La bataille des couleurs à Beaubourg, 1971-1977 | Catalogue de l'exposition

Description

Its colors serve a rhetorical function that transcends mere decorative or aesthetic effects: white is associated with the structural skeleton; gray is reserved for all the other elements of the metal framework; red highlights the mechanical circulation systems (elevators, escalators); blue identifies the air conditioning system ducts; and yellow and green, finally, refer to the electrical and hydraulic networks.

These colors, which today seem so obvious in the Parisian landscape, are in fact the result of intense debates held over the years between the conclusion of the competition for the building and its inauguration: amidst alliances, rejections, stances taken, and betrayals, numerous players (architects, cultural figures, artists, etc.) attempted to color this metal shell erected in the heart of Paris. This richly illustrated book offers a lively and stimulating account of these debates.

Boris Hamzeian, architect and architectural historian, is a research fellow in the architecture department of the National Museum of Modern Art at the Centre Pompidou.