The Palais des Arts turns to science: The Palais de la Découverte

It was time for the Palais des Arts to turn to science. The result of a three-way project shared between Jean Perrin, the Front Populaire and the International Exhibition of 1937, the Palais de la Découverte was the embodiment of republican ideals.

The Palais d'Antin, the west wing of the Grand Palais, would become home to this project. Originally designed as a temporary exhibition prior to the construction of a large science museum in Paris, the Palais de la Découverte welcomed 222,500 visitors between May and November 1937.

Bolstered by this success, the Palais de la Découverte became a permanent fixture in 1938, in both location and purpose.
Extract from: Les Merveilles d’un Palais, EPPDCSI, 2014

For Jean Perrin, Under-secretary of State for Education in charge of Scientific Research (1936-1937) and winner of the Nobel Prize for physics in 1926, this new era of progress was aimed at everyone, by demonstrating science as a real pursuit in its experiments and its implementation.

The general layout of the Palais de la Découverte was awarded to the Germain Debré firm of architects, experts in laboratory architecture, Armand Néret and Maurice Boutterin, assisted by Nicolas Kristy, working in collaboration with André Léveillé, Palais de la Découverte director from 1937 to 1960.

Once the International Exhibition had ended, the planetarium was disassembled and stored underneath the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers for almost fifteen years.

In 1951, it was decided that it should be installed in the Hall d'Antin at the Palais de la Découverte. Five months' work was required before it could open on 27 June 1952, in the presence of French President Vincent Auriol.

As a result, the 1937 planetarium remained in service until 1979. At the end of the 1970s, a new planetarium was installed on the first floor of the Palais, in the former Universe room.

On Sunday 20 and Monday 21 July, free entry was granted and the doors were open until midnight.

The presentation included projections on large screens and colour televisions, and ORTF operations and current events. The cinema continuously showed films of the previous Apollo missions.

The scientific mediation programme also changed to offer a special planetarium show, "The journey from Earth to the Moon: how astronauts perceive the Earth's starry crescent from the surface of the Moon".

Lastly, the Moon room hosted scientists and experts who came to answer the many questions from RADIO-TERRE listeners and other visitors to the Palais de la Découverte.

For the 10th anniversary of man's first steps on the moon, the Dossiers de l'écran television programme chose the Palais de la Découverte for a special live broadcast with Alain Jérôme and Commander Neil Armstrong on 11 July 1979.

THE DARK YEARS
The monument was used for several exhibitions of Nazi propaganda. During the liberation of Paris, incendiary devices fired in the nave set fire to the building. Soldiers taking refuge inside were held as prisoners by the Germans.

THE PALAIS DE LA DÉCOUVERTE EXHIBITIONS
From 1937, the Palais de la Découverte hosted temporary exhibitions that complemented the broad range of experiences and presentations in the permanent collection.

Every year, the Palais de la Découverte would organise three or four temporary exhibitions around current scientific events. They would also come to enrich and diversify the permanent collection, which would adapt and offer a new programme according to the various themes.

SCIENCE HUB
As a major player in the popularisation of science, the Palais de la Découverte also acted as a privileged venue for scientific events.

It hosted and organised lectures, conferences, competitions and official events. These activities also helped in its role as a scientific mediator by encouraging an interest in science in the youngest of visitors.