Romain Laprade photographs the Centre Pompidou in a moment of suspended activity

The Centre Pompidou has published ‘Beaubourg, le grand sommeil’, a photographic series by Romain Laprade depicting the Paris institution’s interior during a period of unusual quiet. Conceived exclusively for the Centre Pompidou’s online magazine, the portfolio presents the building’s empty galleries, exposed infrastructure and evening light as subjects in their own right rather than as a backdrop for artworks.

Published in the magazine’s ‘Coulisses’ section on 17 July 2026, the series is described by the institution as contemplative, spare and poetic. Laprade’s photographs move between the monumental and the ordinary: the glass-and-steel architecture offering itself to the falling dusk, vacant display walls, an old emergency telephone now silent around a turn in the gallery, the public library awaiting the return of its readers, the Jakob + MacFarlane structure at the heart of the former restaurant, and an escalator standing motionless out of service.

The images were made at the Centre Pompidou during the summer of 2026. According to the accompanying text, Laprade worked at dusk, walking through spaces that had been cleared of artworks and taking time to find particular angles and qualities of light. The emptied walls are presented as sculptural surfaces, while the building’s coloured pipes, galleries and mechanical elements become more prominent in the absence of the usual activity.

The project records the Centre Pompidou between two states. The institution’s former rhythm—marked by visitors, announcements, machinery and exhibitions—has fallen silent ahead of a major renovation. In Laprade’s view, the building appears temporarily “assoupi,” or asleep, while summer light animates the steel and glass with elongated shadows and golden reflections. The series also includes views across Paris from the upper levels and an image of a wooden staircase connecting the museum’s fourth and fifth floors.

Laprade, born in 1988, has previously photographed large natural spaces and architectural sites in different parts of the world. The Centre Pompidou’s profile notes exhibitions at Yvon Lambert and art books including ‘Distances’, as well as collaborations with luxury brands. His approach to the Beaubourg building continues an interest in environments whose scale can shift between abstraction and close observation.

The Centre Pompidou, designed by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers, opened on 2 February 1977 and has become an emblematic work of 20th-century architecture. The new photographs arrive before the institution’s 50th anniversary in 2027, using a temporary absence of collections and visitors to foreground the structure itself. The online portfolio comprises photographs by Romain Laprade with text by Pierre Malherbet.