The Pompidou Center in Paris has officially announced that it will undergo a massive $243 million renovation. The museum will be closed for renovation in 2023 and is expected to reopen in early 2027, at the same time, welcoming its 50th anniversary.
The Pompidou Center was designed and completed by architects Renzo Piano and Richard in 1977. The building has a unique appearance, with seemingly unfinished steel brackets, exposed ladder structures and colorful water pipes. It is in sharp contrast with the city of Paris, which is full of ancient European-style architecture. Although this building is quite popular nowadays, it was highly disapproved by many critics when it first opened and people believed that this architectural design destroyed the harmony of classical Parisian style architecture. However, this giant, industrial-like factory spares no effort in promoting contemporary art, and is also the most important institution in France to promote art education. In addition to being a museum, it also has a huge public library and music and research center and is known as an incredibly important contemporary art museum within the art community.
The French Minister of Culture, Roselyne Bachelot, told the Le Figaro Newspaper that there were two options for renovating the Pompidou Center: to renovate at the same time it opens (which would take longer to build), or to completely close the building (which would be more cost effective). The renovation will mainly focus on three areas: improving the safety of the overall building and pipeline system, optimizing the internal equipment, and strengthening measures for fire safety. Modern upgrades in the museum’s information system will also be improved. During its reconstruction period, the Public Library (Bpi) will also temporarily be moved to another part of Paris to continue its services. Other branches of the Pompidou, such at Center Pompidou Metz in France and the West Bund Museum in Shanghai, China, will remain open.
Figure：© Centre Pompidou
