Paris reinvents its landmarks: Notre-Dame and the Centre Pompidou at the heart of a major renewal!
A symbol of French heritage, Notre Dame’s Cathedral is the subject of an ambitious redevelopment project for its surroundings, incorporating landscaping, enhancement of the forecourt, and creation of an underground visitor center.
Two major projects will transform the experience of Parisians and visitors alike in the years to come. The City of Paris is committed to a greener, more accessible and more cultural future, through ambitious redevelopments around Notre-Dame de Paris and the renovation of the Centre Pompidou.
Around Notre-Dame, a major urban transformation project has been launched following the fire in 2019. Starting in 2021, a wide-ranging citizen dialogue has been launched with residents, shopkeepers, visitors and a randomly selected citizens’ commission. The result? A landscape and heritage project led by the Bas Smets office, blending ecology, history and modernity.
The new underground visitors welcoming center designed by Bas Smets. ©Studio Alma for Team Bureau Bas Smets
The key idea is to transform the area around the cathedral into a “great canopy” of vegetation, with an open forecourt cooled by a thin sheet of water fed by rainwater. The basement of the former parking lot will become a modern visitor center. A belvedere will offer unparalleled views of the Île Saint-Louis and the Seine, and a promenade will be laid out along the Quai de l’Archevêché.
In all: 4.7 hectares redeveloped, 1,800 m² of additional green space, 160 trees planted (without any felling), and a budget of 50 million euros. Work will start in 2025, with the first phase completed in 2027, and continue until 2030.
Meanwhile, the Centre Pompidou is also undergoing a metamorphosis. Scheduled to close at the end of 2025, the Centre Pompidou will undergo a complete renovation, combining asbestos removal, accessibility, energy efficiency and the reorganization of spaces to better accommodate the public. Entrusted to the architectural firms AIA, Moreau-Kusunoki and Frida Escobedo, the reopening is scheduled for 2030!
Designed by the Moreau Kusunoki agency, this vision reinvents the space by integrating comfort, fluidity of movement, and modularity to better accommodate visitors by 2030. ©Moreau Kusunoki
But the Centre is not disappearing: with the Constellation program, it will be promoting its collection throughout France and internationally. Exhibitions, shows, cinema, mediation… The program continues in partner venues such as Lille, Metz and Monaco. A new facility dedicated to artistic creation, the Centre Pompidou Francilien, will open in Massy in 2026.
According to Laurent Le Bon, President of the Centre Pompidou, “it is a question of imagining generous hospitality, with an emphasis on welcoming young people.” ©Moreau Kusunoki en association avec Frida Escobedo Studio
Two projects that reflect Paris’s ambition to preserve its heritage, bring it to life and build a more sustainable and inclusive city.
Text by: Catherine Haas Adler, Guiding Architects Paris
