a pompidou interlude

a pompidou interlude, originally uploaded by julienpaul.

Thirty-three years after the centre Pompidou was completed in Paris the Metz satellite opened its doors this month to a large round of applause (for it inaugural exhibition) and boos (for everything else).

Designed by Mr Paper himself, Shigeru Ban, and Jean de Gastines, it will house exhibitions and portions of the vast Paris collection (the largest collection of modern art in Europe, no doubt only second in the world to MOMA), but amass no collection of its own.

The initial renders of the project depicted a building that was already horribly dated, a blast from the 80s that was programatically dull (only a museum, not a bustling hub like the Paris outpost) and overall, a bit of a mess.

All reality added was bad detailing, cheap window frames, horrible circulation and an empty entry hall.

Ok, lets back up a moment. The design involves a very Shigeru Ban timber lattice thrown over three long narrow galleries stacked on each other. The lattice is actually quite beautiful, and obviously where most of the effort and money went.

The actual envelope of the gallery is a mess of cheap materials, exposed services (if this is a nod to the Paris Pompidou centre, then it is a rather offensive one) and a huge office block that looks like cheap public housing.

Once inside, you will be wowed by the very tall, but rather awkwardly shaped entry hall, before being shoved through a series of rabbit warren like spaces to try and find the exhibition halls. All circulation occurs either through two lifts, or a fire escape that was obviously never meant to accommodate the public.

The only dramatic architectural moment occurs as you rise in the building and start to see some of the gallery spaces intersect within the lattice. An opportunity was lost in not allowing people to walk on and around these volumes except for a few hidden and forgotten balconies.

People will argue, and rightfully, that the exhibition spaces themselves are not bad: well lit, good views at either end. But I will argue back: who the hell decided on the contents of this building? A cafe that only opens on the outside? A puny bookshop? No auditorium?

The Pompidou Centre in Paris not only works as a piece of architecture, with its glorious circulation (the escalator) and flexible exhibition spaces, it also defines itself as more than a museum: cinemas, two floors of public library, shops, the national sound experimentation centre, etc etc etc

The Metz Pompidou centre is nothing more than a museum, the type that was already in existence 200 years ago. It is a lost opportunity in every sense, and is clearly just a reusing of the name "Pompidou" as a type of watered down branding.

This will hopefully not be a sign of things to come. I still have high hopes for the two Louvre satellites, by SANAA and Jean Nouvel. Hopefully this will be the one dud in the family.