A new conservation and creation centre

The Centre Pompidou houses one of the two largest collections of modern and contemporary art in the world and the largest in Europe. With over 140,000 works, this national collection owned by the French State and held by the Musée National d'Art Moderne is without equal in the diversity of fields of creation and disciplines covered. 
The constant enrichment of the collection - at a rate of three acquisition committees per year - and the scope of its loans, not only in France but also abroad through the Centre Pompidou’s international outreach, makes its reserves a key strategic component for conservation. 
Currently running out of room in its storage spaces in the north of Paris, the Centre Pompidou wishes to build a larger space with equipment and facilities that are perfectly suited to the preservation of its holdings and open to innovation in the field of conservation/restoration.

Building on its mission to share the greatest number of works with the most diverse range of audiences possible and on its experience at regional, national and international level, the Centre Pompidou has designed this new space to be a shared and open venue for hosting rich, multidisciplinary and inclusive programmes in close collaboration with local players.

Made possible by its partnership with the Ile-de-France Region, the Essonne department, the Paris-Saclay agglomeration community and the town of Massy, with the support of the State, the Centre Pompidou’s future Ile-de-France centre will open in 2026 in Massy.

Designed by the Parisian agency PCA-STREAM Philippe Chiambaretta Architecte, the Centre Pompidou Francilien – La fabrique de l'art / Musée national Picasso-Paris is a building with a dual character, expressing the paradox of its ambitious program.

• On one side, the "coffre" (strongbox), a closed monolith that allows controlled natural light to enter the workshops, ensuring the best conditions for the preservation and restoration of two of the world's greatest collections of modern art. 
• On the other side, a welcoming and open profile to bring together a new audience from the région Ile-de-France around the collections and the professions, thus pursuing the avant-garde philosophy of the project by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers.

Two years of fine-tuning in dialogue with the museum teams have allowed PCA-STREAM to design an optimized and streamlined facility, maximizing space efficiency to reduce unnecessary surface area and save on materials and budget. It features a flexible and modular framework, ensuring durability, and incorporates sustainable and long-lasting materials.

The entire design is aimed at providing the best working conditions, facilitating circulation, and promoting synergies among the teams. Just as the Pompidou Center opens up to the city through its Piazza, the Centre Pompidou Francilien extends towards the Parc de la Blanchette and its lake through a tree-lined promenade. Its façade, large wooden walkways, vegetated steps, and reflection in the lake become the markers of a new dialogue between nature and culture.

Construction will begin in May 2024, and the opening is scheduled for the summer of 2026.

In 2019, in the run-up to this project and in collaboration with local, cultural and academic players as well as schools and non-profit organisations, the Centre Pompidou launched a programme extending across the Ile-de-France region.
Its actions, such as the presentation of works from the collection, mediation work, the experimentation of new artistic techniques and the creation of research and training partnerships with the academic world, are occasions and opportunities to meet local audiences and build close ties with regional stakeholders.

Since 2016, the Ile-de-France region has made culture a priority aspect of its policy to renew its role as the leading cultural metropolis in Europe since 2016.

With an unprecedented budget of €102 million in 2022 - an increase of over 20% in 6 years – the aim of our strategy is to consolidate recovery, initiate new actions and strengthen the support for our partners. In connection with towns and state departments and with €6 million dedicated to projects in Ile-de-France high schools, this strategy covers all areas of culture including live performance - which plays such an important role in Ile-de-France -, heritage, cinema, audiovisual technology and video games, books and reading, the plastic, visual and digital arts, street art, young artists and artistic and cultural education.

Ile-de-France’s objective: culture for all throughout the region.
Our aim is to rebalance the cultural offer in Ile-de-France and to fight against territorial divides, promote the emergence of new artists and creative diversity and provide access to high-quality cultural and artistic opportunities for residents on the outskirts – especially in rural areas – close to where they live.

The project for the creation of the Centre Pompidou Francilien–Fabrique de l'Art future conservation and creation centre to house the Centre Pompidou’s collection, to which the Ile-de-France Region is dedicating €20 million, is in line with the cultural strategy put in place by the local authorities and which can be summarised in three key words: inclusion, itinerance and creation.

Valérie Pécresse, President of the Île-de-France Region
Florence Portelli, Vice-President for Culture, Heritage and Creation

A new ambition for Essonne's heritage

Authentic by nature and avant-garde by temperament, Essonne is a young department that, in fifty years, has broadened its field of possibilities by tapping its vast potential. As one of the most dynamic areas in France and the most attractive in the Ile-de-France, Essonne has become a real "land of opportunity". The Department is a major actor for local cultural development and operates in multiple fields such as contemporary art, museums, heritage, artistic and cultural education, cinema, live performance and public reading. It is a real "secret garden of Ile-de-France", boasting an exceptional natural environment and a wide range of cultural and sporting activities and placing the well-being and development of Essonne residents at the heart of its priorities.

From this perspective, the creation in Massy of a new Ile-de-France conservation and creation centre for the Centre Pompidou’s internationally renowned collection is a real springboard and an undeniably exciting project for Essonne and its inhabitants.

Multiple projects are being prepared to share the museum’s works with as many Essonne residents as possible, including collaborations with the Domaine de Chamarande and the Musée Français de la Photographie, universities and schools.

