Despite the wealth of beautiful buildings and historic landmarks that Paris has to offer, some of the city's longest queues can be found watching street performers outside a building that has been said to resemble a 'crazy oil refinery'!
The Pompidou Centre (or Beaubourg as it is sometimes called) houses the Musée mational d'art moderne, the Centre national d'art et du culture Georges Pompidou, Bibliothèque publique d'information, and the Institut de recherche et de coordination acoustique-musique. The art collection was initially of variable quality with several significant art movements poorly represented if at all. This has been rectified over the years through generous gifts, like Mme Kandinsky's bequest of her husband's pictures, and shrewd accessions and the museum now holds one of the finest collections of 20th century art in the world. The centre also functions as a showcase for all the creative arts, and there is an ambitious programme of temporary exhibitions.
The centre, named after Georges Pompidou (1911-74), President of the French Republic 1967-74, was built on the Plateau Beaubourg, a derelict area in Les Halles. It is ostentatiously modern, particularly in contrast to the historic buildings which surround it. Built between 1971 and 1977 to the designs of Renzo Piano (1937- )and Richard Rogers (1933- ), the service ducts and escalators are placed on the exterior of the building and brightly colour-coded to reveal their functions; thus the interior is singularly adaptable, having no fixed internal walls. The building is now a major tourist attraction, visited by more people than the Eiffel Tower. In response to criticism of its badly weathered exterior the centre was closed for totally renovated and reopened in 2000. In January 2002, Beaubourg was the scene of Yves Saint-Laurent's last show and "soirée d'adieu" with the Tout-Paris.
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This article was adapted from the entry for the Pompidou Centre in the 
