Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers' inside-out building from 1977 — all exposed pipes, ducts, and escalators in colour-coded primary tones. Houses the Musée National d'Art Moderne (Europe's largest modern art collection), a public library, and a rooftop with sweeping city views.
Location
Map
Insider Intel
Take the external escalators to the top for the rooftop view (free with museum ticket, or buy a view-only ticket). The modern art collection spans Matisse, Picasso, Kandinsky, Duchamp, and every significant 20th-century movement. The temporary exhibitions are often exceptional. The plaza outside is perpetually animated with street performers and crowds.
Wednesday evening when the museum stays open late. First Sunday of the month is free but mobbed. The plaza is liveliest on weekends.
Opened in 1977 after a controversial design competition. Parisians initially loathed it — the building was compared to an oil refinery. The high-tech architecture movement it represents (exposed structure, services on the exterior) became hugely influential. The colour-coding: blue for air, green for water, yellow for electricity, red for circulation. The collection includes 100,000+ works from 1905 onward. The public library on the lower floors is free and excellent. The Beaubourg neighbourhood around the Centre was demolished and rebuilt to make space for the building — for better and worse.