The Grand Palais was built for the 1900 Exposition Universelle and located between the Champs-Élysées and the Seine River in Paris. The glasshouse was a fabulous instance of Classicism and Art Nouveau. 

A competition was held in 1896 to determine which architect would be awarded the plans for the glasshouse. The project was awarded to architects Henri Deglane, Albert Louvet, Albert Thomas and overseen by Charles Girault. Each architect was assigned a different portion of the building to design. The goal of the project, aside from impressing other countries at the 1900 Exposition Universelle, was “to connect the Grand Palais , the Petit Palais, and the Pont Alexandre III to the Champs-Élysees and to the Hotel des Invalides across the Seine,” according to Britannica. 

The Grand Palais has a stone facade with columns and friezes exhibiting peak Classical design. Inside, there is metalwork done in the style of classic Art Nouveau. The glasshouse consists of three major areas: the Palais de la Découverte, the Galeries Nationales, and the Nave, which altogether covers 72,000 square meters. The Nave is an iron and steel structure complete with stone walls and a glass roof. The glass roof is 45 meters off the ground and 200 meters in length. A mosaic floor and limestone steps line the floor of the glasshouse.  

The palace was dedicated to the beauty of French art and the Grand Palais was to showcase that. The structure still stands today. In fact, in March 2021, after a century of hectic life, the Grand Palais closed its doors to enter a major renovation that they anticipate to last until the Olympic Games Paris 2024!

According to the Grand Palais:

The works will allow the monument to be rediscovered: the spatiality, the through circulation and the original decorations (statuary, facades, interior decorations) will be rediscovered; the perspectives between the Nave and the Palais de la Découverte and between the Champs-Élysées and the Seine will be reopened; the natural and zenith lights will once again pierce the monument through and through; the arrangements by architect Pierre Vivien, made to the monument in the 1960s when the National Galleries were created by Malraux, will be enhanced.

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