UNESCO headquarters

[kerouac2]

Many of us have shown UNESCO World Heritage sites in our reports here, so I decided that it was time to return the favour and make a report about the UNESCO headquarters in Paris.  UNESCO was founded in 1945, the successor of the International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation of the League of Nations.   Rab Butler, the Minister of Education for the United Kingdom is credited with the principal elements of development at the ECO/CONF meeting in London in November 1945 with 44 governments represented.

The UNESCO constitution came into force in November 1946 after 20 countries had ratified the charter.  One of UNESCO's first projects was to fight racism, which led South Africa to withdraw in 1956 when it just couldn't stand all that anti-racism stuff anymore (rejoining in 1994 under Nelson Mandela).  Education is the #1 goal, however, and in 1948 UNESCO recommeneded that all member states should make primary education free, compulsory and universal after a mission to Afghanistan.  (sound fmiliar?)  Clearly, this is still a big problem, because the goal for 2030 is for schooling the 300 million children who still do not attend school around the world..

But most of us did not pay much attention to UNESCO until its first big cultural project -- saving the temple of Abu Simbel in Egypt from the Aswan Dam.  I still remember all of the reports in Life magazine, Paris Match and National Geographic starting in 1960, and this was a real exploit in the middle of the Cold War.

The World Heritage Committee was established in 1976 and the first sites were inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1978.   As we all know, everybody is demanding to be on the list now.

Anyway, I got out of the metro and had to find the place.  It is really quite easy to find, but finding the entrance is a different problem since it occupies an entire city block.  So I walked along the outer wall, which is decorated with dozen of photos of World Heritage sites.

Through the fence, I saw that UNESCO has its own vegetable garden.

A lot of flags were flying.  I know enough about these places to understand what that means.

I finally reached the street address.

[kerouac2]

Okay, I was on the spot but at least 30 minutes too early. So I looked at more of the photographs.







The building dates from 1958, which is a good point financially. They are not wasting our money. The UN Headquarters in New York City is even older, and the UN offices in Geneva are the oldest of all, since they occupy the former League of Nations building from the 1920s. How many major institutions do you know that have not built grand new headquarters over the years to show how important they are?

The rendezvous point for the tour was in front of this sign, just to the left of the entrance.





This is the back side of the security zone once you have passed through the controls and surrendered your identity documents. It is not part of France.



Finally in the building. The architecture is "brutalist" chosen because it was important not to use the style of any specific country.



Back then, Parisians hated the building as passionately as they hate any new building.



We had a really major guide, who also does the Invalides and the Palais Garnier, among other places.

[kerouac2]

Construction of the building was a very diplomatic international effort. The United States provided all of the electrical cables, France provided all of the glass (from Saint Gobain), Italy provided the stone work, Belgium provided the aluminium, etc.

There are also about 1000 artworks and artifacts spread through the building and the grounds. This is a 13th century horse from Azerbaijan.

This cubic building was built for the delegations of the first 52 countries. It quickly became too small, especially with the current membership of 192, so now it houses NGOs and the press.

The olive tree and the peace monument were donated by Israel. Luckily they did not take it with them when they left UNESCO.







UNESCO had to dig down to get more space, hence the skylights all through the garden.

[kerouac2]

This was a major mosaic from 1958 but I confess that I forgot who made it.

The Japanese garden in the central zone was created by Isamu Noguchi. What is unusual about the garden is that Noguchi was an architect and not a garden designer. This is apparently unheard of.





I don't really see much of a difference in the result. In fact, any of us could probably design a Japanese garden by reading the manual.



The "fountain of peace" has the particuliarity of having its symbols for peace upside down so that you have to look at the reflection in the water. This is supposed to symbolise the elusive nature of peace. Those of us unfamiliar with Japanese symbols will just have to take the guide's word for it.

Next to the Japanese garden is a Christian sculpture from Nagasaki, the Christian city of Japan.

[cheerypeabrain]

I think that the mosaic is by Jean Bazaine (not sure of the spelling) but I could be wrong

The Japanese garden might look better in the spring ? The very best Japanese gardens are magificent but some folk think that all that's needed is a low bridge, an acer and some gravel...at least this one has more to it..and the water feature is lovely.

[kerouac2]

The guide said that in April the garden is breathtaking (cherry blossoms... or maybe cheery blossoms?).

[kerouac2]

Due to some sort of renovation works, we did not have access to the "chapel of all religions" by Japanese architect Tadao Ando.



