The Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie ("City of Science and Industry", abbreviated la CSI)[1][2] or simply CSI[3] is the biggest science museum in Europe.[4] Located in the Parc de la Villette in Paris, France, it is one of the three dozen French Cultural Centers of Science, Technology and Industry (CCSTI), promoting science and science culture.
About five million people visit the Cité each year. Attractions include a planetarium, a submarine (the Argonaute), an IMAX theatre (La Géode) and special areas for children and teenagers. The CSI is classified as a public establishment of an industrial and commercial character, an establishment specialising in the fostering of scientific and technical culture. Created on the initiative of President Giscard d'Estaing, the goal of the Cité is to spread scientific and technical knowledge among the public, particularly for youth, and to promote public interest in science, research and industry.
The most notable features of the "bioclimatic facade" facing the park are Les Serres – three greenhouse spaces each 32 metres high, 32 metres wide and 8 metres deep. The facades of Les Serres were the first structural glass walls to be constructed without framing or supporting fins. Between 30 May, and 1 June 2008, the museum hosted the 3rd International Salon for Peace Initiatives.
In 2009, the Cité des Sciences and the Palais de la Découverte were brought together in a common establishment, named Universcience, with EPIC status.[5]
Features
La Cité des Sciences main hall escalatorMuseum interior
Explore (levels 1, 2, and 3)
The library of science and industry (Médiathèque, level −1)
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 15 September 1980, was designed by the architect Adrien Fainsilber and the engineering firm Rice Francis Ritchie (RFR Engineers).[6][7] It was opened on 13 March 1986, inaugurated by François Mitterrand upon the occasion of the encounter of the Giotto space probe with Halley's Comet.
Floor directory
Exhibitions
Shows
Resources
Facilities
Level 2
Two permanent + two temporary exhibitions Activity points
Planetarium
Snack bar
Level 1
Six permanent + two temporary exhibitions Greenhouse Activity points
Snack bar
Level 0
Cité des Enfants, 2–7-year-olds Cité des Enfants, 5–12-year-olds Shadows and light Argonaute submarine
Louis-Lumière cinema Cinaxe cinema
Library (BSI) – children's section Auditorium
Information desk, ticket desk Café, Shop Post office Cloakroom Cash machine
Level −1
Multimedia Library (BSI) Vocal guidance Health Information Digital Forum
^Arfin, Ferne (12 January 2009). "France: Insider's guide to Paris". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 25 January 2009. Retrieved 6 September 2009. BEST FOR FAMILIES Parc de la Villette, in north-east Paris, is junior heaven. In addition to several adventure playgrounds and 35 "follies" housing activities and exhibitions, it holds the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie (00 33 1 4005 7000; www.cite-sciences.fr/english), Europe's biggest science museum
^Fiero, Annette. " The Glass State: The Technology of the Spectacle, Paris, 1981-1998". Chapter 4; Symbolic Structures p. 153. MIT Press 2003 ISBN026206233X, 9780262062336
