Five years of closure for the Center Pompidou in Paris. One of the most important museums of modern and contemporary art in the world, will close completely for works at the end of 2025 and will reopen in 2030, announced this Wednesday the Minister of Culture, Rima Abdul Malak. Inaugurated in 1977 in the heart of the capital, it has never been renovated. Since its opening, it has welcomed some 300 million visitors, underlined the minister during a press conference. The move and phased closure will begin in fall 2024.
Announced in 2021 by the Minister of Culture at the time, Roselyne Bachelot, these modernization and asbestos removal works, which will cost 262 million euros, were initially to extend from 2023 to 2027, the year of the 50th anniversary of the establishment. . This work had become essential due to the corrosion and wear and tear affecting the huge building, which notably houses very important collections of modern and contemporary art, vast exhibition spaces and a very large library. They will make it possible to “sustain its survival”, insisted the minister.
Freshly renovated competition
Renovation and asbestos removal work on all the facades, fire safety, energy optimization of the building, as well as the necessary arrangements for better accessibility for people with reduced mobility, should begin in early 2026. At the reopening , the spaces of the museum will keep the same positioning but the hanging will be redesigned in a “multidisciplinary perspective”. New spaces for young people are planned, as well as the expansion of its library. The renovated version of the museum thus wants to be able to stand up to the Bourse du commerce and its brand new building or the Louis Vuitton Foundation and its impressive modern setting.
Still, the total closure comes in full resumption of dating, after several years of health crisis linked to Covid-19. In this context, support for the Center Pompidou-Metz will be reinforced and the Ile-de-France center for conservation and creation in Massy is due to open in 2026.