The United Nations General Assembly Building is part of the
headquarters of the United Nations
zh, 联合国总部大楼french: Siège des Nations uniesrussian: Штаб-квартира Организации Объединённых Наций es, Sede de las Naciones Unidas
, image = Midtown Manhattan Skyline 004.jpg
, im ...
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. It contains the main
assembly hall
An assembly hall is a hall to hold public meetings or meetings of an organization such as a school, church, or deliberative assembly. An example of the last case is the Assembly Hall (Washington, Mississippi) where the general assembly of the st ...
of the
United Nations General Assembly
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...
, the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
(UN). The building was designed by a group of architects led by
Wallace Harrison
Wallace Kirkman Harrison (September 28, 1895 – December 2, 1981) was an American architect. Harrison started his professional career with the firm of Corbett, Harrison & MacMurray, participating in the construction of Rockefeller Center. He i ...
. It is connected with the other buildings in the UN headquarters, including the Secretariat Building and the
Dag Hammarskjöld Library
The Dag Hammarskjöld Library is a library on the grounds of the headquarters of the United Nations, located in the Turtle Bay/ East Midtown neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It is connected to the Secretariat and Conference buildings ...
. Although the building is located within the United States, the site is under UN jurisdiction, so the building is exempt from some local regulations.
The General Assembly Building is a four-story structure measuring , with concave walls to the west and east, as well as a concave roof with a dome. The building contains a lobby for journalists and the general public to the north, as well as a lobby for delegates to the south. The central portion of the General Assembly Building is the General Assembly Hall, which has a seating capacity of 1,800 and measures long, wide, and tall. Each delegation has six seats in the hall, which face south toward a rostrum and a paneled semicircular wall with booths. The building also contains other spaces, including a delegates' lounge and the
president of the United Nations General Assembly
The president of the United Nations General Assembly is a position voted by representatives in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on a yearly basis. The president is the chair and presiding officer of the General Assembly.
Election
...
's offices on the second floor; a meditation room on the ground floor; and various shops and conference rooms in the basement.
The design process for the United Nations headquarters formally began in February 1947. The General Assembly Building was the third building to be constructed at the headquarters, after the Secretariat and Conference buildings. Construction of the General Assembly Building's steelwork began in February 1950, and the building was formally dedicated on October 10, 1952. The rapid
enlargement of the United Nations
As of , there are member states of the United Nations (UN), each of which is a member of the United Nations General Assembly.
The following is a list of United Nations member states arranged in chronological order according to their dates of ...
prompted the UN to modify the hall's layout several times in the 1960s. The General Assembly Hall was closed for renovation from 1978 to 1979 to accommodate additional delegations. The building started to deteriorate in the 1980s due to a lack of funding, and UN officials considered renovating the complex by the late 1990s, but the project was deferred for several years. As part of a wide-ranging project that began in 2008, the General Assembly Building was renovated from 2013 to 2014.
Site
The General Assembly Building is part of the
headquarters of the United Nations
zh, 联合国总部大楼french: Siège des Nations uniesrussian: Штаб-квартира Организации Объединённых Наций es, Sede de las Naciones Unidas
, image = Midtown Manhattan Skyline 004.jpg
, im ...
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
East River
The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Queens ...
to the east, and 48th Street to the north. Although it is physically within the United States, the underlying land is under the jurisdiction of the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
(UN). The site is technically
extraterritorial
In international law, extraterritoriality is the state of being exempted from the jurisdiction of local law, usually as the result of diplomatic negotiations.
Historically, this primarily applied to individuals, as jurisdiction was usually cla ...
through a treaty agreement with the US government, though it is not a territory governed by the UN. Most local, state, and federal laws still apply within the UN headquarters. Due to the site's extraterritorial status, the headquarters buildings are not
New York City designated landmark
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...
s, since such a designation falls under the purview of the
New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...
.
The General Assembly Building occupies the center of the United Nations site, stretching roughly between 44th Street to the south and 45th Street to the north. The building is directly connected to the Conference Building (housing the
Security Council
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, and ...
