Foto gentilmente concesse da Casa Editrice Bonechi

In 1969, Georges Pompidou decided to give life to an important cultural centre in the area called "plateau Beaubourg". An international competition was launched and was won by the project presented by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers. Commenced in April 1972, it was officially inaugurated by Giscard d'Estaing on 31st January 1977. The building, an "urban machine" as it has often been defined, occupies an area of one hundred thousand square metres. Each tube on the outside is painted in a different colour, with every colour corresponding to a different function: blue corresponds to the climatisation system, yellow to the electric one, red to the ventilation system and green to the water circuits. The last three floors house the National Museum of Modern Art. To the side of the Beaubourg, there is the "Tinguely fountain", the kinetic sculpture of the Nouveau Réalisme group, which was officially formed in Paris on 27th October 1960.