Museum Centre Pompidou-Metz

You're standing at the Centre Pompidou-Metz, a museum of modern and contemporary art right next to Metz railway station. It's a branch of the famous Centre Pompidou in Paris. Start with that huge white roof. It ripples over the whole building, curving up and down like a giant tent. Japanese architect Shigeru Ban got the idea from a Chinese hat he found in Paris. Under the white fabric are sixteen kilometres of glued timber, woven into hexagons just like the cane-work of that hat. The fabric has a Teflon coating that cleans itself. By day it keeps out harsh sunlight, and at night you can see right through it.