) at its southeast, and it also indirectly connects with the
United Nations Secretariat Building
The United Nations Secretariat Building is a skyscraper within the headquarters of the United Nations in the Turtle Bay neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It contains the offices of the United Nations Secretariat, the executive organ ...
and the
Dag Hammarskjöld Library
The Dag Hammarskjöld Library is a library on the grounds of the headquarters of the United Nations, located in the Turtle Bay/ East Midtown neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It is connected to the Secretariat and Conference buildings ...
to the south. The
Japanese Peace Bell
The Japanese Peace Bell is a bell donated to the United Nations Headquarters in New York City via the United Nations Association of Japan in June 1954. It is a bonsho (a Buddhist temple bell) that is 60 centimeters in diameter, 1 meter in height ...
is just south of the building, and a grove of sycamore trees is planted to the side. On the western part of the site, along First Avenue, are the flags of the UN, its member states, and its observer states. Outside of the UN headquarters,
Trump World Tower
Trump World Tower is a residential condominium building in the Turtle Bay neighborhood of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The tower is located at 845 United Nations Plaza, on First Avenue between 47th and 48th Streets. It was developed ...
Millennium Hilton New York One UN Plaza
The Millennium Hilton New York One UN Plaza is a 439-room hotel in the East Midtown neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City, United States. Designed by architect Kevin Roche of the firm Roche-Dinkeloo and opened in 1976, the hotel is locat ...
hotel is to the southwest.
Historically, the site was part of a cove called Turtle Bay. The cove, located between what is now 45th and 48th Streets, was fed by a stream that ran from the present-day intersection of Second Avenue and 48th Street. A creek from the southern end of modern-day
Central Park
Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...
also drained into Turtle Bay. The first settlement on the site was a tobacco farm built in 1639. The site was developed with residences in the 19th century. Slaughterhouses operated on the eastern side of First Avenue for over a hundred years until the construction of the United Nations headquarters. The UN purchased the site in 1946 under the sole condition that it could never slaughter cattle on the land.
Architecture
The General Assembly Building was designed in the International Style by a team of ten architects working under planning director
Wallace K. Harrison
Wallace Kirkman Harrison (September 28, 1895 – December 2, 1981) was an American architect. Harrison started his professional career with the firm of Corbett, Harrison & MacMurray, participating in the construction of Rockefeller Center. He is ...
Ernest Cormier
Ernest Cormier OC (December 5, 1885 – January 1, 1980) was a Canadian engineer and architect. He spent much of his career in the Montreal area, designing notable examples of Art Deco architecture, including the Université de Montré ...
of Canada;
Le Corbusier
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...
Sven Markelius
Sven Gottfrid Markelius (25 October 1889 – 24 February 1972) was a Swedish modernist architect. Markelius played an important role in the post-war urban planning of Stockholm, for example in the creation of the model suburbs of Vällingby (1950 ...
of Sweden;
Oscar Niemeyer
Oscar Ribeiro de Almeida Niemeyer Soares Filho (15 December 1907 – 5 December 2012), known as Oscar Niemeyer (), was a Brazilian architect considered to be one of the key figures in the development of modern architecture. Niemeyer was ...
G. A. Soilleux
G is the seventh letter of the Latin alphabet.
G may also refer to:
Places
* Gabon, international license plate code G
* Glasgow, UK postal code G
* Eastern Quebec, Canadian postal prefix G
* Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia, g ...
of Australia; and Julio Vilamajó of Uruguay. In addition, David Fine of
United States Steel
United States Steel Corporation, more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an American integrated steel producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with production operations primarily in the United States of America and in several countries ...
oversaw the construction of the General Assembly Building.
Form and facade
The five-story
massing
Massing is a term in architecture which refers to the perception of the general shape and form as well as size of a building.
Massing in architectural theory
Massing refers to the structure in three dimensions (form), not just its outline from ...
of the General Assembly Building is shaped similarly to a
saddle
The saddle is a supportive structure for a rider of an animal, fastened to an animal's back by a girth. The most common type is equestrian. However, specialized saddles have been created for oxen, camels and other animals. It is not kno ...
. The wide western and eastern
elevations
The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...
of the facade curve inward and measure approximately wide. The roof of the building also curves inward, leading ''Time'' magazine to compare the building to a
tarpaulin
A tarpaulin ( , ) or tarp is a large sheet of strong, flexible, water-resistant or waterproof material, often cloth such as canvas or polyester coated with polyurethane, or made of plastics such as polyethylene. Tarpaulins often have reinforced ...
