the creation of huge open spaces. The resulting 50 x 170m plateaus can be arranged and equipped for any activity. To achieve maximum flexibility within these vast internal spaces, the services and circulation have been placed outside them. Lifts and escalators are contained within the support structure on the piazza façade. Escalators zig-zagging through transparent tubes up the front of the building afford increasingly extraordinary views out over Paris. The colour-coded utilities (blue for air, green for water, yellow for electricity and red for vertical circulation) are positioned along the Rue Beaubourg, street-side façade. Deliberately leaving behind the tradition of the austere, impenetrable monument, the Pompidou Centre is totally transparent in both face and function. It is inviting and understandable.

A black and white drawing of a building with stairs leading up to it
© FRP / Piano + Rogers
A model of a building made of wood and plastic is sitting on top of a wooden table
© FRP / Piano + Rogers
An aerial view of a city with a river running through it
© FRP / Piano + Rogers
A large building is being built in a city in a black and white photo
© FRP / Piano + Rogers, ph. Bernard Vincent
A black and white photo of a building under construction with the number 10 on it
© FRP / Piano + Rogers, ph. Bernard Vincent
A black and white photo of a large building under construction in a city
© FRP / Piano + Rogers, ph. Bernard Vincent
 

 

In addition to the big entrance Forum, the main upper-level gallery spaces and the vast library – the Bibliothèque publique d’information, found on the first, second and third levels of the main building –, the site also houses other departments, including the Atelier Brancusi and the IRCAM – the institute for music/acoustic research and coordination.

Despite earlier widespread opposition to the project, the public was quick to embrace the Centre Pompidou. From the opening in 1977 more than 150 million visitors passed through its doors. This extraordinary popularity made it necessary to close the building in order to renovate and enlarge public spaces. The Centre Pompidou re-opened in 2000.

A view of a city from the top of an escalator
© Arcaid Images, ph. Richard Einzig
It is a black and white drawing of a building
© FRP / Piano + Rogers
A view of a city from the top of a ferris wheel
© Georges Meguerditchian
A black and white drawing of a large building
© FRP / Piano + Rogers
A man playing a saxophone in front of a large building
© FRP / Piano + Rogers

Project Details

Status

1971 - 1977

Environmental Certifications

NF HQE Exploitation, Utilisation Durable - Très bon (2022)

Centre Georges Pompidou (1971-1977)

Client

Ministry of Cultural Affairs, Ministry of National Education

Design

Studio Piano & Rogers, architects

Design Team

R.Piano, R.Rogers, G.F.Franchini (competition, program, interiors)

Substructure and Mechanical Services

W.Zbinden, H.Bysaeth, J.Lohse, P.Merz, P.Dupont

Superstructure and Mechanical Services

L.Abbott, S.Ishida, H.Naruse, H.Takahashi

Facade and Galleries

E.Holt

Internal/external interfaces, audiovisual systems

A.Staton, M.Dowd, R.Verbizh

Coordination and Site Supervision

B.Plattner

Environment and scenographic space

C.Brullmann

IRCAM

M.Davies, N.Okabe, K.Rupard, J.Sircus, W.Zbinden

Interiors

J.Young, F.Barat, H.Diebold, J.Fendard, J.Huc, H.Sohlegel

Consultants

Structures and M.E. sevices: Ove Arup & Partners (P.Rice, L.Grut, R.Pierce, T.Barker)

Cost control: M. Espinoza

Contractors

GTM (Jean Thaury, site engineer) (main contractor); Krupp, Pont-à-Mousson, Pohlig (structure); Voyer (secondary structures); Otis (elevators and escalator); Industrielle de Chauffage, Saunier Duval (heating and ventilation); CFEM (glazing)

1996-2000 (Refurbishment)

Client

Centre Georges Pompidou

Design

Renzo Piano Building Workshop, architects

Design Team

P.Vincent, G.Bianchi (partners in charge), A.Gallissian (architect in charge), N.Pacini with L.Berellini, C.Jackman, W.Matthews, G.Modolo, J.Ruoff, A.H.Téménides and J.C.M’Fouara, B.Piechaczyk, C.Raber, R.Valverde; C.Colson, P.Furnemont (models)

Consultants

Gec Ingéniérie (cost control and secondary structure); INEX (HVAC); Setec (primary structure and electrical engineering); Peutz & Associés (acoustics); R. Labeyrie (audio/video equipment); Integral R. Baur (signing); R. Jeol, P. Castiglioni (lighting); Diluvial/AMCO (water basins); N. Green & A. Hunt Associés (canopy); ODM (site co-ordinator)