Centre Pompidou

Beauborg-Les Halles
Paris, France

Contributed by Project for Public Spaces

"I should passionately like Paris to have a cultural center which would at once be museum and center of creation" George Pompidou, 1969

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Why It Works

The Centre Pompidou's success stems from its array of activities- attracting not only one time tourists, but parisians and locals to its complex. The building houses not only a collection of multi media modern and contemporary art, but is also the site of conferences and performance, several children's play areas, a library of public information, a current affairs room, a replica of Brancusi's sculpture studio by a seperate entrance, two restaurants, and a terrance overlooking Paris and the crowded public square below. The plaza, a huge expanse of cobblestone is an opening in an otherwise dense urban area. The grade tilts gradually down toward the museum entrance. There is nowhere to sit, but crowds gather to watch street performers to meet and chat or wait for their friends. This lack of seating is a boon to the cafes that line the space: as with the Piazza San Marco, here is where you go to kick back and watch the passing scene (The Beauborg Cafe offers the best view of goings-on in the plaza, and its patrons, perched on uncomfortable seats in a stark, arty setting, are also on display.) Yes, there's a price for such entertainment - a cup of coffee or a cocktail - but it's good for hours, if not the entire afternoon or evening. To its credit, the plaza succeeds where other such open expanses in dense urban settings have failed.

History & Background

The Centre Pompidou is a unique architectural creation, now an icon of the Parisian landscape. All functional elements such as elevators, escalators, stairways, heating ducts form the building's exterior texture and are painted in bold primary colors. The interior space is 80,000 square feet and six stories high.

Contact Info:

Centre Pompidou website

User Comments:

> Add your own comment about Centre Pompidou

11/04/02 Chris Mario said:: Let's see -- Daniel Burnham's Union Station in Washington, and the Pompidou Centre in Paris. What's the difference? At the Pompidou Center, there is no there there. Union Station's heroic grandeur draws you in, and once in, there's something to do and something to see. But once you get past the vacuum-cleaner-on-steroids exterior of the Pompidou, there is nothing to do. It's government spending run amok, elitist posturing in place of a real space for real people. If you're into the machine thing, try the United terminal at O'Hare in Chicago. At least it's useful.
03/12/03 Carolin Hagelskamp said:: There are lots to do and lots to see at the Centre Pompidou. It is exciting; a place that makes people wonder, both inside and outside. The design is something to talk about and make sense of. There are many different views onto the building and into the escalators, and also from the building onto the square. People enter the square and look up. That's positive; -it makes people halt and change direction. The square is accessible and spacious, which is special in the centre of Paris, and it encourages all types of people to stay on. Forget the political underpinning for a while; just enjoy being there. I remember the fountain with the Nikki de Saint-Phalles sculptures. They made us laugh. It is a big playground for the eyes.
06/04/03 Ben Adler said:: The Centre Pompidou sticks out of Paris like a sore thumb. In typical modern architectural fashion, the Centre Pompidou is surrounded by a vast empty space, to make the building more striking from a distance. This barren, useless space (can you imagine people relaxing and reading, or playing soccer, in front of the Pompidou?) is not quite unfriendly as a parking lot, but it comes close. It's true that as a museum and cultural center it is interesting and well worth a visit. But as a public space, it is ugly and cold.
06/16/03 Timothy Whitten said:: Deserves an award for being one of the most frigid and unwelcoming spaces!
10/15/03 Peter Phillips said:: In response to Mr. Adler's question, "can you imagine people relaxing and reading, or playing soccer, in front of the Pompidou?" - the answer is not only can I imagine it, I have seen it and done it. In fact I can not imagine a better place to do all those things. I was deeply impressed when I saw the Pompidou on my first trip to Paris twenty years ago. Even now, on visits to Paris I always find myself drawn to this intriguing space.