Paris' Centre Pompidou lands in America: Jersey City branch to open in 2024

The Centre Pompidou in Paris lands in America: the famous Beaubourg museum will in fact open a branch in Jersey City, a city of 260,000 inhabitants in the United States, just outside New York City. This will be the first and so far only branch of the Pompidou on American soil: a cultural cooperation between France and the United States of America with the aim of reinventing, developing and activating the iconic Pathside Building in City Journal Square, under the design direction of architects OMA/Jason Long. Centre Pompidou x Jersey City (this is the name of the new institution) is scheduled to open in 2024: the aim is to become a leading cultural center. Centre Pompidou will provide its expertise to create an ambitious program with an inclusive vision to make the institute a multidisciplinary art laboratory capable of focusing on culture and education.

Exhibitions featuring modern and contemporary art masterpieces from the Centre Pompidou will arrive from Paris, under the banner of fusing art and ideas. The idea of a Centre Pompidou in Jersey City was born in 2018, when Mayor Steven Fulop ’s administration acquired the Pathside Building, located in the heart of one of the area’s busiest transportation hubs, a 15-minute train ride from Lower Manhattan and Newark Penn Stations. The city purchased the 5,400-square-foot building, which was then zoned for residential use: the Fulop administration pledged to seek instead to repurpose the building to make Jersey City a city devoted to the arts. The international partnership announced by the museum and the city is the culmination of a strategic plan and a search for cultural partners by the consultants Jersey City had hired in 2019, namely the firm OMA New York, led by Jason Long. It was thus understood that Centre Pompidou’s history as an institution dedicated to multiple forms of contemporary art and culture and its dedication to educational and cultural organizations matched Jersey City’s and the community’s ambitions for the building. OMA /Jason Long will work with Jersey City and Centre Pompidou on the design of Centre Pompidou x Jersey. The cultural program of the Centre Pompidou x Jersey City will address as broad and diverse an audience as possible in order to address the changes in society, embodied by the transformations Jersey City is experiencing.

The Centre Pompidou x Jersey City in a rendering by OMA

The building: the Pathside Building

The Pathside Building, located at 25 Journal Square, was built in 1912 originally as an office building for the Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G). In 1995, the building underwent a major renovation that was intended to create classrooms and a library for Hudson Community College, and consequently was part of the college’s urban campus until 2017. The City of Jersey City acquired the building in 2017 with the intention of creating a new arts and cultural center for Journal Square and the city.

The building retains many original historic elements, including the original brick masonry with terra cotta cornices, parapet, cornice, trim and a ground-level limestone band, and the main entrance. Historic elements will be preserved and restored to highlight the building’s historic past. The building is 4 stories high, with a basement. The total area of the building, on all floors, is about 5,400 square meters, with a floor area not unlike many major American art institutions. The building’s structure allows for open, flexible spaces to be used as galleries, and venues for a variety of other cultural uses. The substantial floor-to-ceiling heights and exposure to light provide a range of opportunities for future adaptation of the existing building. The building directly adjoins the Journal Square Transportation Center and the Journal Square Station. The building’s western façade faces a wide concrete pedestrian walkway that directly connects the local transportation system with Sip Ave and Journal Square.

The Pathside Building today

Interior of the Pathside Building today

The statements

“As the largest collection of modern and contemporary art in Europe, Centre Pompidou is the perfect partner to realize our vision and solidify Journal Square as a regional landmark for the arts,” said Mayor Steven Fulop. When we envisioned a high-level development plan for the Pathside Building, we saw a unique opportunity to change its function: we thought it could better serve the city as a museum and community center. Today, that commitment is not only coming to fruition, but we have raised the bar with an extraordinary international partnership that will bring world-class opportunities to Jersey City. This is the latest big step toward our broader goals of revitalization, utilizing all that our city has to offer and establishing Journal Square as a cultural destination for generations to come."

“The partnership between Centre Pompidou and Jersey City will create a unique and iconic landmark for Journal Square and the city,” said Phil Murphy, governor of the State of New Jersey. “We are proud to welcome Centre Pompidou to New Jersey and look forward to the opening of what is destined to become one of North America’s premier cultural attractions.”

“I am delighted to announce this ambitious initiative with Jersey City, the first of its kind and its importance in America for Centre Pompidou,” said Centre Pompidou President Serge Lasvignes. “Our ongoing experiments in Metz (France), Málaga (Spain), Brussels (Belgium), and Shanghai (China) have demonstrated the strength and appropriateness of our way of stepping outside our walls and entering into innovative partnerships. I am delighted and grateful that Centre Pompidou will open a dialogue with the U.S. from Jersey City, such a dynamic and diverse community.”

“We have worked closely with Jersey City to find the best partner to help create a unique new art center for Journal Square within a historic structure rich in potential,” said OMA partner Jason Long. “The Centre Pompidou, a multidimensional institution that has crossed disciplines and cultures since its founding, was both the perfect perfect subject and a provocation to use the building in unexpected ways. We look forward to working with Mayor Fulop, Jersey City and Centre Pompidou to transform the Pathside Building into a revolutionary new space for art, culture and community whose impact will be felt far beyond New Jersey.”

Paris' Centre Pompidou lands in America: Jersey City branch to open in 2024

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