Anchored in the heart of Paris like a strange blue, green, yellow and red liner, the Pompidou Centre has become totally absorbed into the city's urban fabric but how did this unashamedly contemporary building become such a familiar and accepted sight? Beginning with a history of the Beaubourg district, a place of intense artistic activity from the Middle Ages onwards, this skilfully designed little book traces the story of how Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers' bold project has become one of the world's most popular cultural attractions. After two years, a completely refurbished Pompidou Centre was unveiled on January 1st 2000, revealing a building more ready than ever to take up the challenges of modernity.