It was a huge challenge that faced architect Jacques Carlu and his partners, Léon Azéma and Hippolyte Boileau. It was their job to dream up a palace superb enough to face the Eiffel Tower, and all this in time for the Universal Exhibition of 1937.
Built on the site of the previous Trocadéro Palace, this 1930s landmark is made up of two pavilions and two curved wings. They enclose a space known as the Esplanade des Droits de l’Homme, after the Declaration of Human Rights which was signed here by the UN Assembly General in 1948.
This raised terrace is bordered by ornamental pools and gilt bronze statues. The Palais de Chaillot’s facade is decorated with pilasters and tall bay windows.
It took forty sculptors, twenty painters and one master blacksmith to achieve the finished result. Verses by the poet Paul Valéry are picked out in gold high up on the facades.
Today, the Palais de Chaillot is home to several museums, including the Musée de l’Homme, the Musée la Marine and the Théâtre national de Chaillot, as well as the Cité de l’architecture et du patrimoine.
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