. The narrower northern and southern elevations are flat and measure wide. There are no windows on First Avenue. The original plans for the building had called for the facade to be made of marble, but the facade was ultimately built of
Portland stone
Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries are cut in beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building sto ...
from England. The facade contains about of Portland stone.
Le Corbusier, who had designed the building's massing, had intended for the curving shape to be the visual focal point of the entire headquarters complex. The center of the building, directly above the General Assembly Hall, contains a shallow dome above it. According to one account, the building's roof was initially supposed to be an uninterrupted curve, but the dome was added because the chief of the
United States Mission to the United Nations
The United States Mission to the United Nations (USUN) serves as the United States' delegation to the United Nations. USUN is responsible for carrying out the nation's participation in the world body. In 1947, the United States Mission was created ...
said the dome would convince
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...
to approve funding for the headquarters more quickly.
The doorways to the General Assembly Building are on the southern and northern elevations of the facade. The south elevation contains glass walls that are recessed within a marble frame and divided by a grid of metal window frames. This elevation measures about tall. The north elevation contains vertical marble piers interspersed with
photosensitive glass
Photosensitive glass, also known as photostructurable glass (PSG) or photomachinable glass, is a crystal-clear glass that belongs to the lithium-silicate family of glasses, in which an image of a mask can be captured by microscopic metallic par ...
. Heating ducts are embedded within these marble piers. The Canadian government donated seven doors for the main entrances of the building. Each door is made of
white bronze
White bronze is a white-coloured alloy. Examples of various alloys composed of copper, tin and zinc or composed of zinc, copper, aluminum and magnesium.Christopher H. Bierbaum''Alloy.''US-Patent NoUS778398./ref> A modern composition contains 55% ...
and measures about wide by about tall. There are four
bas relief
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...
panels on each door, which depict peace, justice, truth, and fraternity. The southern entrance near 44th Street is used by delegates, while the northern entrance between 45th and 46th Street is used by the public.
Interior
The building contains three levels of galleries; the delegates use the second level, while the public and members of the media use the first and third levels. The passageways used by journalists and members of the public were physically separated from the passageways used by delegates. The interiors contain rugs and carpets donated by the governments of India and Ecuador. The building also contains artwork donated by the governments of Belgium and Brazil, as well as a
Foucault pendulum
The Foucault pendulum or Foucault's pendulum is a simple device named after French physicist Léon Foucault, conceived as an experiment to demonstrate the Earth's rotation. A long and heavy pendulum suspended from the high roof above a circular a ...
donated by the Netherlands. In addition, the building was decorated with over 3,000 plants from 20 species.
Lobbies
The north lobby was designed as the entrance for journalists and members of the public. Three balcony levels are cantilevered over the space. The lobby measures high and is topped by a circular
skylight
A skylight (sometimes called a rooflight) is a light-permitting structure or window, usually made of transparent or translucent glass, that forms all or part of the roof space of a building for daylighting and ventilation purposes.
History
Open ...
measuring about across. A statue of the ancient Greek god
Poseidon
Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as a ch ...
, donated by the Greek government, stands in the middle of the lobby. A stepped ramp leads from the ground level to the first balcony. It contained numerous species of plants, which were illuminated by concealed spotlights. There is a Foucault pendulum adjacent to the stepped ramp, donated by the Dutch government. The left (east) wall of the north lobby contains a concourse leading to the south lobby, while the right (west) wall includes a meditation room. The north lobby also contains passageways to meeting rooms, as well as space for exhibits.
The south lobby serves as the delegates' entrance. There is a hospitality room next to the delegates' lobby. Directly behind the south lobby's glass facade is a set of escalators for delegates. On the second floor is a tapestry designed by Belgian artist Peter Colfs, entitled ''Triumph of Peace''. The tapestry depicts numerous allegorical figures on a blue-and-green background. Measuring wide and high, it was the world's largest tapestry when it was completed. Brazilian painter
Candido Portinari
Candido Portinari (December 29, 1903 – February 6, 1962) was a Brazilian painter. He is considered one of the most important Brazilian painters as well as a prominent and influential practitioner of the neo-realism style in painting.
Portinari ...
also designed ''
War and Peace
''War and Peace'' (russian: Война и мир, translit=Voyna i mir; pre-reform Russian: ; ) is a literary work by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy that mixes fictional narrative with chapters on history and philosophy. It was first published ...
