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Design and industrial prospective

Founded in 1969, the Centre de Création Industrielle aimed to bridge the gap between design and industry, integrating the sociology of usage and innovation. In 1992, it merged with the Musée National d’Art Moderne, bringing their collections together.

Design

The design collection of the Musée National d’Art Moderne encompasses around 10,000 works by nearly 900 designers, spanning from the early 20th century to the present. It traces the paths of creators—designers, architects, and graphic artists—who shaped modernity and opened new aesthetic and technical avenues. This collection also engages in a fruitful dialogue with the museum’s collections of modern and contemporary art, architecture, and photography.

 

The collection boasts exceptional French modernist holdings centered on the UAM (Union des Artistes Modernes, 1929), featuring figures such as Charlotte Perriand, Pierre Chareau, Eileen Gray, Jean Prouvé, and Robert Mallet-Stevens. Internationally, it includes key works representing the Bauhaus, De Stijl, Eastern and Central European countries, as well as Japan.

The Centre Pompidou’s collection also contains a unique ensemble of Italian design, with the largest holding being that of Ettore Sottsass Jr., including over 500 works and rare archives housed in the Bibliothèque Kandinsky. The collection also features over 200 works by Andrea Branzi and a significant representation of Michele de Lucchi, Bruno Munari, Joe Colombo, Gino Sarfatti, Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, Vico Magistretti, Gae Aulenti, Aldo Rossi, and Gaetano Pesce.

As for French design, Serge Mouille is represented through a collection of more than 150 works, and Pierre Paulin with a set of 70 drawings, among other pieces. Industrial colorists from the 1960s and 1970s are also present through important holdings (Jean-Philippe Lenclos, André Lemonnier, Cler, Fillacier Grillo, etc.). In terms of contemporary French design, more than 300 works by Philippe Starck are featured. Additionally, collections have been built around designers such as Patrick Jouin, Martin Szekely, Jean-Paul Goude, Matali Crasset, François Azambourg, Jean-Baptiste Fastrez, Pierre Charpin, Nathalie du Pasquier, Martine Bedin, and Ronan Bouroullec.

The design collection also emphasizes the contribution of women designers to design history, from Simone Prouvé to Hella Jongerius.

In the realm of graphic design, Jean Widmer and Hans-Jürg Hunziker are highlighted, both tied to the graphic history of the Centre Pompidou, alongside Roman Cieslewicz and Milton Glaser, with a collection of 2,000 posters from over 300 graphic designers.

Industrial Prospective

Through the Centre de Création Industrielle, industrial prospective has directed the Centre Pompidou’s collection towards new sociological and technological territories, which are constantly evolving. This forward-looking approach revives the transdisciplinary spirit of the Centre de Création Industrielle, addressing today’s technological and environmental challenges. The collection focuses on the creative language of designers, exploring the object as well as its design process through drawings and processual research elements.

 

The design collection thus includes numerous innovative works utilizing digital design and manufacturing, featuring designers such as Neri Oxman, Ross Lovegrove, Joris Laarman, and Matthias Bengtsson.

Many works have also been acquired in connection with environmental issues, addressing concerns such as recovery, recycling, and even biofabrication. Today, designers’ research is situated between vernacular craftsmanship and technological innovation (e.g., Klarenbeek & Dros, Fernando Laposse, Samuel Tomatis). In search of new models, sustainable design opens up new forms of "collaboration" with the living world, a theme central to the collection.

Explore full design and industrial collection