Centre Pompidou

The Centre Pompidou (French pronunciation: [sɑ̃tʁ pɔ̃pidu]), more fully the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou (lit. 'National Georges Pompidou Centre of Art and Culture'), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English and colloquially as Beaubourg, is a building complex in Paris, France. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of Richard Rogers, Su Rogers and Renzo Piano, along with Gianfranco Franchini. It is named after Georges Pompidou, the President of France from 1969 to 1974 who commissioned the building, and was officially opened on 31 January 1977 by President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing.

Centre Pompidou is located in the Beaubourg area of the 4th arrondissement of Paris. It houses the Bibliothèque publique d'information (BPI; Public Information Library), a vast public library; the Musée National d'Art Moderne, the largest museum for modern art in Europe; and IRCAM, a centre for music and acoustic research. The Place Georges Pompidou is an open plaza in front of the museum.

The Centre Pompidou will be closed for renovation from September 2025 until 2030. The BPI will be temporarily relocated to its Lumière building.

The idea for a multicultural complex, bringing together different forms of art and literature in one place, developed, in part, from the ideas of France's first Minister of Cultural Affairs, André Malraux, a proponent of the decentralisation of art and culture by impulse of the political power.^{[citation needed]} In the 1960s, city planners decided to move the food markets of Les Halles, historically significant structures long prized by Parisians, with the idea that some of the cultural institutes be built in the former market area. Hoping to renew the idea of Paris as a leading city of culture and art, it was proposed to move the Musée d'Art Moderne to this new location. Paris also needed a large, free public library, as one did not exist at this time. At first the debate concerned Les Halles, but as the controversy settled, in 1968, President Charles de Gaulle announced the Plateau Beaubourg as the new site for the library.

In 1969, Georges Pompidou, the new president, adopted the Beaubourg project and decided it to be the location of both the new library and a centre for the contemporary arts. In the process of developing the project, the IRCAM (Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique) was also housed in the complex.

The Rogers and Piano design was chosen among 681 competition entries. World-renowned architects Oscar Niemeyer, Jean Prouvé, and Philip Johnson made up the jury. It was the first time in France that international architects were allowed to participate. The selection was announced in 1971 at a press conference, where the contrast between the sharply-dressed Pompidou and "hairy young crew" of architects represented a "grand bargain between radical architecture and establishment politics."

A major renovation is due to take place between 2025 and 2030. The Centre Pompidou is closed from 2 March 2025 until 2030. The BPI is temporarily relocated to its Lumière building at 40 avenue des Terroirs de France on 25 August 2025.

On 22 September 2025, the Centre Pompidou announced its full closure for a major renovation project scheduled to last until 2030. Although preparatory closures had begun earlier in the year, with the suspension of access to parts of the collection and the relocation of the Bibliothèque publique d’information (BPI), the complete shutdown marked the start of the modernization phase. The renovation aims to remove asbestos, upgrade technical systems, improve accessibility, and enhance the building’s energy efficiency while preserving its architectural identity. The project is being led by the architectural firm Moreau Kusunoki, in collaboration with Frida Escobedo.