'', a pair of murals on the first floor. Each mural measures .
General Assembly Hall
The central feature of the building is the General Assembly Hall, which has a seating capacity of 1,800. At long and wide, it is the largest room in the complex. The hall occupies the second through fourth stories of the building. During planning, the General Assembly Hall was intended to accommodate 850 delegates, 350 journalists, and 900 members of the public. As built, the main floor could seat either 636 or 750 delegates, while the booths and balconies within the hall could accommodate 234 journalists and 800 members of the public. By 1977, the hall could accommodate 1,060 delegates and alternate delegates; 160 journalists; 336 members of the public; and 542 advisers or guests of delegations.
= Rostrum
=
At the front (south) of the chamber is the rostrum containing the green marble desk for the President of the General Assembly, the Secretary-General, and the Under-Secretary-General for General Assembly Affairs and Conference Services. There is also a podium designed in a similar style. Behind the rostrum is the UN emblem on a gold background. The emblem is surrounded by shields measuring across. The south wall of the General Assembly Hall, behind the rostrum, was originally adorned with the seals of countries that were part of the UN in 1952. American artist Bruce Gregory created the seals. The emblems of the UN's 51 original member states would have been mounted in English alphabetical order, while the seals of later additions would have been placed to the sides. Of the 60 seals ordered, 54 were completed before Secretary-General
Dag Hammarskjöld
Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld ( , ; 29 July 1905 – 18 September 1961) was a Swedish economist and diplomat who served as the second Secretary-General of the United Nations from April 1953 until his death in a plane crash in September 196 ...
scrapped the seals in 1955. The existing seals were removed in 1956.
Flanking the rostrum, in the southern half of the room, is a paneled semi-circular wall that tapers as it nears the ceiling and surrounds the front portion of the chamber. The lower section of the wall is made of fluted wood decorated with brass, while the upper section is made of
acoustic tile
A dropped ceiling is a secondary ceiling, hung below the main (structural) ceiling. It may also be referred to as a drop ceiling, T-bar ceiling, false ceiling, suspended ceiling, grid ceiling, drop in ceiling, drop out ceiling, or ceiling til ...
. The fluted wood walls were intended to improve the hall's acoustics. The hall is surrounded by two levels of booths for interpreters, the media, and photographers. These booths are placed within the fluted-wood panels; there were initially 34 booths in total. The booths are arranged in a similar layout to a
theater in the round
A theatre in the round, arena theatre or central staging is a space for theatre in which the audience surrounds the stage.
Theatre-in-the-round was common in ancient theatre, particularly that of Greece and Rome, but was not widely explored aga ...
, except that the observers' seats are enclosed.
The ceiling above the rostrum is a shallow dome measuring high. The upper part of the dome is painted in a sky-blue color and is plain in design. Four sets of floodlights surround the dome. In addition, the top of the dome contains a plaster medallion, with a skylight measuring across.
= Delegates' seats
=
The northern half of the room has a more standard layout, with delegates' seats on the main floor and a balcony surrounding this level. Each delegation sits at a desk facing the rostrum. Each delegate's desk is fitted with a fixed receiver, a microphone control, and buttons for electronic voting. There are also earphones, allowing delegates to listen either to the speakers at the rostrum or to interpreters speaking in one of the
official languages of the United Nations
The Official Languages of the United Nations are the six languages that are used in UN meetings and in which all official UN documents are written. In the six languages, four are the official language or national language of permanent members ...
. The delegations in the first row are selected randomly each year, and the remaining delegations are seated in English alphabetical order following the delegations in the front row. The General Assembly Hall was last altered in 1980 when capacity was increased to accommodate the increased membership. Each of the 193 delegations has six seats in the hall with three at a desk and three alternate seats behind them.
This section contains two murals, which were designed by the French artist
Fernand Léger
Joseph Fernand Henri Léger (; February 4, 1881 – August 17, 1955) was a French painting, painter, sculpture, sculptor, and film director, filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of cubism (known as "tubism") which he gradually ...
and painted by his student Bruce Gregory. The murals each measure high and were donated anonymously. The mural on the left wall is painted in orange, gray, and white, while the mural on the right wall is painted in blue, yellow, and white. US president
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...
nicknamed the left mural "Scrambled Eggs" and the right mural "Bugs Bunny". The murals were donated by the
government of Malawi
Politics of Malawi takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Malawi is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the ...
