The Live Centre of Information

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The Live Centre of Information

From Pompidou to Beaubourg (1968–1971)

Boris Hamzeian

The Live Centre of Information: From Pompidou to Beaubourg (19691971) unpacks the history behind one of the most iconic buildings of contemporary architecture. On July 19, 1971, Jean Prouvé presented the winning design of the future Centre Pompidou in Paris to an astonished audience. The project’s architects, Renzo Piano, Richard Rogers, and Gianfranco Franchini, were considered “unknowns”; its sponsors, the engineers at Ove Arup & Partners, were simply forgotten; the project’s idea of a “Live Centre of Information” was denigrated as a “metallic dam” in the heart of Paris; the jury was presumed to have been dominated by the charismatic Philip Johnson and the man who initiated the competition, President of the Republic Georges Pompidou, to have been forced to bend to the jury’s will. Fifty years after those events, it is time to analyze these false certainties through the first chronological and documentary reconstruction of the genesis of the Centre Pompidou.

Co-publication with the Centre Pompidou Publication date Jan 2023 Size 7.6 x 9.3 in. / 19,5 x 23,5 cm Format Softcover · 240 pages ISBN Printed · EN 978-1-63840-055-4 ISBN Printed · IT 978-1-63840-057-8 ISBN Printed · FR 978-1-63840-064-6 Price $49.95 / €40 / £40

Related Titles Sendai Mediatheque ISBN 978-8-49595-103-8 Seattle Public Library ISBN 978-8-49595-163-2 RCR at Centre Pompidou ISBN 978-1-94876-583-1