The Centre Pompidou

One look at its distinctive coloured tubing and exterior escalators, and you’ll know that the Pompidou Centre boasts of technical characteristics that make it so unique.

A museum with an iconic design of visual appeal

Designed as an “evolving spatial diagram” by architects Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers, it opened to the public in the heart of Paris, in February 1977.

Since its construction, the revolutionary building with its colourful, inside-out structure, has become an icon of 20th century architecture, and remains a source of inspiration for a whole generation of architects almost 20 years on. Extending over 10 floors of 7500 m2 each, it also houses 2 cinemas and a public reference library (the Bpi) which is free and open to all.

The outside escalator leads to the sixth and top floor that allows you to enjoy the panoramic view of the city and admire the Eiffel Tower, Montparnasse, Montmartre from the top!

The largest museum for modern art in Europe

Dedicated to all forms of visual culture, the Pompidou Centre is where fine art rubs shoulders with design, architecture, photography and ever-changing new media. With over 100,000 works in its collections, the exhibitions rotate and themes change in order to maximise the possibilities. Every year, around twenty monographic or thematic exhibitions are organised by the museum.

A wide variety of events are also organised; these include music, dance, theatre, arts performances and films, exploring the interaction between these diverse disciplines and the visual arts. There are also regular conference cycles, encounters and debates with a focus on the visual arts and their multi-disciplinary extensions, all open to the general public.

The Pompidou Centre displays modern collections from 1905, and many schools represented in the museum include movements such as: Fauvism, Cubism, Dada, Abstract School, Surrealism etc.

A museum that makes art accessible to everyone

This popular museum has specifically-designed areas for children, teenagers and families to get the most out of the exhibitions and events. These include the Galerie des enfants, the Atelier des enfants and Studio 13/16 (the first space dedicated to teenagers in a major cultural institution). They offer workshops and programmes that promote awareness and facilitate artistic experiences for children and young people of all ages.

In order to open up the process of contemporary creation to all visitors, the Pompidou Centre offers guided tours of its collections and exhibitions as well as conferences and introductory sessions which are fully accessible.

It also houses a documentary research and information centre (the Kandinsky Library) intended for modern and contemporary art history researchers. For those into music, don’t miss the acoustic/music research and coordination institute (Ircam) which annually offers a range of concerts including around twenty new works, together with an “Academy Festival” in June.

Access
Entry via the Piazza, place Georges Pompidou.

Access to the Bpi via rue du Renard

Ramp access: Rue du Renard, on the corner of Saint-Merri

Métro : Rambuteau, Hôtel de Ville, Châtelet

RER : Châtelet - Les Halles

Bus : 29, 38, 47, 75

Vélib: station no. 4020, opposite 27 Rue Quincampoix; station no. 3014, opposite 34 Rue Grenier Saint-Lazare, station no. 3010 at 46 Rue Beaubourg

Contact
Centre Pompidou 75191 Paris cedex 04
Telephone: +33 (0)1 44 78 12
If you have queries regarding access please contact: +33 (0)1 44 78 16 73


© Art Gallery of New South Wales — Matisse: Life & Spirit, Masterpieces from the Centre Pompidou, Paris at the Art Gallery of New South Wales

Have a chance to win 1 out of 25 double passes to visit the exhibition Matisse: Life & Spirit, click here!

Paris 

Place Georges Pompidou, 75004 Paris