The Center Pompidou in Paris will close from 2025 to 2030 under ambitious new expansion plans announced by the centre’s president, Laurent Le Bon. During the closure of the Beaubourg gallery, the institution will be a partner of the Grand Palais and the Louvre on numerous projects.
As part of the sweeping overhaul, the Center Pompidou will span 20,000 square meters of space below the Place de la Galerie in an area occupied by disused bus parking lots. These spaces will house Cinemas 1 and 2 but will also be transformed into spaces for multidisciplinary exhibitions and sections of contemporary creation.
Laurent Le Bon has been President of the Center Pompidou since July 2021
© Didier Plowy / Center Pompidou
On the first level, a “new generation center” will be installed on the north side while a large restaurant will open on the south side, replacing exhibition galleries three and four. The Public Library of Information will remain in place on three levels; the National Museum of Modern Art will remain on two levels (four and five) but will be completely refurbished, housing the Brancusi workshop. A 1,500 m² terrace, offering “one of the most beautiful views of western Paris”, according to Le Bon, will be open to the public for the first time on the seventh level.
An architectural competition will be launched on May 12. Six projects will be selected at the end of the year and the winner will be designated in 2024. The gradual closure of the Center Pompidou will take place in the fall of 2024 before a final closure in the summer of 2025. The work will begin in early 2026 with a reopening scheduled for 2030. The cost of the technical upgrade, provided by the French State, is €262 million; 160 million euros of additional funding for cultural projects are still being sought.
France’s National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, designed by Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano and inaugurated in 1977, celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2027. During the closure, Center Pompidou projects will continue offsite. Culture Minister Rima Abdul Malak announced on May 10 that the institution would temporarily occupy the National Galleries of the Grand Palace during this period. The arts journal understands that the first exhibition organized by the Center Pompidou on the historic site will be devoted to the movement of art brut (Outsider Art).
The Center Pompidou will also forge a partnership with the Louvre by presenting works in the different departments of the museum (the Works of Art department is the first in the pipeline).
The initial restoration plan provided for the Center Pompidou to be closed for four years from the end of 2023 for essential maintenance work. Serge Lasvignes, the former president of the Center Pompidou, explained that the renovations were necessary due to corrosion and wear and tear affecting the building.
