The construction of the glass and metal building in the centrally located Beaubourg neighborhood ran into a lot of opposition from people who disliked the idea of an 'oil refinery' in a historic district. But when the museum opened in December 1977, it became an instant success: originally designed to accommodate some 5,000 visitors per day, the Centre Pompidou has been welcoming over 25,000 visitors per day making it one of the most visited attractions in Paris.
Conceived by former French president Georges Pompidou and designed by architects Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers, this building originally opened in 1977, and it underwent a major renovation in 2000, which expanded and improved the space. The building's exterior is very bold: brightly painted pipes and ducts crisscross its transparent facade: green for water, red for heat, blue for air, and yellow for electricity and white for the building itself , and an outdoor escalator flanks the building, freeing up interior space for exhibitions. |
| Photo by elPadawan |
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| Image from tourisminfrance.org |
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| Image from tourisminfrance.org |
Inside, is home to one of the world's most important museums of modern art, the impressive Musée National d'Art Moderne (National Museum of Modern Art) , but it also contains a very popular library, a bookshop, a movie theater and a panoramic terrace. The Bibliothéque Publique d'Information (Public Information Library), a vast public library with a huge collection of French and foreign books, periodicals, films, music records, slides, and more, boasts a collection of 450,000 books, 2,600 magazines and a large number of new media items. Other attractions inside the Centre Pompidou include the Institut de Recherche et de Coordination Acoustique-Musique (Institute for Research and Coordination of Acoustics/Music), which brings together musicians and composers, the Atelier Brancusi, a minimuseum that re-creates the Jazz Age studio of Romanian sculptor Brancusi, a movie theater, performance halls which often host concerts and events, shops and restaurants.
The library occupies the first three floors of the building, while the museum's permanent collection is located on floors 4 and 5. The first and top floor are used for large expositions. The museum has one of the most important collections of modern art. Its more than 59,000 works cover a broad spectrum of 20th century arts. The 4th floor contains works from 1905 to 1965 and covers art movements such as fauvism, abstract art, surrealism and cubist art. Some of the featured artists include Matisse, Kadinsky, Miró and Picasso. The 5th floor covers the period after 1965, including the pop-art movement and figurative art.
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| Image from conexaoparis |
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| Image from mytravelphotos.net |
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| Image from mytravelphotos.net |
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| Image from mytravelphotos.net |
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| Image from mytravelphotos.net |
Outside, there is a large open forecourt, which is a free "entertainment center" often featuring mimes, fire-eaters, circus performers, and sometimes musicians. Don't miss the nearby Stravinsky fountain, where you'll find the most famous modern fountain containing mobile sculptures designed by Tinguely and Niki de Saint Phalle.
