The iconic Pompidou Centre in Paris will close next year for up to five years of renovations – what can we expect from the overhaul?
ADVERTISEMENTFrench studio Moreau Kusunoki have unveiled their plans for the prolonged renovation of Paris’ iconic Pompidou Centre – a project that could take up to five years to complete, at an estimated cost of €262m.
One of the largest modern and contemporary art museums in the world, the Pompidou Centre is known for its groundbreaking «inside out» structure, which displays pipework on the outside, but which has suffered serious wear and tear.
Moreau Kusunoki will bring their plans to fruition with the help of Mexico City and New York-based studio Frida Escobedo.
According to the studios, the overhaul seeks to improve accessibility around the museum, as well as replacing facades, removing asbestos and treating corroded areas.
The museum will also gain fresh spaces as a result of the renovations: the rooftop on the seventh floor will be accessible to the public, a New Generation hub will provide dedicated spaces for childrens’ activities, and the stairwell linking the basement to multi-purpose hub The Forum will be turned into a vibrant social area.
The square outside the museum will also be revitalised, with ramps and terraces added to make it more integrated with the surrounding neighbourhood.
The enlarged Agora, set under the square, will bring together concert halls, two cinemas, and conference and rehearsal spaces.
Across the square, the Atelier Brancusi gallery will also be renovated.
«Since its inception, the Centre Pompidou has strived to be an experimental space, constantly reinventing itself in order to remain relevant and inspire new ideas,» said Moreau Kusunoki directors Nicolas Moreau and Hiroko Kusunoki.
«We saw this renovation project as an opportunity to enhance all of these aspects and, through a respectful, adaptive repair, to create a museum that reinforces an openness and continuity with the city,» they explained.
Pompidou purists, fear not: where possible, the studios promise that the DNA of the original building – designed by British architect Richard Rogers and Italian architect Renzo Piano and opened in 1977 – will be conserved.
