BASA, GRENDELLE JOSHUA

ARCH 3B

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George Pompidou Center of Paris is the brainchild of the formerly unknown architects Renzo
Piano and Richard Rogers. It is massive of scale building, unapologetically utilitarian in form. It
is a building of space, a structure designed to be cultured. It is designed as a question and was
still in term to be defined by humans. The architects utilitarian and futuristic design of the form,
with regards to its vision of its mechanical and electrical systems, resulted an idea that was truly
remarkably unique from its own time.
The building itself, as a form, was revolutionary both at best and at worst. What made it more
interesting is that it was designed to expose elements that usually are hidden. They decided to
expose the utilities and color coded it to achieve the maximum flexibility of its spaces and to
easily maintain it. It has resulted as a building of exposed services with brightly colored pipes
contrasting what was then a bare plain design blue for air, green for water, red for elevators,
yellow for electricity, gray for corridors and white for the building itself. They broke what was
then a conventional design of the buildings. They thought of the buildings service pipes outside
the box.
The motors for the elevators are contained in the big boxes located at the top of the building.
The water from air-conditioning is also contained in mushroom shaped container which is
located at the top as well. Elevators are painted red; escalators are in clear plastic tunnels. I find
the idea of coloring the pipes and other services, separating this from that, as really remarkable.

BASA, GRENDELLE JOSHUA

ARCH 3B
The exposed ceiling with color coded pipes is being practiced today by different companies,
especially Google. The services - pressurization systems, boiler, refrigeration, are still found at
the top level of the building. The distributions in these spaces still are conventional, but are still
color-code. I can say that the distinctions that colors give to different pipes are really important
for it to be easily maintained. The problems are easily fixed and located. We do not need to
guess which is which because it was already labeled. These colored pipes also give bright and
lively fee to the monochromatic color that is always used.
The structure was said to have installed the top lined mechanical ang electrical systems of their
time. All areas of the building have mechanical smoke exhaust systems to give 12 air changes
per hour. the building is equipped throughout with sprinklers, except in high electrics areas
where halogen gas systems are used, in addition certain parts of the facade structure have
water spraying; that rise-of-temperature detection systems are installed, linked back to a central
fire control station, and that these systems operate automatically the smoke exhaust systems.
All services support elements have t-hour, 2-hour or3-hour fire ratings, depending on the service
they support. In addition, special precautions are taken to avoid the hour services collapsing on
to 2-hour services in the event of fire, and that fire dampers and fans in air-conditioning
systems, in addition to the normal fusible links, are motorized and controlled by the fire
detection systems. All mechanical and electrical installations are linked to a central
computerized supervisory system. (Source: http://www.architectural-review.com/1977-may-thepompidou-centre-the-pompodolium/8627187.article)

Suffice to say, the mechanical and electrical systems of the structure were the state-of-the-art of
the time. I believe that the systems installed, although some were flawed and in need of repairs
and renovations due to external forces, are still a remarkably radical movement from the
different people involved in the construction, considering the time. It was an idea that moved
and created a new timeline for mechanical and electrical systems.
The colored pipes can be applied in my future designs. It does not always have to be
polychromatic; we do not need the primary-secondary colors to mark distinctions of each pipe.
Of course, not all colors can be paired to each other while being blindfolded. I can use
monochromatic colors, or even gold and silver, to separate which from which without being too
garish; while still being relevant to the colors of my design. Exposed ceilings save space. It
maximizes the space, adds a new feel to the design, provides character, and get the most out of
the airflow. Of course, it is not always applicable; it is not a one-design-fits-all. Although that
being said, exposed ceiling is already the hint of what may come possible to a new design
experience of the industrial architecture, we may not know it yet.
Pompidou Centre was one of the many mechanical and electrical engineering feat. It gave a
whole new meaning to the hideous pipes and other systems. This structure made it as its own
center of attraction; it brags off its different mechanical and structure systems for a good reason.
The structure itself was unique. It was a building of an empty space, ironically. However, if we
think of it, it is a building of different possible spaces. It is a building that uniquely turned the
usual building upside-down. The structure was built as a question. The architect said that it was
not the answer to the problem, we find out what the building wants to be.

BASA, GRENDELLE JOSHUA

ARCH 3B