Page 84 - Studio International - November December 1975

TWO NEW Appropriately enough, the two buildings reflect
antagonistic aims but one cannot help feeling that latent
aspirations and secretive motivational impulses account
MUSEUMS: for the counterpointed styles in this case. The Israel
Museum rises, as though on waves, on one of the central
JERUSALEM AND hills of the Holy City ; it is surrounded by olive groves and
its series of cubist forms melt into a battleship-like
silhouette on the horizon. The Centre Beaubourg, on the
PARIS other hand, is squeezed into a teeming labyrinth of little
streets to the east of the Boulevard Sebastopol ; an
artificial void in the old Les Halles quarter — a piazza
Report by R. C. Kenedy created through demolishing a characteristic corner of
Paris. Both conceptions are magnificently simple from an
The role of the museum was determined by pragmatic architectural point of view and both display formal
considerations during the nineteenth century when considerations derived from an idea of flexibility. But in
storehouses were built to house and display the Jerusalem open spaces permitted the architects to think
'treasures of the spirit' (to employ one of the intriguingly along the lines of external adaptability, whereas the
naive assumptions of our forefathers). The consequences confined boundaries of the Paris streets imposed a
of their rather shapeless and over-optimistic demand for free interiors. Thus, there is the contrast
assumptions are still with us, although practical questions between the notion of the shell and the hut, as represented
have involved us in modifying their views to a certain by concrete blocks — and this is the first distinction.
extent. Michael Compton gives an interesting and But there is a good deal more to it than that. The
accurate account of the role of the museum in the May/ architects of the Beaubourg Project (Piano & Rogers, in
June issue of Studio, acknowledging that our heritage conjunction with Ove Arup 8- Partners) submitted their
involves us in 'compromise that . . . reflects ambiguities . . : design to an international jury in 1970 : their entry excelled
the incomplete fusion of the roles of the treasure house among 681 competitive propositions because it is a glass
of unique art works, of the supplier of aesthetic structure. The tectonic principles of Piano & Rogers are
experiences and of the information resource'. He almost immaterial when related to the emblematic
excludes the creative part of the art museum, ignored as impact of their formulation, and it should be admitted
it is in the main by the great western museums themselves that their building is, in fact, a hymn to the contemporary
— although the conscious hopes of the last century uses of steel, stress, concrete and glass. It is a masterpiece
stressed this possibility, in some cases explicitly, and of modern technology which creates a transparent

Model of Centre Beaubourg, Paris Israel Museum, Jerusalem
unconsciously these expectations survived in the setting to illustrate the engineer's mathematics. It speaks
character of every great national collection. The museums with sophistication, elegance and terse eloquence — but
have influenced, and continue to mould, not only aesthetic the fact remains that every gesturally telling device
judgements, the economics of art, investment policies alludes directly as well as indirectly to glasshouse
and the experimentation of every avant-garde ; they also architecture.
have a subtle and less easily defined effect on national Surface features such as these tend to convey the
commitments of one kind or another. One cannot speak deliberations of a conscious stance, and this
of national attitudes in this context because the confrontation between hothouse and naval
connexions between leanings and aspirations are too architecture is, of course, no exception. The planners of
tenuous for general observations. But particular cases the Centre Beaubourg are the nursery men of art and
exist and in this report the programme of two new they wish to cultivate, to propagate art as though they
museums is discussed in order to show the powerful looked after precious, sensitive plants like orchids. In a
effect of purposive, politically oriented plans —the western society this attitude may well be inescapable
results of accepting the shaping energies of socially but Paris carries it to its logical conclusion. Pompidou
conceived needs. himself was a genuine lover of the arts and his presidency
Requirements vary according to local conditions and enabled him to indulge in a very Gallic bit of patriotism
these are, interestingly enough, emotive. It is relevant when he found the funds to raise a monument which
therefore to deal comparatively with the achievements of was to make Paris the artistic capital of the world once
the ten-year-old Israel Museum in Jerusalem and the still again. Nor should this highly explicit aim be forgotten
incomplete Centre Beaubourg (also known as the when the Centre is discussed. It is much the largest
'Georges Pompidou National Centre for Art 8- Culture') modern art museum in the world — and one of the largest
which is now being built in Paris. They represent polar museums in any case. 99m NF was spent on acquiring
opposites in many ways. The Israel Museum is an the site ; 298m NF was allocated for the building, with a
institution with quasi-universal aims and is designed to further 28m NF for complementary services ; 60m N F
house the testimonial relics of many cultures and periods for the Institute of Acoustical and Musical Research,
— including the contemporary. The Centre Beaubourg which is only loosely associated with the Centre; and
awaits the products of the twentieth century, including another 143m NF for equipping the Centre, insurances,
its most complete documentation envisaged so far. etc. A further 12½% is allowed for the effects of
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