The brightly colored pipes that make up the outside
of the Pompidou Center (or Le Centre Pompidou) are like
a wild declaration: this is not a museum steeped in the
past - there will be no need to speak in hushed, deferential
tones. If that’s what you are looking for,
the Louvre and Musee
D’Orsay are nearby. The iconoclastic feel
of the Pompidou Center’s exterior, which looks like
an exposed ribcage painted in bright primary colors, carries
over into the building’s contents. You won’t
find the subtle Flemish painters of the Louvre, or the
magnificent art of Notre
Dame. Make no mistake: Le Centre Pompidou is
about the present, the future. Its main attraction
is the Museum of Modern Art on the 4th and
5th floors, which are dedicated to art movements
like Surrealism, Fauvism, Dadaism and plenty of other
abstract art styles.
The main hall of the Pompidou Center feels like staring into a child’s playroom. The bright colors, the large, friendly letters, the uncluttered layout of thousands of pieces of art – it’s about as irreverent as a museum can get, and is noted as helping to revolutionize museum design, breaking down the image of museums as elitist monuments and making them more accessible to the public at large. It is also a statement in favor of functional art – the colorful tubes that define the Pompidou Center are vital for the building to operate, and designate exactly what you’ll find inside them: yellow for electricity, red for transport, blue for water, and green for air.
The main draw for Le Centre Pompidou is the intriguing modern art, but there’s more than just that. The first three floors are dedicated to a vast library. The center for industrial design is also housed here, featuring exhibitions detailing advances in 20th century architecture and design. Another highlight is the Stravinsky fountain, a surrealist photo opportunity for curious visitors.
Take the Metro up to the Hotel-de-Ville stop, if you
plan on putting the Pompidou Center on your Paris
itinerary (and you should). It’s open until
10 pm every night except Tuesday, which makes it perfect
for those who are not morning people, not to mention that
it is located near some of Paris’s top nightlife
options, including the Moulin
Rouge. So you can amble around this collection
of modern arts and immediately start drinking.
Noted not only for its modern take on design, many of
Paris’ most talented street performers - from painters
to musicians to performance artists - spend a portion
of their day near the museum’s entrance, taking
up residence in the Place Georges Pompidou, where you
will find all sorts of wandering travelers, art enthusiasts
and the occasional picnicker who have come to admire the
inimitable style of Le Centre Pompidou Paris France.
A relative newcomer to a city awash in monuments to the
past, the center has already become one of Paris’s
most respected new tourist
attractions, a symbol of what lies ahead for the great
city.
