It looks like today the new York headquarters of the United Nations. Photo

A true masterpiece of architecture.

The main office of the United Nations in new York were developed by an international team of architects. Main building the Secretariat was one of the first skyscrapers in the International Style.

In 1946 the United Nations (UN) were looking for a location for the new main office in new York. The original plan was to use the grounds of the World Fair of 1939 in flushing meadows in Queens. But when project X-city on the Eastern border of Manhattan did not materialize, John D. Rockefeller Jr. bought the 18 acre plot and donated it to the UN.

This place was used for the construction of the headquarters of the United Nations. The whole area was converted into international territory and officially does not belong to the United States.

The design of the headquarters of the UN’s Design for the building was developed by the international Committee of architects, the Commission of the United Nations. The most famous of the architects were Oscar Niemeyer, Le Corbusier and lead the team of Wallace K. Harrison. Some renowned architects including Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius were excluded due to their historical ties with Germany, the instigator of world war II.

Board members were selected by the international style because it symbolized a new start after the war. Plan of Le Corbusier called project 23A, was taken as the basis for design. After many months of heated debates, primarily between Le Corbusier and other architects drawn up by Oscar Niemeyer, the final plan 23W was passed by all Board members. He was a complex with four buildings: the Secretariat building, General Assembly building, Conference buildings and Dag Hammarskjold. And so was born one of the architectural marvels of the modern age in new York.

The UN Secretariat in new York, the largest of The four buildings is the Secretariat building, the house of UN administration. Large 39 story skyscraper with a height of 166 meters has become an international symbol of the United Nations. Tower of green glass was the first of its kind in new York, strongly contrasting with the buildings of the 1920-ies in the neighboring blocks.

The construction of the Secretariat started in September 1949 and was completed in 1950. The complex as a whole was completed two years later. The Secretariat building dwarfs the adjacent five-storey General Assembly building, which is actually the most important part of the complex. In the General Assembly hall with a capacity of 1,800 there are meetings between representatives of all countries-participants of the United Nations. In the building behind the conference buildings of the Secretariat and the General Assembly are the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council.

Adjacent to the complex United Nations small public Park bordered by the East river. It is filled with artwork donated by many countries, including the Soviet Union presented in 1959, the sculpture of Vucheticha ‘Swords to Ploughshares’ and a section of the Berlin wall. Along First Avenue in front of the headquarters of the United Nations flag waving from every member of the UN, starting with Afghanistan at 48th street and ending with Zimbabwe at 42nd street.

© 2017, paradox. All rights reserved.