Around 50 years after it first opened the Centre Pompidou is to close for at least five years. It will be comprehensively modernised. What exactly will happen with this striking building by Renzo Piano, Richard Rogers and Peter Rice? It is being closed for technical reasons: asbestos in the ventilation elements and the demands of new energy regulations. The glazing and fire protection must also be renovated. The structure itself, on the other hand, is largely intact. The necessary closure is also being used to move the spatial adaptations ahead. The French practice Moreau Kusunoki with Mexican architect Frida Escobedo was the winner of an international competition for this work. Greater transparency, simplified routes and the re-construction of an open agora are the main features of the adaptations. What is currently an underground garage will become exhibition rooms and children’s areas.