“The new Palais de la Découverte updates the visionary ambition of its founders”

The cancellation of the events planned at the Palais de la Découverte from June, the uncertainties over the timetable and conditions for reopening this institution, as well as the resignation of the president of Universcience, Bruno Maquart , on June 12, are causing great concern about the success of this project.
In 2020, taking advantage of the closure of the Grand Palais buildings for renovation, Universcience, a public institution comprising the Palais de la Découverte and the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie, began, with the approval of its supervisory authorities, the complete renewal of its offer to visitors to the Palais d'Antin. The CNRS is its scientific partner of reference. Universcience teams (museographers, scientific mediators, architects, etc.) work hand in hand with nine scientific curators and around a hundred experts from numerous institutions (universities, the French Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies Commission, the National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts, the National Center for Space Studies, the École des Mines, etc.), mobilized to define the content of the offers. Alongside them, a project manager and dozens of service providers contribute to making this development project tangible in the Palais d'Antin. The result of joint thinking in the service of culture, supported by significant sponsorship, the project is now ready to be deployed on site, with 19 million euros committed and 13 million already spent.
The new Palais de la Découverte updates the visionary ambition of the great scientists who founded it in 1937: to reach out to everyone to inspire wonder through science, to make it a shared language for understanding the world and inspiring vocations. It forms a coherent whole that meets the challenges, broken down into several offerings that adapt in real time to respond to current events and the need for reliable and verified information. With this redesign, the Palais positions itself as a true European crossroads for scientific mediation, at the intersection of knowledge, cutting-edge research and democratic culture.
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Le Monde