.Aline B. Louchheim characterized Léger's murals as "something handsome" and said that each of the murals' different shapes had vitality. The ceiling of the hall lacks decorative finishes and contains recessed lighting.
Other spaces
On the second floor, directly behind the General Assembly Hall, is the GA 200-room. The room, which spans either , contains offices for the
Secretary-General of the United Nations
The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations.
The role of the secretary-g ...
and the
President of the United Nations General Assembly
The president of the United Nations General Assembly is a position voted by representatives in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on a yearly basis. The president is the chair and presiding officer of the General Assembly.
Election
...
. In 2005, a group of Swiss firms redecorated the space in a minimalist style. The modern design contains walnut-wood walls, a gray carpet, sliding partitions, and custom furniture. The offices for the General Assembly President and the Secretary-General are placed behind the sliding partitions. The room's furniture, walls, and floor contains the word "peace" inscribed in the official languages of the United Nations. In addition, the preamble to the
charter of the United Nations
The Charter of the United Nations (UN) is the foundational treaty of the UN, an intergovernmental organization. It establishes the purposes, governing structure, and overall framework of the UN system, including its six principal organs: the ...
is inscribed on the north wall, directly behind the rostrum.
There is a delegates' lounge on the south side of the second floor, which also connects with the Conference Building. In 1961, ''The New York Times'' characterized the room as "the place where understandings on critical matters are often prearranged". The north wall of the delegates' lounge, facing the East River, is made of glass. The lounge contained plants that were specifically chosen to survive wind drafts and tobacco smoke. The lounge originally measured high, but a mezzanine was added above the lounge in the 1970s. The mezzanine was removed in 2013, following a renovation designed by
Rem Koolhaas
Remment Lucas Koolhaas (; born 17 November 1944) is a Dutch architect, architectural theorist, urbanist and Professor in Practice of Architecture and Urban Design at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. He is often cited as a re ...
and several Dutch designers. The modern lounge contains a resin bar and information desk, as well as a digital bulletin board to the west. Next to the delegates' lounge is the East Foyer (which connects directly to the south lobby) and the Indonesian Lounge. The
Kiswa
Kiswa ( ar, كسوة الكعبة, ''kiswat al-ka'bah'') is the cloth that covers the Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is draped annually on the 9th day of the month of Dhu al-Hijjah, the day pilgrims leave for the plains of Mount Arafat duri ...
of the Holy
Kaaba
The Kaaba (, ), also spelled Ka'bah or Kabah, sometimes referred to as al-Kaʿbah al-Musharrafah ( ar, ٱلْكَعْبَة ٱلْمُشَرَّفَة, lit=Honored Ka'bah, links=no, translit=al-Kaʿbah al-Musharrafah), is a building at the c ...
, a gift from the government of Saudi Arabia, is hung in the Indonesian Lounge.
The meditation room next to the north lobby can accommodate about 30 people. When the meditation room opened in 1952, it was centered around a 250-year-old African mahogany stump. This was replaced in 1957 with a piece of Swedish iron ore measuring , donated by the
King of Sweden
The monarchy of Sweden is the monarchical head of state of Sweden,See the Instrument of Government, Chapter 1, Article 5. which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system.Parliamentary system: see the Instrument o ...
and the
Government of Sweden
The Government of the Kingdom of Sweden ( sv, Konungariket Sveriges regering) is the national cabinet of Sweden, and the country's executive authority.
The Government consists of the Prime Ministerappointed and dismissed by the Speaker of the ...
. The meditation room also contained a fresco by Swedish artist Bo Beskow, which was dedicated in 1957. The meditation room was closed in the 1980s due to vandalism, though it was reopened in 1998.
There is a large conference room and eight smaller conference rooms (originally four) in the basement beneath the General Assembly Hall. The large room can fit about 60 people, while the smaller rooms can fit 40 people each. One of the conference rooms is decorated with wood paneling donated by the British government; each panel depicts an animal, bird, or flower in the United Kingdom. The governments of Australia and New Zealand also donated wood paneling for the conference rooms. The basement also has television and radio studios, a sound-recording studio, and a master control room for the United Nations headquarters' communication system. In addition, the basement has several facilities for visitors including a coffee shop, gift shop, stamp sales counter, souvenir shop, and bookstore. The United Nations' Public Inquiries Unit is also housed in the basement.
