Architectures of Greater Paris (1948-2020)

The seventy-five projects chosen from the Centre Pompidou’s architecture collection make up an anthology that represents different periods in Parisian town planning. They also testify to the adventure of a collection that has acquired diversity and wealth over the thirty years of its existence, providing a critical review of the transformations of the great city. The exhibition showcases little-known works in contrast with prestigious historic projects. The event in Shanghai thus renews the commitment of the collection with regardto contemporary creators, while simultaneously ensuring the propagation of the Parisian architectural heritage on an international scale.

In a chronological layout that opens with a panorama of photographs of the architecture of the sixties by Vera Cardot and Pierre Joly, room after room, visitors discover edifices that illustrate the evolution of stylistic trends, from the brutalism of reinforced concrete constructions to the lightness of buildings constructed with steel. The questions that inspired architects also evolved: how to relate new creations to the old city, whether or not to endow future monuments with a monumental character.

Social housing has a strong presence, with innovative experiments contrasted with large complexes: the towers of Emile Aillaud (1973-1981) and the renovation of the city centre of Ivry-sur-Seine by Renée Gailhoustet and Jean Renaudie (1969-1982). We find a long-term adventure in the creation of Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle airport (1967-2003). The layout is punctuated with the major works of President François Mitterand: La Villette park by Bernard Tschumi (1982-1998), the Ministry of Finance by Paul Chemetov and Borja Huidobro (1982-1988), the Grand Arch at La Défense by Paul Andreu and Johan Otto von Spreckelsen (1982-1989), the Cité de la Musique by Christian de Portzamparc (1984-1995) and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France by Dominique Perrault (1989-1995).

Very tall constructions have appeared over the years: housing in the Croulebarbe building (1957-1960), offices in the Montparnasse tower (1958-1973), a cultural institution with the Centre Pompidou (1971-1977), and more recently the Tribunal de Paris (Paris courts, 2010-2017). Some creators had the opportunity to leave their print on the capital: Jean Nouvel is thus present in the exhibition with the Institut du Monde Arabe (1981-1987), the Cartier foundation for contemporary art (1991-1994), the Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac Museum (1996-2006) and the Paris Philharmonic (2006-2015). Similarly, since the achievement of Piano and Rogers, major names in
international architecture have set their seal on notable constructions in the Paris region: Oscar Niemeyer, Tadao Ando, Frank Gehry, Rem Koolhaas, SANAA and MAD Architects.