World’s FairsFound, not built?
FairsParis 1878
Exposition Universelle of 1878
1 Clue

Photo: Isidore Laurent Deroy · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons

1878 · Paris, France

Exposition Universelle of 1878

On the globe
See full fair gallery (91)
Investigate this fair · 5 cluesThe Trocadéro 'works' show repair of a damaged structure as much as new building, and its core survives inside the Palais de Chaillot, which suggests the hill held an older building that each era re-dressed.Open the case file →
Dates
1 May – 10 Nov 1878
Site
Champ de Mars and the Trocadéro
Declared purpose
A world's fair to show that France had recovered from the war of 1870–71 and the Commune.
Fate
The Palais du Trocadéro stood until 1935–37, when it was taken down and rebuilt as the Palais de Chaillot.
Architect of record
Gabriel Davioud, architect (with jules bourdais): about 52 when credited (1876, born 1824). Build time on record: about 2 years (1876–78).All architects of record →

Hidden history

Found, Not Built

Seven years after the Commune fires, Paris opens a fair with a hilltop palace that looks centuries old. What the photos show is a Moorish-Byzantine skyline over the Seine.

  1. Fast recovery

    The city had just lived through war, siege and fire. Researchers ask how two palaces of this size were ready by 1878.

  2. Recast, not removed

    The Trocadéro was not simply torn down in the 1930s: its frame was wrapped inside the new Palais de Chaillot. The question: what else is inside the new building?

  3. Liberty's head in a garden

    The head of the Statue of Liberty sat on the fairgrounds, a reminder of how much was being built, shipped and re-erected at once.

Questions worth asking

  • Why rebuild the Trocadéro around its old core instead of clearing it?
  • How was so much finished so soon after 1871?
  • Where are the construction photos of the towers?

Possible original uses

  • A concert and assembly hall
  • A museum for monuments and casts
  • A lookout over the river and the city

Clues in the photos

#9Repair scaffoldThe Trocadéro wrapped in scaffoldIs this new construction, or repair and refitting of an existing structure?ScaleHorse teams and about 30 workersHow did crews of this kind finish a palace this size in time for opening day?Repeated motifThe Trocadéro core reusedWhat is inside the Palais de Chaillot today?ScaleLiberty's head with people for scaleHow was a copper head this size moved through Paris with horse teams?Repeated motifThe long-hall formula againWhy does the same long-hall plan recur from city to city, and who held the pattern?

The buildings

Tap a building for its photos and credits.

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Further viewing

Episodes from My Lunch Break (Michael Kruse), the main lens for this app. They open on YouTube.