UNESCO Headquarters

UNESCO Headquarters, or Maison de l'UNESCO, is a building inaugurated on 3 November 1958 at number 7 Place de Fontenoy in Paris, France, to serve as the headquarters for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). It is a building that can be visited freely.

Design
The design of the UNESCO Headquarters building was the combined work of three architects: Bernard Zehrfuss (France), Marcel Breuer (Hungary), and Pier Luigi Nervi (Italy). Plans were also validated by an international committee of five architects composed of Lúcio Costa (Brazil), Walter Gropius (Germany/United States), Le Corbusier (France), Sven Markelius (Sweden) and Ernesto Nathan Rogers (Italy), with the collaboration of Eero Saarinen (Finland).

Description
The main building, which houses the secretariat, consists of seven floors forming a three-pointed star. To this is added a building called the "accordion" and a cubic building, which is intended for permanent delegations and non-governmental organisations.

These buildings occupy a trapezoidal area of land measuring 30350 m2, cut in the northeast corner of the semi-circular shape of the Place de Fontenoy. It is bordered by avenues of Saxony, Segur de Suffren and Lowendal.

Relations with France
The land on which the building is built is the property of the French State. By a decree of 22 December 1952, it was assigned to the Foreign Ministry to put at the disposal of UNESCO. This was done by a lease for a term of 99 years, renewable at a nominal rent (1000 francs per year), near the end of the lease. In addition, the residence of this intergovernmental organization on the French territory is governed by a headquarters agreement that defines its privileges and immunities. Both agreements were signed in Paris in 1954, respectively on 25 June and 25 July.

The French Parliament approved the lease by a law enacted on 6 August 1955, authorized the President of the Republic to ratify the Headquarters Agreement. The Headquarters Agreement entered into force on 23 November 1955. It was published by a decree of 11 January 1956.