Blog | HPRG We visit the UNESCO headquarters – Hotels Paris Rive Gauche Blog
. logo

We visit the UNESCO headquarters

A Parisian experience

Open House weekend is coming up fast (it’s the 21st/22nd September this year) and we’ll be giving you more info about everything on offer a little nearer the time, but the high spot of our visits last year (that also included École Militaire, a meet-up of vintage Vespas and the Paris Sewers Museum!) was undoubtedly the headquarters of UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation.

This vast building dating from 1958 boasts striking brutalist architecture, a hidden Japanese garden designed by Isamu Noguchi and an impressive collection of large-format contemporary art (over 1,000 pieces!)

Here are some photos of our visit to this amazing place, and info on how you can visit it too, at any time of year.

Before visiting the UNESCO headquarters, we didn’t really know what to expect. Not far from the Eiffel Tower and our hotels, we imagined there would be large meeting rooms, some concrete and a few works of art.

The actual experience was way more impressive.

Constructed on a 3-hectare site formerly used by the army, the main building is the work of three architects – one French, one Italian and one American – and took a little over three years to build.

During construction, a committee for architecture and artworks was founded in order to select the artists who would be asked to contribute a new piece for this highly symbolic building. Hence the giant Picasso painting in the entrance hall, the Henry Moore and Alexander Calder sculptures in the gardens and the Joan Miró ceramic piece. More pieces would arrive later, including a Giacometti sculpture and Brassaï photo.

However, what is striking when first entering the building is the volume, the high ceilings, long corridors… and then the huge artworks hung left and right.

We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
photos: JasonW
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris

The day of our visit, a long corridor led us to the garden at the rear of the building, giving us our first proper view of the seven-storey main building, built on stilts. Vert much of its time, the style still holds up today, and from here we get a glimpse of the famous Japanese garden with its sculptures and water features.

We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris

Of course, this is not the only green space here. Passing in front of a large mosaic artwork we arrive in another garden with more sculptures, some contemporary, others extremely old…

We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris

Next, after passing through the main building again, we arrive at the ‘front’ of the building with a large vegetable garden, a symbolic globe and sculptures by Henry Moore.

After going round this area, we re-enter the building for the last time in order to visit the main meeting room which is vast and illuminated in shades of blue like a theatre!

We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris
We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris

The UNESCO headquarters are open for free visits twice a year, for Museum Night and Open House weekend (with special events on offer for both). However, it’s possible to book a 90-minute visit at any time of year, allowing you to see certain parts of the building with a guide.

These visits are available in English and French (and with enough prior warning, in Italian, Spanish, Russian, Arab, Armenian and Portuguese), and online booking is required. Click here to get started.

We visit the UNESCO headquarters, Paris

The UNESCO headquarters (here) are open most days for visits that can be booked here

Website / Facebook / Instagram / 𝕏

What3Words ///jeering.prude.plus