Centre Pompidou-Metz

Metz, France

This annex for the Pompidou Center in Paris, is to be built in Metz as a complex including an art museum and theater. By locating a large roof in the park, and by opening the glass shutter façade around the perimeter, a continuous transition of the interior and exterior space is created.

The roof is made from laminated wood in a hexagonal woven pattern composed in the form of a Chinese bamboo-woven hat. This large wooden roof is covered in a Teflon-coated fiberglass membrane and allows soft natural light to filter into the interior.

The main galleries are a series of 90mx15m cantilevering rectilinear tubes that float above the ground, and their glass window ends point in the direction of the cathedral and other monuments of the city.

Other Projects by Shigeru Ban Architects 

Villa Vista
Weligama, Sri Lanka
Onagawa Container Temporary Housing
Miyagi, Japan
TAMEDIA Office Building
Zurich, Switzerland
Paper Art Museum
Shizuoka, Japan
HERMES PAVILION
Tokyo, Japan