It is not officially a chapel but a "meditation zone" (must not annoy anyone in the world). Anybody who has seen the Pinault Foundation has seen this same cylinder.



We were informed that the art exhibitions in the UNESCO building change almost every week, just enough time for member countries to bring in their media.



The general public never gets to see any of this.



Alberto Giocometti's "Walking Man" is a major element.



The guide said that European visitors immediately see the Shoah, while African visitors see the droughts of their various countries.



Palestine was presenting a major show of renovations in Bethelehem.

[kerouac2]

Two works by Joan Miró were created for UNESCO. One is called The Sun and the other is called The Moon.



We only saw The Moon because The Sun was in a restricted area.



Beside the artistic and cultural World Heritage sites, UNESCO also designates geological and biodiverse World Heritage sites.



The guide decided to sneak us into the general assembly hall for a few moments, totally forbidden due to the executive committee being in session.



It is even more forbidden to take a photograph. I was scolded only by another member of our group.





This work by Picasso was the object of a hissy fit by the great artist.



He created the panels at home in Vallauris, but when he saw the installation, he refused to apply his signature. The full view is blocked by a concrete beam.

[kerouac2]

There were other artworks in the corridors, always from a different country.



This 3rd century BC mosaic is from Tunisia.  The tiles from Tunisia were used everywhere in the Roman Empire.



This one is from an Icelandic artist, hence the Nordic gods and a display of the opposite of peace.



Outside again, the vegetable garden supplies the UNESCO restaurants and also cultivates rare items that are disappearing. Extra items are given to the staff to take home.









There is an Amexander Calder mobile to contrast with the non mobile iron lady up the street.





The building really hasn't aged too badly since 1958, but it is an energy disaster -- too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter.

It was of course necessary for the guide to explain the two missing countries. Israel is easy, because it refuses to be a member of any entity that has accepted Palestine as a full member. As for the United States, it has had a love-hate relationship with UNESCO for decades. It represented 25% of the operating budget, by far the biggest contribution, and never accepted the one country-one vote rules which caused it to be overruled on numerous occasions without have the benefit of the veto that it has in the United Nations. It accused UNESCO of being too friendly with communist countries and other revolutionary regimes and devoting a lot of its budget to them. So it came and went, but the door was slammed this last time during the presidency of Barack Obama. The U.S. Congress voted a law in line with Israel's decision and stopped all cooperation. The next president was even worse. And what about the current president? He can do absolutely nothing, because the law can only be overturned by a two thirds vote of the Senate, something that has no chance of happening in most of our lifetimes. There was an American in our group, so not everybody has turned their back on UNESCO.

And of course, the United States has also refused to pay the $700 million debt that it left. Well, UNESCO has survived anyway.

Little groups continue to demonstrate for their rights in front of the building.



The Israeli olive tree will probably outlive everybody.



It hasn't been all that long since the local metro station received an addition to its name.

I went home a little less ignorant than I had been earlier in the day.

[htmb]

Thanks for this report. I’d like to visit sometime and it will be nice to know a bit of what to expect.

[lugg]

Fascinating place - when I finally get to visit Paris again I would like to visit for sure. Thanks for taking us there

[htmb]

Come when I’m there and we can go together!

[cw3p]

I have visited Paris many times but never the UNESCO. One place I do miss is the USO. It was always helpful to those of us in the military stationed in Germany who visited on long weekends.

[kerouac2]

Are you referring to Pershing Hall? That was the very first place that I worked in Paris when I moved here in 1973.

[tod2]

Great tour Kerouac!

[cw3p]

I know Pershing Hall is still there and the home of American Legion Post 1. They used to be co-located with the USO at 49 Rue Pierre Charron, just a couple of blocks off the Champs-Elysees. If you showed up without any idea of where to stay they would find you lodging in your price range and area of choice and also had discounted tickets for some of the attractions. The first train of the day from Germany arrived at Gare de l'Est at 7:04 and the last one out left at 23:00, so you got a full day of enjoying Paris the day of arrival and the day of departure. The USO was one of the first stops after leaving the train station.

[kerouac2]

Jill Biden is in Paris today to raise the American flag at UNESCO, which the United States has rejoined after President Trump pulled out in 2018. The United States also left UNESCO in the 1980s under President Reagan and rejoined in 2003 under President Bush.

The United States has also pledged to pay $600 million in dues that it never paid in the past as well as the yearly amounts that it would have paid since 2018 if it had remained a member.