Particular attention will be paid to rural residents and Essonne college students through the creation of specific exhibition modules outside the Museum. Touring projects will also travel to the many cultural venues in the area.

All Essonne residents, whether in rural or urban areas and whether experts in art or not, young or old, will be able to enjoy a place of excellence open to all.
This exceptional opportunity brings with it a twofold aim: to benefit the whole region and place Essonne at the heart of the French and international cultural offer.

François Durovray, Preident of the Essonne Department
Sandrine Gélot, Vice-President for Culture, Sports, Youth and Associations

Since its creation, the Paris-Saclay agglomeration has promoted the idea of culture in motion, uniting our 27 municipalities around a joint ambition for transmission and sharing. Paris-Saclay is not only a place of economic innovation and ecological transition, but also a place of artistic creation and education. Culture is a source of awareness, knowledge and solidarity and, as such, is one of our main priorities. This is why our network of media libraries and conservatories play such an important role in disseminating a rich and varied cultural programme for all. 

In this sense, the creation of the Centre Pompidou’s future Ile-de-France conservation and creation centre in Massy is an exceptional opportunity. 
Firstly, because it provides the territory with a new cultural venue in addition to other particularly emblematic sites such as the Massy Opera House and Longjumeau theatre; secondly, because it will provide the opportunity to introduce the very unique world of contemporary creation to new audiences who are sometimes far away, particularly geographically. 

The future site will also make it possible to present art and the work that goes on behind the scenes in a single place for the first time and to improve awareness of the professions and techniques of showcasing and conserving of works of art. Located a just few kilometres from the Paris-Saclay innovation cluster, the future "Massy Centre Pompidou" will also provide an opportunity for closer collaboration to forge potential links between the artistic world and science - a sure sign, no doubt, of new promising and inspiring perspectives.
Such a diverse range of prospects really sets this project apart!
We are very proud to welcome an international player of such calibre to our region and to accompany the town of Massy in this great adventure!

Grégoire de Lasteyrie, President of the Paris-Saclay agglomeration community

In 2026, Massy will welcome the Centre Pompidou's Ile-de-France conservation and creation centre. The town would like to express its pride and gratitude and its desire to succeed together to the Ile-de-France Region, the Essonne Department, the Paris-Saclay agglomeration community, the University and, of course, the Centre Pompidou and the French State. 

A local ambition

Massy is a dense town of urban districts, with old villages and communities of detached houses, large housing estates from the 1960s, the former industrial zone that is becoming an "emblematic district of Greater Paris" around its station… The population of Massy reflects this urban patchwork. It is diverse, young and energetic, combining working-class neighbourhoods listed as priority urban development areas and a very dynamic economic activity.
Massy is one of those unique places that France needs in order to transform itself. In an area close to the capital where hypercentralisation is a major weakness, Massy has taken the risk of development. The town aspires to be a place of centrality, a place that welcomes and draws people in, aware that welcoming is never simple and it is much easier to close one's doors. Massy benefits from exceptional accessibility that will be further enhanced by the arrival of line 18 of the Grand Paris Express, scheduled for the same time as the opening of the new site. This accessibility is a key factor for both visitors and Centre Pompidou staff.

A cultural ambition

A popular, "mixed" town, Massy affirms that it is here, in the suburbs, that diverse populations meet, that the country's future is built and that the most fertile projects are born. These projects will be economic, social, urban… but culture will always play a central role. By hosting the Centre Pompidou, Massy establishes its ambition of building one of the most attractive, varied and exciting cultural venues in Ile-de-France in a popular suburban district.
The Centre Pompidou will not be arriving on virgin ground. Culture already plays a vital role in Massy with the Opera House – the only one in the suburbs –, the Paul B. concert hall, media libraries, cinemas, the conservatory, etc. and, above all, the conviction that lifelong artistic and cultural education is a means of emancipation for all.

The Centre Pompidou’s "hybrid" project fills us with enthusiasm. Our aim is for it to become a unique venue for access to culture but also an attractive destination for lovers of contemporary art where they can discover it in a different way.

Nicolas Samsoen, Mayor
Pierre Ollier, Deputy Mayor for Culture

Art and science: a research partnership between the Centre Pompidou and Paris-Saclay University

The Centre Pompidou's mission is not only to share its exceptional collection with the general public, but also to preserve it. To this end, the new Ile-de-France conservation and creation centre for the Musée National d'Art Moderne’s collection has been designed as a laboratory of innovative artwork conservation techniques. 

The Centre Pompidou and Paris-Saclay University have joined forces to work together on the implementation of preventive conservation techniques and protocols applied to the works. The main fields of research focus on three key areas:

• identifying materials and techniques, studying damage and validating treatment protocols;
• documentation for conservation and mediation: digital processes, 3D techniques, new technologies;
• preventive conservation and sustainable development: alternative materials, tools and measurement.

Furthermore, the Centre Pompidou and Paris-Saclay University share a common aim of decompartmentalising the scientific, artistic and cultural worlds, offering global reflection on "Arts, Sciences & Society", between creation, transmission and mediation. The main areas of experimentation are part of the Campus – Arts, Sciences & Society project, which is based on three focus points:

• co-constructing and proposing artistic and cultural actions during university events;
• encouraging connections between teaching content and the Centre Pompidou;
• setting up cycles of exchange and pedagogical discussion.