No, it’s not a wacky oil refinery and you’ll find the inside just as stimulating as the outside. Today considered one of the emblematic buildings of the 20th Century and taken to their hearts by Parisians, the building was the subject of huge controversy throughout the 1970s. Designed as an “evolving spatial diagram” by architects Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers, the architecture of the Centre Pompidou boasts a series of technical characteristics that make it unique. Its originality comes first from the flexible use of large interior plateaux of 7,500 m2 , each completely free, with an easily modifiable layout. Using steel (15,000 tons) and glass (11,000 m² of glass surface), the builders created a major pioneering structure that houses the largest collection of modern and contemporary art in Europe.

Colours have been used to decorate the structure, using a “code” defined by the architects:
– blue for circulating air (air conditioning);
– yellow for circulating electricity;
– green for circulating water;
– red for circulating people (escalators and lifts).

For those of you who will be visiting in the coming months, here’s the venue:

GENEVIÈVE ASSE, PAINTINGS
From 26 June 2013 to 9 September 2013

ROY LICHTENSTEIN
From 3 July 2013 to 4 November 2013

MIKE KELLEY
From 2 May 2013 to 5 August 2013

L’IMAGE DANS LA SCULPTURE
Navid Nuur, Nina Beier, Simon Denny and Yorgos Sapountzis
From 2 May 2013 to 5 August 2013

SIMON HANTAÏ
From 22 May 2013 to 2 September 2013

ACCROCHAGE ‘HISTOIRE DE L’ATELIER BRANCUSI’
A reconstitution of the Paris workshop where one of the masters of modern sculpture lived and worked.
Now to 2 September 2013

DOVE ALLOUCHE
from 26 June 2013 to 9 September 2013

Centre Pompidou – Place Georges-Pompidou – Paris 4e
The Centre Pompidou is open every day except Tuesdays and 1st May.
11am-10pm. No admissions sold after 8pm.

Late opening on Thursdays till 11pm, for exhibitions on Level 6.
No admissions sold after 10pm.

After spending half your day at the museum, spread your wings and walk the neighborhood guided by your No Worries Paris book.