What could be better than an international casting to “dress up” one of the most famous buildings in the world? The Center Pompidou revealed, Thursday June 20, 2024, the names of the winners of its architectural project. And the winners are…: the Franco-Japanese duo Nicolas Moreau and Hiroko Kusunoki and the Mexican architect Frida Escobedo!
Established in Paris, the Moreau Kusunoki agency notably created the central pavilion of the Sciences-Po Paris campus, delivered in 2021. For her part, Frida Escobedo, who works from New York to Mexico, was chosen in 2022 to renovate the modern art wing of the Met, the great New York art museum.
Budget not finalized
Inaugurated almost half a century ago, the Center Pompidou is due to close to the public in September 2025, until 2030, for major asbestos removal and renovation work. This so-called “technical” component is estimated at 262 million euros, which will be entirely financed by the State.
But it is on the redevelopment of spaces that the three architects will work. This is estimated at 186 million which will be financed by the Center Pompidou alone. In total, 60 million euros “were found, (…) including 19 million corresponding to the work of the Bpi”, the Public Information Library, specifies the Center. “Assessments in terms of sponsorship and international projects are being studied” to raise the entire budget, he further details.
As part of this renovation, the winners will have to transform “part of the spaces” of the establishment, while respecting the “DNA” of the Center and “the current architecture of the building” imagined by the Italian Renzo Piano and the late the British Richard Rogers, underlines the press release.
Inside, the space between the large reception center and the first basement will be open, “thus creating a new volume on three levels”. The ultimate objective is to simplify the spatial organization, “in order to identify clear and readable planning principles,” explains the institution.
Our “Centre Pompidou” file
Level 7 of the Center will be made accessible to the public, with the installation of a panoramic terrace, which offers a breathtaking view of the capital. Finally, “La Piazza”, namely the large square in front of the Center, will be redeveloped with, in particular, the installation of stands near the Atelier Brancusi, “in order to invite passers-by to sit there”.
