In 1997, the French Minister of Culture appointed Jean-Louis Cohen to create the Cite de l'architecture, a museum, research, and exhibition center in Paris's Palais de Chaillot. His research activity has been chiefly focused on 20th-century architecture and urban planning. He has studied German and Soviet architectural cultures in particular, and interpreted extensively Le Corbusier's work and Paris planning history. Cohen is the author and curator of many architecture books and exhibitions.