The Pompidou Center, whose daring, exterior architecture and modern art museum have made it one of the most important cultural attractions in Paris, will close for renovations from late 2023 to some time in 2027, the French Minister of Culture said on Monday. .
The center, which opened in 1977, is notable for the way architects Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers moved many of the building’s structural and mechanical elements to the exterior. a caterpillar-like escalator advancing its facade.
But it has had physical problems in the past – it was closed in 1997 for renovations that lasted several years – and has recently shown signs of aging again. Roselyne Bachelot, the French Minister of Culture, told the newspaper Le Figaro that she was faced with two options: to keep the Pompidou Center open during the work, which would then take longer, or to to close the duration completely.
“I chose the second one because it would have to be shorter and a little less expensive,” she said.
Officials have now said that many components of the building, once seen as a shock of the shocking modernity in the stately heart of Paris, are at the end of their useful lives – including an outdated heating and cooling system, escalators and elevators that break down. , and asbestos to be removed – reports Le Figaro. The newspaper reports that the renovation work could cost € 200 million, or $ 243 million.
The center warned in September that it faces a full three-year closure, beginning in 2023, or a seven-year partial closure, to allow for repairs.
The last time the building was closed for renovations was during its 20th year of existence in 1997, when it was closed for a three-year renovation that increased the available exhibition space. Since the opening in 1977, no major work has been done on the building, the president of the Pompidou Center, Serge Lasvignes, told Le Figaro in September.
Although the building is now much loved, it faced shock and criticism when it was built and when it was first opened. Later, Piano beats that he and Rogers were ‘young boys, really young and rather bad boys’ in 1971 when they won the competition for its design. Rogers later recalls that a passerby hit him with an umbrella when he learned he was one of its designers.
In addition to the art museum, the building contains an extensive public library and a center for music and acoustic research.
While the center wanted to close down a quarter of a century ago for the major renovations, the need for repairs sparked unflattering remarks about the quality of modern architecture and engineering in a city full of churches, palaces and museums dating back hundreds of years. French officials said at the time that the center had become a victim of its own success and attracted far more visitors than it was designed for.
Shortly after the Pompidou Center reopened in 2000, Piano suggested to The New York Times, only half jokingly, that the center would close every 25 years so that the function could be reconsidered. It turns out he was not far.