History
Development
In 1946, real estate developer
William Zeckendorf
William Zeckendorf Sr. (June 30, 1905 – September 30, 1976) was a prominent American real estate developer. Through his development company Webb and Knapp — for which he began working in 1938 and which he purchased in 1949 — he developed ...
purchased a site on First Avenue with the intention of creating a development called "X City", but he could not secure funding for the development. At the time, the UN was operating out of a temporary headquarters in
Lake Success, New York
Lake Success is a village in the Town of North Hempstead in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York. The population was 2,897 at the 2010 census.
The Incorporated Village of Lake Success was the temporary home of the Uni ...
, although it wished to build a permanent headquarters in the US. Several cities competed to host the UN headquarters before New York City was selected.
John D. Rockefeller Jr.
John Davison Rockefeller Jr. (January 29, 1874 – May 11, 1960) was an American financier and philanthropist, and the only son of Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller.
He was involved in the development of the vast office complex in M ...
paid US$8.5 million for an option on the X City site, and he donated it to the UN in December 1946. The UN accepted this donation, despite the objections of several prominent architects such as Le Corbusier. The UN hired planning director
Wallace Harrison
Wallace Kirkman Harrison (September 28, 1895 – December 2, 1981) was an American architect. Harrison started his professional career with the firm of Corbett, Harrison & MacMurray, participating in the construction of Rockefeller Center. He i ...
, of the firm
Harrison & Abramovitz
Harrison & Abramovitz (also known as Harrison, Fouilhoux & Abramovitz; Harrison, Abramovitz, & Abbe; and Harrison, Abramovitz, & Harris) was an American architectural firm based in New York and active from 1941 through 1976. The firm was a partner ...
, to lead the headquarters' design. He was assisted by a Board of Design composed of ten architects.
Planning
The design process for the United Nations headquarters formally began in February 1947. Each architect on the Board of Design devised his own plan for the site, and some architects created several schemes. All the plans had to include at least three buildings: one each for the
General Assembly
A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company.
Specific examples of general assembly include:
Churches
* General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...
, the
Secretariat
Secretariat may refer to:
* Secretariat (administrative office)
* Secretariat (horse)
Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred racehorse who is the ninth winner of the Ame ...
, and conference rooms. The plans had to comply with several "basic principles". For instance, the General Assembly Building was to be built on the northern end of the site, opposite the Secretariat Building on the south end. By March 1947, the architects had devised preliminary sketches for the headquarters. The same month, the Board of Design published two alternative designs for a five-building complex, anchored by the Secretariat Building to the south and a pair of 35-story buildings to the north.
After much discussion, Harrison decided to select a design based on the proposals of two board members, Oscar Niemeyer and Le Corbusier. Even though the design process was a collaborative effort, Le Corbusier took all the credit, saying the buildings were "100% the architecture and urbanism of Le Corbusier". The Board of Design presented their final plans for the United Nations headquarters in May 1947. The plans called for a 45-story Secretariat tower at the south end of the site, a 30-story office building at the north end, and several low-rise structures (including the General Assembly Building) in between. The committee unanimously agreed on this plan. In the original plan, the massing of the General Assembly Building had resembled a giant fan.
The project was facing delays by mid-1947, when a slaughterhouse operator on the site requested that it be allowed to stay for several months. The complex was originally planned to cost US$85 million. Demolition of the site started in July 1947. The same month, UN Secretary-General
Trygve Lie
Trygve Halvdan Lie ( , ; 16 July 1896 – 30 December 1968) was a Norwegians, Norwegian politician, labour leader, government official and author. He served as Norwegian foreign minister during the critical years of the Nygaardsvold's Cabinet, N ...
and the architects began discussing ways to reduce construction costs by downsizing the headquarters. The General Assembly voted to approve the design for the headquarters in November 1947. By the following month, the architects were revising plans for the General Assembly Building, though the rest of the complex was to remain unchanged. The revised plan called for a "wedge-shaped" structure with blank walls. There would have been two auditoriums, which would have faced each other in an hourglass-shaped arrangement, with straight western and eastern walls. The architects eliminated one of the auditoriums to reduce construction costs, but the hourglass-shaped layout of the building was retained, albeit with curved side walls.
