Centre Pompidou turns 30!

This year, the Centre Pompidou celebrates its 30th anniversary. From its inauguration in 1977, up to the modern day reincarnations in Metz and Shanghai, it has been both a witness to and an active participant in thirty years of French and international cultural life.
When the Centre Pompidou opened, critics complained that the museum's futuristic exoskeleton of brightly painted pipes was a scar on the landscape of Paris. As a matter of fact, its bizarre architecture has changed the heart of the French capital.
Thirty years later, with more than 5 million visitors last year, it is one of the city's most

recognizable monuments. It houses Europe's largest collection of modern and contemporary art.
The centre, also known as Beaubourg, is France's second most visited museum after the Louvre

A sketch of the Pompidou Centre by Renzo Piano / courtesy of RPBW

Renzo Piano, Ph.: © Stefano Goldberg / courtesy of RPBW

The Centre Pompidou was commissioned by former French President George Pompidou.
It was unveiled in 1977 by his successor Valery Giscard d'Estaing. Before it, no other building had ever caused such a stir. The complex, a six-level building made of steel and glass, is just two minutes away from Notre Dame. It was designed in 1971 by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers .
Projected to welcome 5,000 visitors daily, it drew more than 25,000 a day. It underwent massive renovations from 1997 through 1999 and reopened in January 2000. Over 30 years, more than 150 million people have visited.

To celebrate this anniversary, rather than simply diving back into the past, Les Revues Parlées propose a new interpretation of the chronology of the Centre's cultural life, in the light of the time which has gone by. To this end, the series of evening presentations entitled "Histoire des Trente " , which will last throughout 2007, will be taking a look back over these thirty years, in the company of a cultural figure from France or abroad.
Besides, as part of the celebrations, the permanent collections has been reintegrated into the spaces designed for them.

This new presentation occupies the entire level 5 of the establishment, and shows over 1,300 works. The works are presented chronologically, with galleries devoted to artists, important personalities, galleries, movements and outstanding events of fifty years of artistic creation. Monographic collections are highlighted: Picasso, Braque, Giacometti, Miró, and Dubuffet, among others, each have their own gallery. To give a perspective to the collection, 500 magazines from the Kandinsky library are exhibited, which also follow a chronological route. Next April, the collection of contemporary art will be reintegrated into the Pompidou Centre giving it a new look for its 30th anniversary.
Throughout 2007 many important temporary exhibitions and installations will be integrated into Beaubourg's Agenda .