Well, it is my first full day in Paris and I am exhausted. My apartment, located in the 15th arrondissement, is a far walk from most sites and other tourists attractions, so I scrambled my way into a crowded Métro car before heading off to today’s destinations: the Pompidou, IRCAM and Louvre. To officially jumpstart my morning, I grabbed two chocolate croissants (one for immediate consumption, the other for a late morning snack, which began two minutes later) from a local pâtisserie. I then arrived at the Louvre – camera, satchel (NOT fanny pack), notebook and map ready – and learned that like most museums in Paris, the Louvre closes on Tuesdays. Today is Tuesday. So, I hurried to the Centre Pompidou (once again via hectic Métro), only to find that it is closed as well. As a result, for today’s entry, I have only given you my write up for the Pompidou since I could observe the most from outside its closed doors.

Centre Pompidou:


The Centre Pompidou (Centre national d'art et de culture Georges Pompidou) is a prominent modern structure in Paris and serves as the country’s center for contemporary art. From my much loved Ferris wheel view, the Centre Pompidou rises above Paris’ low-lined sprawl of Haussmann-style roofs, competing in scale with the Louvre, Opéra Garnier and Notre Dame de Paris. However, the building’s colors and design are what strike me the most. The colors – bright red, yellow, green, blue and white – are all assigned to specific structural features in the cultural center (for example, yellow marks electricity cables and blue marks air ducts) and add splurges of color uncommon in the stone and white plastered Parisian buildings.








However, the design is what is most impressive, reflecting Pompidou architects Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano’s abilities to fully exploit the notion of “form follows function”. By placing typically interior features such as stairs, walkways, steel supports and piping on the museum’s exterior, Rogers and Piano succeeded in creating more space for galleries while simplifying the building’s interior design. The Centre Pompidou – full of color, shape and contrasts – seems to exemplify modernism’s redefinition of living space and how we use it. This site is crucial when touring Paris. Not only is its art collection a key attraction, but the center is also a paradigm of the synthesis between the traditional and the modern styles.

-Ian
Philip Johnson Glass House Intern