The Grand Palais Today
A little known fact is that the Grand Palais has a major police station in the basement which helps protect the exhibits on show in the Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, and particularly the picture exhibition "Salons" as the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux Arts, Salon d'Automne and Salon Comparaisons. The building's west wing also contains a science museum, the Palais de la Découverte.
The couture fashion house Chanel annually hosts many of its fashion shows here, setting up elaborate and expensive surroundings for its models and hosts.
It was the host venue of the 2010 World Fencing Championships.
Sculptor Anish Kapoor was commissioned to create "Leviathan", an enormous structure that fills half the Grand Palais. "Leviathan" opened to the public in May 2011.
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