Centre Pompidou: Renzo Piano, Richard Rogers, and the Making of a Modern Monument

by Francesco Dal Co

Overview

A lively intellectual biography of one of the 20th century’s most iconic buildings

The Centre Georges Pompidou, also called Beaubourg, is today considered an icon of contemporary Paris, the quintessence of a modern building, and a model for what a museum can be. In 1971, Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers, together with the engineering firm Ove Arup & Partners, won an international architecture competition with their innovative and irreverent design. Completed in 1977, the building was at first received skeptically by critics, yet it was quickly embraced by the public as a beloved monument of the modern city of Paris. This lively intellectual biography of the building explores its history and the reasons for its success, from its genesis as a politically calculated response to Paris’s turbulent 1968 student protests to the role played by architects in its construction, as well as the historical influences and the engineering solutions that inform its design. A key reason for the Centre Pompidou’s success indeed lies in its ability to channel architectural memory, connecting it powerfully to Paris’s historic urban fabric. This essential text on one of the twentieth century’s most significant buildings is accompanied by a portfolio of rare drawings and photographs. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780300221299
Publisher:	Yale University Press
Publication date:	11/29/2016
Series:	Great Architects/Great Buildings
Pages:	168
Product dimensions:	7.20(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	2 - 5 Years

About the Author

Francesco Dal Co is professor of history of architecture at the Istituto Universitario di Architettura Venezia (IUAV) and director of the architecture magazine Casabella. His many publications include Modern Architecture (with Manfredo Tafuri) and Figures of Architecture and Thought.

Table of Contents

Preface vi

Chapter 1 Paris 1968: "Reform Yes, Masquerade No" 1

Chapter 2 Butterfly Effects: Beaubourg's Architects and Engineers 15

Chapter 3 The Competition: The President, the Jury, and the Jesters 53

Chapter 4 A Legitimate Transgression 67

Chapter 5 The Intact Beauty of Paris 91

Portfolio of Photographs and Drawings 103

Bibliographical Note 147

Acknowledgments 157

Photograph Credits 158

Editorial Reviews

10/17/2016
Though simple was the accolade most used by the building’s design jury in 1971 to describe Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano’s winning entry, Dal Co (Figures of Architecture and Thought) looks behind, or rather through, that facade to reveal the complex past and present of that singular structure. It takes quite a lot of effort to make something look simple, or at least that’s the case with the Centre Pompidou, one Paris’s architectural treasures. The book ably synthesizes the cultural, political, and theoretical origins and reception of the structure, paying special attention to the ironies at play in the design. The building was selected by an international jury on the grounds that it “should not be a ‘monument’ ” and should be designed by non-French architect, and it has since become an iconic symbol of Paris. It has been both praised and despised for its mechanical appearance, which is the product of artisanal detail work. Dal Co includes revelations throughout this erudite study, much like the architects themselves, who “consider the obsolete and the new with the same objective detachment, aiming to surprise and reassure, only to realize during the course of the project that the content of a work and the inadvertent impulses it generates can shed light on and enhance each other.” (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

"Dal Co looks behind, or rather through, [the Centre Pompidou's] facade to reveal the complex past and present of that singular structure. . . . [He] includes revelations throughout this erudite study."—Publishers Weekly

“This brief study includes a selection of visuals that range from architectural drawings to beautiful images of the building and its details. . . . [Centre Pompidou] will find an audience among nonspecialists.”—Choice

“Francesco Dal Co has reconstructed an incredible adventure and his account is revelatory. Upon reading it, I realized many things that I had personally experienced but had never before understood.”—Renzo Piano

“The Centre Pompidou has inaugurated the age of spectacular cultural projects. From its genesis in post-’68 Paris to its worldwide reception, Francesco Dal Co has masterfully chronicled the epics of its invention.”—Jean-Louis Cohen, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University


“Francesco Dal Co’s excellent history delivers an agile and incisive perspective on the Centre Georges Pompidou and its political and cultural context in the wake of Paris 1968.”—Richard Rogers


“This indispensable book recounts how architects and engineers working in late-1960s London gave birth to an architectural vision in the iconic Centre Pompidou, a building that still inspires architects today.”—Rafael Moneo, Pritzker Prize-winning architect and professor, Harvard Graduate School of Design


“This unparalleled account of the Centre Pompidou eloquently draws together the many threads that make it one of the twentieth-century’s key buildings. Based solidly in the historical record, the book is also a meditative reflection on architecture and history writing today.”—Nicholas Adams, Vassar College

From the Publisher

This unparalleled account of the Centre Pompidou eloquently draws together the many threads that make it one of the twentieth-century’s key buildings. Based solidly in the historical record, the book is also a meditative reflection on architecture and history writing today.”—Nicholas Adams, Vassar College

Nicholas Adams

This indispensable book recounts how architects and engineers working in late-1960s London gave birth to an architectural vision in the iconic Centre Pompidou, a building that still inspires architects today.”—Rafael Moneo, Pritzker Prize-winning architect and professor, Harvard Graduate School of Design

Rafael Moneo

Francesco Dal Co’s excellent history delivers an agile and incisive perspective on the Centre Georges Pompidou and its political and cultural context in the wake of Paris 1968.”—Richard Rogers

Richard Rogers

The Centre Pompidou has inaugurated the age of spectacular cultural projects. From its genesis in post-’68 Paris to its worldwide reception, Francesco Dal Co has masterfully chronicled the epics of its invention.”—Jean-Louis Cohen, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University

Jean-Louis Cohen

Francesco Dal Co has reconstructed an incredible adventure and his account is revelatory. Upon reading it, I realized many things that I had personally experienced but had never before understood.”—Renzo Piano
 

Renzo Piano

Francesco Dal Co weaves together anecdotes, history, and a poignant analysis of the design and construction of one of Paris’s most iconic buildings, as well as its surrounding political and social conditions. Early blueprints and photographs are paired with news coverage and critiques to contextualize the Centre Pompidou as a truly influential Modernist undertaking.” —Metropolis
 

Metropolis

Dal Co’s book, an extensive and intriguing history of the structure that transformed a bland car park in Centre Beaubourg into museum of the future, offers a great starting point for a serious reflection on its impact and legacy.”—Patrick Sisson, Curbed

Curbed - Patrick Sisson

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