Geneva - Palais des Nations

Northeast of Geneva's Place des Nations, in a large area of parkland sloping down towards the lake, stands the Palais des Nations, a monumental complex of buildings clad in light-colored marble.

This area, which now enjoys extraterritorial status with full judicial, fiscal and postal rights, was formerly part of the Parc de L'Ariana, which was bequeathed to Geneva by P. G. Revilliod in 1890. In 1929 the town handed over the area, 200,000 sq. m/239,200 sq. yd in extent, to the League of Nations, which had held an architectural competition in 1927-28 for the design of new headquarters.

The most modern and progressive designs were those put forward by Le Corbusier and P. Jeanneret and by H. Meyer and K. Wittwer, but these were rejected and the choice fell instead on the rather ponderous designs submitted by an international group of architects - C. Broggi (Italy), F. Flegenheimer (Switzerland), C. Lefèvre and H. P. Nénot (France) and J. Vago (Hungary). The buildings were erected between 1929 and 1937, and the League of Nations (hitherto housed in the Palais Wilson) was able in 1936 to transfer its headquarters to the new Palais des Nations, which was formally inaugurated in 1938 under the presidency of the Aga Khan. In 1940 the League of Nations ceased to operate, since after the exclusion of the Soviet Union it was no longer an effective international instrument, and it was dissolved in 1946 to give place to the United Nations Organization (UNO/ONU), founded at San Francisco on October 24, 1945. The United Nations Organization (at present with 159 members) has its main headquarters in New York but has established its European headquarters in the Palais des Nations. Conducted tours of the Library. The extensive complex of buildings (25,000 sq. m/29,900 sq. yd), the second largest in Europe (after the Palace of Versailles), consists of three main sections. In the middle is the main range of buildings, with a wing at each end enclosing a terrace courtyard facing the lake; in this section are the Assembly Hall, Council Chamber, conference rooms and library. To the south is the Secretariat building, and to the north a higher block of offices completed in 1972, with a front wing (conference rooms) topped by two large polygonal domes.

The Palais des Nations has a total of some 30 conference rooms and 1,100 office rooms, its own printing office with 36 polycopiers and six offset machines, a restaurant, a snack bar and a number of refreshment bars. The interior is comfortable and equipped with the most modern technical services. The large assembly halls have simultaneous interpretation facilities, enabling speeches to be translated into and out of the five official languages of the United Nations (English, French, Spanish, Russian and Chinese). The lavish decoration of the various halls and rooms was donated by different countries.