No building in Paris has exercised such a magnetic attraction on visitors for the last 30 years. And no, we’re not talking about the Eiffel Tower.

Pompidou National Center for Art and Culture was designed in 1977 by two then-unknown architects: Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers. Since then, it has become Europe’s most-visited building, drawing more than 7 million visitors every year: that’s more than the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower put together.

The principal attraction of the building is its curious inside-out appearance.

The building is in the form of an enormous steel mesh, an external skeleton that visually confers a sense of stability and structurally provides the framework into which the floors and partitions are inserted. Each of the elements which comprise the building is colour-coded according to function: white (structural), grey (stairs and lifts), blue (ventilation control), green (plumbing), etc. One of the most spectacular features of the building is the moving staircase that zig-zags up the west façade, offering stunning views over the city as it rises.

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