Located just outside of the Marais district, between Les Halles and Hôtel de Ville, Centre Georges Pompidou effortlessly towers above the crêperies and cafés that surround it. At 46 meters (about 150 feet) tall, Centre Pompidou rivals even the historically momentous 50-meter-tall Arch de Triomphe. Its stark contrast amidst small shops, streets, and apartment buildings of Haussmanized 19th century Paris have helped it earn its startling architectural controversy among many. Like other modern monuments of Paris including Gustave Eiffel's famous tower for the 1889 World's Fair entrance and the Tour Montparnasse skyscraper that pierces the Parisian skyline, Centre Pompidou has created a similar opposition. French Author Guy de Maupassant went to the Eiffel Tower's restaurant for lunch every day, since it was the one place in Paris where the tower could not be seen. Similarly, the Montparnasse building is often said to be the most beautiful view of Paris for this reason. It was even voted the second-ugliest building in the world by a poll of editors on Virtualtourist in 2008. The view from the top of Centre Pompidou is a surprisingly good one by this definition, which encompasses a neat stack of apartment buildings with the Eiffel Tower and Sacre Cœur sitting atop their roofs, each situated on opposite sides of the horizon. Here, the bright-colored pipes and scaffolding-looking structures that hold the building together are nowhere to be seen.
Looking past Pompidou's hideous sight, it is in fact a well-crafted intellectual space for literature, art, and information. Many students, researchers, and locals can be found lost in the long shelves of books at the bibliothèque section of the center. The other part of Centre Pompidou is the Musée National d'Art Moderne, which hosts several works by renowned impressionist and modern artists including Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, and Jackson Pollock. It is the largest museum for modern art in Europe, featuring paintings predominantly from the 20th and 21st centuries. While its horrid exterior has raised dissent among large communities, Centre Pompidou's museum interior seems to have been given more thought when constructed. Each work owns the space of which it is placed, allowing visitors to take their time between each piece of art. This provides a much more relaxed setting than that of Musée du Louvre, where tourists and students alike scramble to get the best views of each painting from cramped walls of seemingly monochrome colors. In fact, when walking from gallery to gallery, the crowds are nowhere to be found. From its creative contemporary art exhibit to its "closeted" famous works, Centre Pompidou has well-earned its title as Paris's most underrated museum - a strikingly interesting venue hidden from plain sight. The museum also offers free admission to students who are studying in Paris with a valid identification card. |