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POMPIDOU
CENTER METZ
New Modern Art Museum of Lorraine
Metz
is the capital of the Lorraine region of northern France, known more
for its industry and art glass than modern art, but since May of 2010,
this city which sits on the crossroads between three countries has
a new monument to art, named for a former French president. The brand
new Pomidou Center Metz is a museum of modern and contemporary arts
featuring changing temporary exhibitions from the French National Museum
of Modern Art. The building is as impressive, or perhaps as expressive
as any of the art which is displayed on its three floors of galleries.
Designed by the innovative Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, known for
his work with paper and cardboard as construction material and Frenchman
Jean Gastines, the center seems to mix two styles in one curious amalgam.
Located just behind the main railway station of Metz, surrounded by
a revitalizing city area, the museum appears rather like a Japanese
Pagoda with a ski slope of snow on its roof, said to be inspired by
a Chinese hat found blown onto the streets of Paris.
The
view of the roof supports of a lattice work of laminated wood is the
most impressive visual reference, intersecting in the hexagonal geometry
of the structure intended to resemble the cane work pattern of a woven
bamboo Asian chapeau. The snowy white appearance of the roof covering
is of self-cleaning slippery Teflon coated fiberglass fabric, with
a protruding window from the upper floor gallery and restaurant presenting
views over the city, looking back toward the old center of town dominated
by the Gothic spire of the St Stephen Cathedral. The museum is reached
by passing under the rail road tracks from the train station, with
the approach walkway and surrounding construction zone posted with
photographs of the building process. The Pomidou Centre is built on
the location where the amphitheater of Roman times once stood. Portions
of the Roman foundations and sculptures can be seen in Metz’s
city history museum.
Intended
as the flagship to drive the resurgence of the less well discovered
Lorraine region, the design is at once audacious and oddly undefined.
Once inside the Pompidou Centre Metz the rotating collection from the
vast vaults of the display in strait forward exhibition spaces reached
by escalator and elevator, ranges from the conceptual to the oblique,
painting to video and in between, Braque to Bouroullec, with a diverse
program in the theater, including dance, concerts, films and youth
events. Also on site is a book and gift shop. The restaurant Restaurant “La
Voile Blanche” is open for lunch and dinner and the Bar 333 offers
views out the panoramic window of the upper gallery.
Visiting the Pomidou Center Metz
The museum is open daily except Tuesdays - Monday and Wednesday, 11am to 6pm, Thursday and Friday 11am to 8pm, Saturday 10am to 8pm, Sunday 10am to 6pm. Closed Tuesdays and May 1st. Admission price is €7, though youth and adults under 26 are free. By train Metz can be reached from Paris on the TGV Est (see TGV Fast Trains) in about 1 hour 20 minutes, or from Brussels or Frankfurt in about 3 hours (see German ICE Train). By car, Metz is on the main A4 auto route between Paris and Strasbourg. © Bargain Travel Europe
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Centre
Pompidou
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See Also:
MUSEUM OF ROMAN & MEDIEVAL HISTORY – METZ
MAGINOT LINE FORTRESS SIMSERHOF
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