Pompidou Centre Closes for 5-Year Renovation: Modern Art Travels Across France and Abroad

Pompidou Centre's Major Renovation

• 🏛️ The Pompidou Centre in Paris is closing its doors for five years of renovations starting September 22, 2025.
• 🏗️ This extensive project aims to transform the landmark building, which spans 70,000 square meters.
• 💰 The renovation involves removing asbestos, improving energy efficiency by 60%, and a general overhaul of its cultural mission, with an investment of €180 million for the cultural overhaul and €260 million for asbestos removal.

Collections on Tour

• 🖼️ Over 150,000 pieces of artwork are being moved from the Pompidou Centre, housing Europe's largest modern art collection.
• 🌍 Masterpieces are being exhibited in temporary shows and loans across France and abroad to continue engaging the public.
• ✈️ Exceptional loans, including fragile pieces like Sonia Delaunay's work and sculptures by Henry Moore, are being sent to new sites, some for the first time.

Future Transformations and New Spaces

• 💡 The renovations will create new public spaces, including an enlarged main hall leading to a new area called The Agora, featuring exhibitions, cinemas, and performances.
• 🚀 A new generation hub for young people, shops, bookstores, a restaurant, and a brand-new library on the second and third floors are planned.
• 📈 The collections will be reconfigured on the fourth and fifth floors, with exhibitions on the sixth, and access to the seventh-floor roof for views.

Expanding Reach Beyond Paris

• 📍 The Pompidou Centre of the Greater Paris region, located in Messi, aims to provide optimal conservation conditions and create a smaller center to attract school children and the public who may not visit Paris.
• 🤝 Temporary exhibitions will also be held at the Grand Palais in Paris, aligning with its refurbishment and the city's Olympic Games preparations.

A Legacy of Innovation

• ✨ Designed by architects Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano, the Pompidou Centre opened in 1977 as a revolutionary cultural center.
• 🎨 Its initial vision, championed by director Pontus Hulton, was to make art a vibrant, live, and accessible experience, exemplified by early installations by artists like Niki de Saint Phalle and Jean Tinguely.
• 🔄 Experiments in displaying modern art, breaking from strict chronology, are being conducted during the closure, with the goal of applying new approaches upon reopening.