As Paris builds up for the Olympic Games to start on July 26, one of the city’s stellar cultural institutions and modern architectural wonders is preparing to wind down.

Centre Pompidou, which operates as a contemporary art gallery, will be subject to incremental closures commencing in the northern autumn before a complete shutdown next year.

Designed by Pritzker Prize laureates Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers and opened in 1977, the building is renowned for its high-tech architectural style, featuring signature flourishes of primary colour pops and a huge “caterpillar” escalator running diagonally up one facade.

But it was never intended – by the architects, at least – to be a permanent edifice. Work is scheduled to reconfigure, re-engineer and restore the building, which will keep it closed for at least five years.

As the scaffold goes up (even though the building already looks like it’s scaffolded), it will cloister a remarkable collection of almost 150,000 modern art pieces bearing the signatures of the likes of Andy Warhol, Man Ray, Jackson Pollock, Henri Matisse, Marc Chagall and Frida Kahlo.

Many of the centre’s great works are likely to make appearances elsewhere during the closure, though, with reports suggesting it will form part of the strategy to fund the $500 million-plus project.

The mixed-use STH BNK By Beulah development in Melbourne which is scheduled for completion in 2027 will contain a Centre Pompidou “cultural partnership”, with a 3000-square-metre gallery space hosting associated exhibitions, workshops and cultural events for young people.

The projected opening date in Melbourne coincides with Centre Pompidou’s 50th anniversary year, when the original Paris institution will, of course, be closed.