The Pompidou Centre, one of Paris’s top cultural attractions and home to Europe’s biggest modern art collection, is to close from 2023 for four years of renovations, France’s culture minister has said.

Designed by architects Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers, the Pompidou Centre’s groundbreaking design put the nuts-and-bolts inner workings of the museum on the outside, freeing up gallery space inside but has shown signs of ageing since its 1977 opening.

“There were two options,” culture minister Roselyne Bachelot told the Figaro newspaper on Monday. “One involved renovating the centre while keeping it open, the other was closing it completely.

“I chose the second because it should be shorter and a little bit less expensive,” she said.

The Guardian: Ageing Pompidou Centre in Paris to close for four years for renovations