A PALACE OF PEACE
FOR THE WORLD

International law institutions frequently, if perhaps unintentionally, serve as secular museums and temple complexes for those who practise in the field – nowhere is this more evident than at the Peace Palace in The Hague. The home of the International Court of Justice, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, as well as the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the architectural design for the Palace was decided by a jury presiding over international submissions.

Two hundred and sixteen entries were received, with first prize going to French architect Louis Cordonnier, who envisaged a 15th-century style palace.

The architectural designs for the Palace can be seen in the works on display here (The Peace Palace: Residence For Justice, Domicile Of Learning and designs and plans in The Palace of Peace at The Hague) and the architecture and interior design of the complex is reflected in the souvenirs available at the gift shop at the Peace Palace, which include a scarf which reproduces the wallpaper in the Palace’s Japanese Room, the Pax-o-Scope, which encourages visitors to view the complex through its kaleidoscope, and the Peace Dove, which calls on us to write messages of peace for the world.