Pompidou Center

The competition entry for the design of a major cultural centre for the Place Beaubourg in Paris was produced in conjunction with a design studio and 14 students at the Yale School of Art and Architecture. The program included a national library, museums of art and industrial design, theatres, restaurants and cafes, as well as an RER station for high-speed trains connecting to the metropolitan region. The centre was conceived as two inclined planes cantilevered from the sidewalk across the centre of the block. From one corner, the pedestrian sees only terraces of glass and greenery – a public park – that can be ascended from street level. On the opposite corner, the whole sheltered superspace is visible, with facades of the surrounding Paris hotels forming the enclosing walls of the complex. Glass walls and roofs allow sunlight directly into the lower levels, and invite public views to and from the surrounding streets. One cantilevered wing holds the library; the other, the art museum. Stepping down six levels below the street are daylit art galleries, the industrial design museum, museum administration, theatres and a restaurant. Circulation through the cultural centre is based on the concept of a Ferris wheel, with continuously rotating cabs stopping periodically at each level from subway to rooftop restaurant.