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The main building, known as the Centre
William Rappard, was constructed on an estate which was gradually
formed by the union of a number of plots of land between 1755 and
1893. In 1785, construction began on the Villa Rappard, the house that
still stands next to the main WTO building and today houses a
Montessori school.
In 1921, the Swiss Confederation acquired
the estate and offered it to the League of Nations, which designated
the site for construction of a headquarters for the International
Labour Office.
Both bodies had been created in 1919 with
the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, which formally ended World
War I.
In 1923, an architectural competition was
launched and the commission to design the ILO headquarters was offered
to Swiss architect George Epitaux from Lausanne. His design was based
on that of classical Florentine villas, with an interior courtyard, a
grand entrance and a sweeping staircase off the main reception area.
Construction began in 1923 and the building was in-augurated on June
6, 1926.
Interior courtyard of the CWR, in the Florentine style
The interior of the building was enhanced by
donations from many countries, in-cluding murals in tiles and paint
depicting various aspects of labour, sculpted wooden doors, elaborate
fountains and exotic trees. Numerous additions followed over the
years, including a new wing on the north side of the original building
added in 1937, encompassing the current Salle Wyndham White and
executive offices. The South Wing was further extended after World War
II.
The GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and
Trade) came into being in 1947 as a result of the Bretton Woods
Agreement, which also created the World Bank and the International
Monetary Fund. The GATT Secretariat was first lodged in the Villas
Bocage and Fenêtre, near the Palais des Nations, the home of the
United Nations in Geneva. These nineteenth-century villas had been
acquired by the League of Nations after a string of illustrious owners
and occupiers that included King Louis Phillipe of France, Count Leo
Tolstoy (whose aunts owned the Villa Bocage), Don Carlos of Spain and
the Archdukes Ferdinand and Maximillian of Austria.
The ILO occupied the Centre William Rappard
until April, 1975, when it moved to its new headquarters in Grand
Saconnex. It was at this time that the CWR was designated as
headquarters for the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT),
the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and the
library of the Graduate Institute of International Studies. The UNHCR
has since moved to new quarters closer to the Palais des Nations.
The building was officially named the Centre
William Rappard in 1977. William Rappard (1887 – 1958) was recognized
in his time as a leading internationalist, occupying senior positions
in the League of Nations and in Swiss diplomacy. He is a co-founder of
the Graduate Institute of International Studies, which occupies the
former Villa Barton, immediately south of the WTO. There is a bust of
Mr Rappard in the reception area of the WTO.
The Uruguay Round of trade negotiations
conducted under the aegis of the GATT led to the creation in 1995 of
the World Trade Organization. As the responsibilities of the WTO have
grown to encompass new areas of work, the organization has gradually
expanded to occupy most of the CWR. Delegations from the WTO’s Members
(see list inside back cover) meet in its historic rooms every day to
discuss and negotiate the further development of trade rules and to
seek peaceful resolution of trade disputes
The Centre William Rappard is officially owned by the Fondation des
immeubles pour les organisations internationales (FIPOI), a foundation
established by the State of Geneva to administer buildings occupied by
international organizations.
A new conference center was opened in 1998,
adjacent to the main building, based on a design conceived by Swiss
architect Ugo Brunoni. The classical form of the Greek theatre was the
inspiration for the design, which also drew on the natural setting of
the surrounding park as the basis for the materials used in its
construction.
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