The Centre Pompidou – is the national Georges Pompidou Centre of art and culture. The largest center of contemporary art in France and one of the largest in the world. This center was created on the initiative of the French president. Georges Pompidou (1911 – 1974) is the French Prime Minister during the presidency of Charles de Gaulle and the President of the French Republic (1969 – 1974).
Georges Pompidou came from a family of teachers, he himself received a philological education, and later graduated from the Higher School of Political Sciences. He taught literature at the Paris Lyceum of Henry IV.
In 1969, Pompidou announced a course for the technical modernization of the French economy. But his love for art also found expression in the creation of the cultural centre, which will later become one of the iconic centres on the tourist map of Paris. 681 participants from 50 countries of the world were accepted in the competition for the creation of an architectural project of the future cultural center. The projects were evaluated by an international jury. The competition was won by Renzo Piano, Gianfranco Franchini and Richard Rogers, who proposed the construction of a glass building in the shape of a parallelepiped.
Currently, the center is preparing for a large-scale reconstruction. The Pompidou Centre will be closed from 2025 to 2030 and will expand to 20,000 square meters. To expand the Centre, the territory of the old bus park will be given to it.
The history of the Pompidou Center began in 1977 at the initiative of the French president – Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, who decided to donate a fairly large plot of land for the construction of the cultural centre. In general, during the reign of Pompidou, France had a significant economic development, the country experienced a period of significant technical modernization.
In addition to exhibition halls, the Pompidou Center includes a library and concert halls. According to the plan of the architects, part of the structural elements had to be moved outside the building. Thus, the useful area of exhibition halls became larger. During the construction process, it was decided that the external structural elements should be painted in different colors. The chosen ones were red, yellow, blue, white and green. This made the building even more visible in the local landscape.
The Pompidou Center opened with sharp criticism from the French. Here you may remember how the Eiffel Tower was opened and a famous anecdote of those times: Apparently, local aristocrats really liked to dine at the restaurant on top of the Eiffel Tower only because it was the only place from where the tower itself could not be seen.
Since the Pompidou Centre occupies almost a block, and its architectural solution contrasts significantly with traditional Parisian buildings, it is not surprising that the 166-meter-long and 42-meter-high structure caused such a stir. However, quality management and interesting exhibitions have made the Pompidou Centre one of the most visited places in Paris, along with the Louvre and the aforementioned Eiffel Tower.
But separately, it should be noted with which epithets the French press «welcomed» the new cultural centre. Le Monde called the building an architectural King Kong, an architectural coup and an act of mockery of the city.
The National Museum of Modern Art, located in the Centre Pompidou, has more than sixty thousand exhibits, including paintings, sculptures, photographs, videos and design works. The works of Picasso, Matisse, Modigliani and other outstanding artists of the 20th century, which were previously stored in other museum complexes in Paris, were transferred to this museum.
A special place in the Pompidou Center is occupied by the public library, which is located on three floors of the Centre. Such libraries at museums should be open. Because it makes it possible for more people to get access to literature.
In addition to the open library, the Pompidou Centre has a large number of art workshops and conducts active educational activities. Film screenings, lectures and workshops for children are often held here. This is a very good place to get acquainted with modern art, to explain art to children and to involve children in the museum and creative world.
As any important urban structure, the Centre Pompidou has a well-thought-out space in front of it. The southern facade of the building overlooks the square of composer Igor Stravinsky, in the center of which is Stravinsky’s musical fountain with sculptures that move under the pressure of water to the beat of the composer’s music. By the way, Stravinsky’s family originated from Volhynia (Ukraine).
Before the 2020 pandemic, up to 6 million people visited the Pompidou Center every year. On peak days, the complex was visited by up to 80,000 people a day.
You can learn more about the world’s largest museums and the history of art at art lectures from the «Lihtaryk» art studio. And you can feel like an artist at painting or pottery master classes in our art studio in Kyiv.
Order gift certificates for art workshops and lectures offline in Kyiv and online, find another interesting place where to go in Kyiv and get involved in art and creativity together with the Lihtaryk art studio.
У меня синдром Стендаля сегодня. Утром ходили в Падуанский баптистерий. Смотрели фрески Менабуя. А после обеда у нас было посещение каппелы Скровеньи. Теперь я понимаю , что сделал Джотто для мира. Очень меня все это впечатлило в живую. Привет передала.
Мир прекрасен. Падуя очень понравилась:) спасибо за лекции Света!
Lily Golovchak
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