Peace Palace
The Peace Palace,the Hague, built between 1907 and 1913 in Neo Renaissance style, is the seat of international law. It houses the principal judicial body of the United Nations, the International Court of Justice, as well as the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the oldest institution for dispute settlement.
The peace flame in front of its gates symbolises the main function of the building. The owner of the Peace Palace is the Carnegie Foundation, created in 1904.
Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919), founder of the Peace Palace, first became acquainted with the concept of the Peace Palace in 1900. His initial intentions were not to build a Temple of Peace, but rather to have a building to house the Permanent Court of Arbitration and to provide that Court with a library on international law.
There was one problem, however. The Permanent Court of Arbitration did not possess the qualifications of corporations. Therefore, it could not acquire property under Dutch law. This problem could only be overcome by creating a foundation, which would embrace the library and the building. This way, the Carnegie Foundation was born, to which Andrew Carnegie funded the large amount of money of one and a half million dollars.
As for the construction of the building itself, Carnegie expressed his wish for an open and international competition resulting in a building that was to stand alone, preferably in a park. Therefore, an international competition was held for the most suitable design for the building. The winner was the French architect Louis M. Cordonnier, whose design was amended by the Dutch architect
