Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie, Science and technology museum in the 19th arrondissement, Paris, France
The Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie is a science museum in the Parc de la Villette in Paris, built around the steel trusses of an unfinished 1970s abattoir sales hall. Its bioclimatic façade facing the park incorporates Les Serres, three glass greenhouses each 32 metres high, wide and 8 metres deep, the first structural glass walls built without framing or supporting fins. The complex also houses a planetarium, the Argonaute submarine and La Géode IMAX cinema.
The museum opened in March 1986, when the Giotto space probe reached Halley's Comet, a project under President François Mitterrand. The building was previously part of a slaughterhouse complex that closed down in the 1970s.
Families with children come here to take part in workshops where they can try out physics or robotics, while teenagers often use the interactive displays to explore programming or chemistry. On weekends, groups gather in the exhibition rooms to discover scientific phenomena together or participate in guided experiments.
The museum opens Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday until 7 p.m., closed on Monday. Tickets cover access to permanent exhibitions and planetarium shows, while separate admission is required for the IMAX cinema.
The building features three glass greenhouse structures called Les Serres, built without traditional framing and demonstrating innovative construction techniques. The Argonaute is a real French military submarine from the 1950s that visitors can explore from the inside.
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