The first buildings for exhibitions on this site date back to 1923 to accommodate the
Foire de Paris, which until then had been held on the
Champ de Mars. The land then covered thirty-five hectares on the border of the communes of Paris,
Issy-les-Moulineaux and
Vanves. The building was built on the site of the
Thiers Wall. In 1922, several projects were put forward to build the exhibition center desired by the authorities. The brothers Louis and Pierre Guidetti proposed in particular to erect an immense metal building, which was ultimately not retained. The project of the architects Paul Viard and Marcel Dastugue was chosen, consisting of around twenty halls arranged at the level of
Boulevard Lefebvre and Avenue Ernest-Renan. Only four remain today, the Peripherique's development having led to the destruction of all of the other portions of the wall. The Paris Fair was established there from 1926. In 1936, on Mid-Lent Thursday, it was exceptionally the gathering and departure point for the great
Fat Ox procession, a major event of the
Carnaval de Paris. In 1937, a monumental entrance with four illuminated turrets, which is still visible today, was built by
Louis-Hippolyte Boileau and
Léon Azéma as part of the
that year's Universal Exhibition. The
Second World War marked a halt to temporary exhibitions, with the site even being occupied by the military. Then, the 1950s saw the emergence of new exhibitions such as those for cycles, heavy goods vehicles, leather goods, and the Concours général agricole (which would be included in the
Paris International Agricultural Show after 1964). In 1962, the Paris Motion Festival arrived, which until then had been held at the
Grand Palais (from 1976, it was held every other year, alternating with the
Frankfurt Motor Show). In June 1968, the Gaullist party held a large meeting there with a speech by
André Malraux. In 1970, a new building, Hall 7, covering 72,000 m², was opened, increasing the park's surface area by half. The 1980s saw the arrival of the Boat Show for the first time on this site. In 1992, the Paris Book Fair arrived, having previously been held for its first ten years at the Grand Palais. Between 1996 and 2006, half of the facilities were rebuilt and modernized. The site also offers three amphitheaters and several meeting rooms. In September 2008, the Paris city hall announced a project to create a high-rise office building (180 m) called Triangle on the site of the exhibition center and financed by
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield. In June 2019, the artist duo Ella and Pitr inaugurate the largest fresco in Europe on the roof of Pavilion 3 of Paris Expo Porte de Versailles. The work extends over 23,000 m² of that pavilion's roof, crossed by the Peripherique. ==Events==