Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie

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things to do with kids • planetariums • museum • exhibition • culture  add tags

Description

The Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie is the biggest science museum in Europe. It is a public establishment of an industrial and commercial character specializing in the fostering of scientific and technical culture. Created on the initiative of President Giscard d'Estaing, its goal is to spread scientific and technical knowledge among the public, particularly for youth, and for creating public interest in science, research, and industry.

It is located in Parc de la Villette in the 19th arrondisement of Paris, France. It is at the heart of the Cultural Center of Science, Technology and Industry (CCSTI), a location for the popularization of scientific culture and technique.

The most notable features of the "bioclimatic facade" facing the park are Les Serrres - three greenhouse spaces each 20 metres high and 8 metres wide and 20 metres deep. The facades of Les Serres were the first structural glass walls to be constructed without framing or supporting fins.

About five million people visit the Cité each year. The Cité has a planetarium, a submarine (the Argonaute (S636)), an IMAX theatre (La Géode) and special departments for children and teenagers.

It hosted the 3rd International Salon for Peace Initiatives from 30 May to 1 June 2008.

Features

• Explora (levels 1, 2, and 3)
• The library of science and industry (Médiathèque, level -1)
• City of children (level 0)
• Auditorium (level 0)
• Louis Lumière theater (level 0)
• Planetarium (located between exhibits on level 2)
• Numeric crossroads (level -1)
• City of careers (level -1)
• City of health (level -1)
• Meeting place (level -1)
• Aquarium (level -2)
• Jean bertin hall (level 0)
• Condorcet hall (level 0)
• Picnic area (level 0)
• Post office (level 0)
• Store for scientific books and toys (level 0)
• Restaurants (level -2)

History

The building is constructed around the vast steel trusses of an abattoir sales hall on which construction had halted in 1973. The transformation, commissioned on September 15, 1980, was designed by the architect Adrien Fainsilber and engineer Peter Rice. It was opened on March 13, 1986, inaugurated by François Mitterrand upon the occasion of the encounter of the Giotto space probe with Halley's Comet.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia