Paris, from Pompidou Centre to La Défense

 

Strolling from the Marais area where the buildings are in the 17th century style to the Beaubourg through the narrow streets and alleys we find a huge building with a unique colorful style. It is the Pompidou Center, a multicultural complex, bringing together in one place different forms of art and literature. It houses a Public Information Library, a vast public library and the Museum of Modern Art. 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. 

Created in the style of modern architecture by the architectural team of Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano the building looks like of an 'inside-out' building with its structural system, mechanical systems, and circulation exposed on the exterior of the building with colorful pipes and ducts. From the outside, the visual signature of the building is embodied by the huge mechanical escalator, known as the “caterpillar”, designed to serve as a vertical outdoor path. It is the primary artery of the Pompidou Centre, serving all levels and transporting the public upwards. Its transparency provides one of the finest views of Paris, and as you travel up, it seems as though you are still strolling through the city. 

The vast plaza in front of the building forms an integral part of the Pompidou Centre and serves as a strong link between the city and the building, thus enabling the most natural flow possible between the two spaces. The plaza acts as a lung, a place of life where Parisians, tourists and onlookers cross paths. People come here to meet others, to stroll, to rest or contemplate their surroundings. In the spring, the plaza becomes more lively with carnivals, bands, and street performers. 

From the Pompidou Centre, our next trip is to another modern buildings complex in Paris, the business center of La Défense. By taking the Metro from the Hotel de Ville for about half an hour we arrive at the Esplanade Metro station, the location of La Défense. Right above the metro station stands La Grande Arche, a 110 meter cube monument designed to be a late-20th-century version of the Arc de Triomphe. Its designer Johan Otto V. Spreckelsen described it as a window onto the world. It is intended to function as a place where people with different backgrounds and cultures can meet and communicate. 

Around Le Grande Arche, La Défense contains many of the Paris urban area's tallest high-rises. There are hundreds of high-rises and buildings belonging to the top companies in the world in this area. There is also a large shopping mall, Les Quatre Temps, with 220 stores, 48 restaurants and a 24-screen movie theatre. One day is definitely not enough to explore this area! 

 

THE END

 

Sources:

https://www.centrepompidou.fr/en/collections/our-building

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grande_Arche