Allen - Blog 11

Center Georges Pomidou was built in 1977 after Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers (unrecognized architects at the time) won a design competition held by the President of France, Georges Pompidou.  The contest was to design a cultural center that would be located in Paris and attract visitors.
The idea for this cultural center was turned inside out, literally.  The infrastructure for the massive building was designed to be run on the exterior inside a shell of trusses; exposing the mechanical and structural systems in this manner maximizes the interior space and with color coding allows the person on the street to observe and distinguish the purpose of the colored pipes. 

"The different systems on the exterior of the building are painted different colors to distinguish their different roles. The structure and largest ventilation components were painted white, stairs and elevator structures were painted a silver gray, ventilation was painted blue, plumbing and fire control piping painted green, the electrical elements are yellow and orange, and the elevator motor rooms and shafts, or the elements that allow for movement throughout the building, are painted red. One of the "movement" elements that the center is most known for is the escalator (painted red on the bottom) on the west facade, a tube that zigzags up to the top of the building providing visitors with an astonishing view of the city of Paris."

 

This cultural center looks like a jungle gym for adults; although, trying to climb the trusses is probably more than just frowned upon...

Renzo Piano started and continues to design in large part museums, as this cultural center houses France's larges museum of modern art.




Cite:Adelyn Perez. "AD Classics: Centre Georges Pompidou / Richard Rogers + Renzo Piano " 11 Jun 2010.ArchDaily. Accesed 27 Jun 2015. <http://www.archdaily.com/64028/ad-classics-centre-georges-pompidou-renzo-piano-richard-rogers/>