The pioneering building that scandalised Paris

The bold and radical Centre Pompidou was devastated by many when its design was first announced, but has since continued to influence the architecture of public buildings. As the building approaches a major renovation, its co-creator, Renzo Piano, recalls the uproar.

Centre Pompidou will be closed for five years this summer as Paris’ popular polychrome landmarks undergo changes required by current requirements in terms of health, safety and energy efficiency. French Studio Molok Sonocchi Architect, Mexican Practice Frida Escobedo Studios, French Engineer AIA Life Designer will undertake a massive overhaul of the six-storey arts centre, including Europe’s largest modern art museum. The renovation adds usable floor space, removes asbestos from all facades, improves fire safety and accessibility for people with reduced mobility, and optimizes energy efficiency.

Whenever possible, the original building will be preserved as before. Otherwise, it may be considered a cultural sacrifice – Pompidou’s identity is inseparable from the original architect Renzo Piano and the late Richard Rogers. The duo set up practice in 1970 and submitted their designs to a prestigious competition in 1971, instigated by French President Georges Pompidou from 1969 to 1974. The piano and Rogers designs were selected from 681 competition entries.

The result caught the duo, as the piano puts it, “Unknown Person in his 30s with the Beatles haircut, and “We didn’t think we would win, we took part in the race for joy.” “We weren’t going to create a revolutionary building. Our ideas are a museum that stimulates curiosity rather than threaten people, and will open up a culture for everyone.”

In fact, the duo’s indifference may help explain the building’s uncontrolled boldness, glamour and ridiculous quality. Its structural elements and services are located on the façade, allowing maximum open-plan space inside, and futuristic structures are now referred to as the world’s first “back-up” building. The exoskeleton of the tube and tear-like pipe was coded in playful colours. Blue for air conditioning, yellow for electrical, green for water, red for pedestrian circulation. Visitors streamed escalators wrapped in clear tubes that provide panoramic views, designed to enhance the museum’s connection to the city.

“Our idea was to allow a square, a cozy outdoor location where buildings only make up half of the site and people can meet,” says other projects, including the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco (rebuilt in 2008), the Shard in London (2012), and the recently completed Paddington Square. “Our belief was a place for all, poor and rich, old and young.”

Pompidou’s transparency, accessibility and adjacent squares roared with new ideas about democratizing culture. “At that time, street theatres and concerts in public spaces were becoming more popular,” Piano says.

Within the building, visitors were able to access Paris’ first free public libraries – Musée National Dirt Modern and The Lechye E Coordination Acoustic/Mushyq (IRCAM), dedicated to the study of music and sound.

The Piano and Rogers victory entries sparked surprise and anger when it was announced at a press conference that “the room was packed.” “Richard and I were standing in the middle of the room. We felt both elated and terrible at the same time,” the architect says. “Some people were screaming, “Why did you design something so scary?” “Why are you destroying the historical center of Paris?”

Although he was surprised he won the contest, the Genoa-born piano grew up feeling that it was his fate at the age of 18. He told his father he wanted to become an architect. However, in conversation, his attitude is humble and he has no rights. Born into a Genoa builder’s family, he loved watching his father’s work take shape. Perhaps his childhood experience of looking at buildings made him feel that architecture is open to all possibilities. “The building is a beautiful gesture,” he once told the Financial Times. “It’s the opposite of destruction… especially when you’re building buildings for people because people are important to citizens.” In 1981, the piano founded the Renzo Piano Building Workshop (RPBW) with offices in Genoa and Paris, and today (in the spirit of the collective) was led by 11 partners. In 1998 he was awarded the Pretzker Architecture Award.

The Plateau Beau Bougue in central Paris – a wasteland square occupied by car parks – was the site chosen by the new Musée Nationaled’Art Moderne (previously housed at the Palais de Tokyo at the Haut-Bourgeois 16th Arrondisement in Paris). “It was a place where I was waiting for something to happen,” says Piano.

The French social and political climate, still rebellious following the turbulent events of May 1968, has acknowledged by the Piano that the social and political climate of France encouraged the creation of buildings as destructive as Pompidou. [designer] Mary Quants and the Beatles. The same thing happened in Paris.

“The idea that France should have a ‘Maison de la culture’, and the connection of art, film, music and literature in cities was André Marrow’s first invented. [novelist, art theorist and France’s first Minister of Cultural Affairs]. Pompidou was also very supportive. I really believe that a major change in architecture is possible only if you have a good client. George’s wife, Claude, was also an excellent woman. ”

Pompidou, like Claude, was passionate about contemporary art and design. In 1972 they invited Pierre Pauline, a designer known for his space-age furniture, to create a new interior for the private apartment at Elisé Palace, the official residence of the French President. The results were fundamentally modern. The walls of the living room, dining room and smoking room were lined up in a cocooning effect with wool and polyester panels that obscure the neoclassical splendor of the residence. The walls were hung from paintings by Robert Delaunai and other modernist artists.

One driving force behind these efforts to provide prestigious museums in Paris was the loss of France’s reputation as a center of outstanding avant-garde arts in the world. “It’s my passionate wish to have a cultural center like the one that Paris has created in the United States.” Pompidou said Lemonde Newspaper in 1972. “It is both a museum and a centre of creation, and visual arts resides in music, film, books, audiovisual studies.”

Initially, the response to the Pompidou Centre, often compared to alien spacecraft, was often very negative. “The taxi driver was telling me: ‘Respect!’ Before I started Tillard against the building, I had to keep it inconspicuous among strangers,” says Piano. Buildings, likened to “oil refining” by many, have been the target of countless lawsuits. “We were sued frequently. We were sued once because Prouve was not a qualified architect,” he recalls. The French media initially denounced the building. “Paris has its own monster, like Loch Ness,” scruxed Le Figaro.

“One day, Richard and I were outside the building, but they were still unfinished. We saw a woman suffering from an umbrella that was turned over in the wind. Richard rushed to help with it. He said he was one of the building’s architects.

However, after the building was opened in 1977, Parisian quickly began to thank the museum. It is one of the most visited public institutions today, ranked only in the Louvre and Muséed’ Orsay in terms of visitor numbers.

It also inspires architects today. Hugh Broughton, founder of London-based Hugh Broughton Architects, said, “Since then, the central Pompidou has continued to influence the design of public buildings. “It is an incredibly brave and generous building where large public spaces promote viewing for congregations, street theatres and top quality people. Its core concept – open-plan floor plates supported by surrounding structures and services – is based on medieval principles of castle structures, which combines an artistic and craft approach to make meat stands. Great views – the best attributes of a great architecture.

The piano is also known for exploiting light in his projects, as in the case of shards, which may appear to disappear under certain light conditions due to glass skin. Architectural critic Nikolai Ousov said In his entire work: “The tranquility of Renzo Piano’s finest buildings can make us believe that we live in a world of civilization.”

For piano, what is the main architectural heritage of the Pompidou Centre? “This building is proof that culture doesn’t suffer from being a more public place. It’s a place where people mostly gather. It brings together art, life, culture. It’s a culture with a small C, not a culture rather than a large C.