Centre Georges Pompidou
•Architects: Renzo Piano Building
Workshop, Richard Rogers: Renzo
Piano + Richard Rogers
• Year : 1977
In The 1970's Architects Renzo Piano And Richard
Rogers, Both Unknown At The Time, Collaborated
And Erected One Of The Most Famous And
Radical Buildings Of Our Time, Centre Georges
Pompidou. The Cultural Center In Paris, France
Turned Our World Inside Out, Literally. It All
Began With Georges Pompidou, President Of
France From 1969 To 1974, Who Wanted To
Construct A Cultural Center In Paris That Would
Attract Visitors And Be A Monumental Aspect Of
The City. Receiving More Than 150 Million
Visitors Since Is Completion Thirty Three Years
Ago, There Is No Doubt That Pompidou's Vision
Became A Successful Reality.
Their concept, depicted in one of their competition drawings as a
collage, was portraying the museum itself as movement. The
other concept in their design, and perhaps the most obvious, was
exposing all of the infrastructure of the building. The skeleton
itself engulfs the building from its exterior, showing all of the
different mechanical and structure systems not only so that they
could be understood but also to maximize the interior space
without interruptions.
The different systems on the exterior of the building are painted
different colors to distinguish their different roles. The structure
and largest ventilation components were painted white, stairs and
elevator structures were painted a silver gray, ventilation was
painted blue, plumbing and fire control piping painted green, the
electrical elements are yellow and orange, and the elevator
motor rooms and shafts, or the elements that allow for movement
throughout the building, are painted red. One of the "movement"
elements that the center is most known for is the escalator
(painted red on the bottom) on the west facade, a tube
that zigzags up to the top of the building providing visitors with
an astonishing view of the city of Paris.
The Pompidou Centre was designed back in 1969 by the architects Renzo Piano
and Richard Rogers, who together came up with this unique structure that
incorporates some innovative designs, which meant the layout inside could be
modified with ease, allowing for the optimum usage of space for places like the
Building
Musee andd’Art
National Construction
Moderne andof thethe
otherPompidou
cultural areasCentre
within the building.
Even though the Eiffel Tower is made of iron, the majority of Paris is concrete and to
have a building constructed of steel and glass caused a fair amount of
controversy. Yet alone the fact that it has often been nicknamed the inside out
building, due to the fact that all the vital components are visible from the outside, so
that the space inside could remain free giving even more floor area.
The main metal frame of the Pompidou Centre consists of 14 main portal frames
that then supports a further 13 transverse members, with each of these spanning 48
metres and these are set 12.8 metres apart.
Then comes the moulded steel members that are Now the Pomidou Centre is often known as
8 metres long, and known as stirrup straps they the Beaubourg due to its location, but we
are fixed to the posts at each level. Then the 45 mentioned earlier that the Pompidou Centre
metre long beams rest on these stirrup straps, is also often nicknamed the inside out
which means they can transfer the load to the
posts and these are balanced by tie beams that building because all its essential components
are anchored into place with stay plates. And for the everyday running of this cultural
incredibly, this part of the construction weighs centre are positioned on the outside.
in at around 10,000 tonnes, but the total steel
structure weighs in at around 15,000 tonnes. And these were defined by the architects in
different colour codes, so blue is for the
Each of the six floors at the Pompidou Centre is circulating air and air conditioning, yellow is
7 metres high from one to the next, giving an for the electricity, green is for the water
interior area of 7,500 metres squared per floor supply and plumbing to the Pompidou
that are completely free from all the usual Centre and red is for things such as fire
workings like lifts and pipe work, which means extinguishers, or managing the visitors such
that the multipurpose layout is fully modular
and therefore the whole area can be changed as escalators and lifts, etc.
and adjusted to fit many different uses.
And from the outset, the architects wanted an
unusual building to house contemporary and
modern art, along with the free library, where
people would go to willingly without being
daunted or put off in comparison to some of the
more elaborate centres and museums in Paris.
So whether you are just visiting Paris, or
going on a family holiday in Paris this
unusual building and iconic landmark is
well worth seeing.
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