Natalie_Pompidou

Pompidou

The guts are on the outside. That is one of the more candid ways Eric described the Pompidou. Initially, when I saw the building from afar during our first week I was very skeptical about whether it would impress me or not. I thought I knew the reasons it was impressive to others. It seemed obvious that the curving tunnels on the exterior where some sort of nod toward the feats of modern architecture and that would likely attract less traditional minded people. However, I was pleasantly surprised about 5 seconds after walking into the amazing shadow of the building. 

The Pompidou is more than just guts on the outside. It is a way of building so the people that utilize the area feel included in the function of the facade. The architecture found a way to bring the outside to the people as a way to welcome them into the function, process, and utilization of the place as a whole. 

We saw the control a building has over its neighborhood here more than any other place we have been so far. In this area we saw the Pompidou centralize a neighborhood  by cementing its industrialized architecture next to a park and local restaurants. Together these things create a grid, a giant “square” where people are circulated from one thing to the other and can find a way to “exist” in a variety of interactive and healthy ways. Here we see it happening in modern architecture, a park with a pond, and a chapel that exists within the contemporary space. 

The "Squirrel" Cage as I would like to call it but technically the escalator housing which is exposed in clear glass outside of the building. AWESOME VIEW OF THE CITY! (see below)

Example of how the park with the old steeple interact with the landscape.  Here the Pompidou is behind me.