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The building was designed in classicising "moderne" style by architects Louis-Hippolyte Boileau, Jacques Carlu and Léon Azéma.[1] The Palais consists of two separate wings shaped to form a wide arc, which are those of the former Palais du Trocadéro with new taller portions built in front. The pair of larger central pavilions are also those of the former Palais du Trocadéro, encapsulated in new construction. The large central hall and towers of the old palais were demolished, leaving only the basement, with a wide esplanade created on top, establishing an open view from the Place du Trocadéro to the Eiffel Tower and beyond.
The old Palais du Trocadéro in the late 19th century
The pavilions of Soviet Russia (right) and Nazi Germany (left) faced each other at the 1937 Expo.
World War II
It was on the front terrace of the palace that Adolf Hitler was pictured during his short tour of the city in 1940, with the Eiffel Tower in the background. This became an iconic image of the Second World War. On VE Day, 8 May 1945, the U.S. Army in Paris celebrated their victory on the same spot. Over 2800 soldiers, sailors and airmen listened to the victory speech to the troops by President Harry S. Truman, and then an address by the ranking officer in Paris, Lt. Gen John C. H. Lee, commanding general of the Com-Z logistics operations of the U.S. Army in Europe since May 1942.
In 1948, the Palais de Chaillot hosted the third United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), and, in 1951, the sixth UNGA[4] It is in the Palais de Chaillot that the UNGA adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 10 December 1948. This event is now commemorated by a stone, and the esplanade is known as the esplanade des droits de l'homme ("esplanade of human rights").
The Palais de Chaillot also served as temporary NATO headquarters in Paris, from 1952 until the permanent HQ at "Palais de l'OTAN" (now Université Paris Dauphine) was inaugurated in 1959.
Former annex along the reflecting pool, which housed NATO headquarters between 1952 and 1959.
Signing of NATO membership invitation to West Germany in 1954, in the temporary NATO annex