Construction
In April 1948, U.S. President Harry S. Truman requested that the United States Congress approve an interest-free loan of US$65 million to fund construction. Because Congress did not approve the loan for several months, there was uncertainty over whether the project would proceed. Congress authorized the loan in August 1948, of which US$25 million was made available immediately from the
Reconstruction Finance Corporation The Reconstruction Finance Corporation was a government corporation administered by the United States Federal Government between 1932 and 1957 that provided financial support to state and local governments and made loans to banks, railroads, mortgag ...
. Lie predicted the US$25 million advance would only be sufficient to pay for the Secretariat Building's construction, thus delaying the completion of the other buildings. The
groundbreaking
Groundbreaking, also known as cutting, sod-cutting, turning the first sod, or a sod-turning ceremony, is a traditional ceremony in many cultures that celebrates the first day of construction for a building or other project. Such ceremonies are o ...
ceremony for the initial buildings occurred on September 14, 1948, when work on the Secretariat Building commenced. The General Assembly Building would be the third and final major structure in the complex to be completed, with a projected opening date of late 1951. Fuller Turner Walsh Slattery Inc., a joint venture between the
George A. Fuller Company
George A. Fuller (1851 – December 14, 1900) was an American architect often credited as being the "inventor" of modern skyscrapers and the modern contracting system.
Early life and career
Fuller was born in Templeton, Massachusetts, near W ...
,
Turner Construction
Turner Construction is an American construction company with presence in 20 countries. It is a subsidiary of the German company Hochtief. It is the largest domestic contractor in the United States as of 2020, with a revenue of $14.41 billion in ...
, the
Walsh Construction Company Walsh may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Walsh (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname
Places
* Fort Walsh, one of the first posts of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
* Walsh, Ontario, Norfolk ...
, and the
Slattery Contracting Company
Slattery is a surname of Irish origin. The name is an anglicisation of the ga, Ó Slatara or ''Ó Slatraigh'', meaning 'descendant of slatra' meaning 'robust', 'strong', 'bold'. The name originated in the townland of Ballyslattery in the barony o ...
, was selected in December 1948 to construct the Secretariat Building and the foundations for the remaining buildings.
The site had been excavated by February 1949. The project was delayed later that year due to a
labor strike
Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became common during the I ...
by steelworkers. That December, the UN awarded a steel contract for the building to the
American Bridge Company
The American Bridge Company is a heavy/civil construction firm that specializes in building and renovating bridges and other large, complex structures. Founded in 1900, the company is headquartered in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pitt ...
. By then, the structure was scheduled to be completed in 1952. The contract, as finalized in March 1950, called for of steel at a cost of US$1.7 million. In response to criticism that the general contracts for the construction of the UN headquarters had been awarded exclusively to American firms, UN officials indicated that they might hire foreign firms to supply materials for the General Assembly Building. That July, the UN awarded a US$11 million contract to Fuller Turner Walsh Slattery Inc. for the construction of the General Assembly Building, as well as the northern half of the UN headquarters' parking lot (directly under the building). At the time, the hall was slated to be completed in time for the sixth session of the General Assembly in 1952.
Construction of the building's steelwork began on February 16, 1951, at which point the basement garage was nearly completed. By that April, workers were rapidly erecting the steelwork for the General Assembly Building. There were significant delays in importing the Portland stone, and only one-fourth of the total stonework had been delivered by May 1951. This led officials to express concern that the building would not be able to host the General Assembly in 1952. In addition, the American Bridge Company said there were difficulties in constructing the steel structure for the dome. All of the stonework had arrived by August 1951. The building was nearly complete by May 1952, when the delegations voted to delay the start of the General Assembly session by one month, allowing workers to install electrical equipment and furnish the interior. The General Assembly Building hosted an architectural exhibition of the United Nations headquarters in June 1952, prior to the building's official opening.
Opening and early years
The building was formally dedicated on October 10, 1952, when Secretary-General Trygve Lie presided over a ceremony there. The event marked the completion of the United Nations headquarters, which had cost US$68 million to construct, about US$3 million over the original budget. The first General Assembly session in the building commenced four days later on October 14. Former US first lady
Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...
dedicated a gift shop in the General Assembly Building's basement the same day. The General Assembly Hall could fit 90 delegations, more than enough to accommodate all 60 UN members at the time of the building's completion. ''The New York Times'' wrote in 1954: "It is taken for granted here that there will continue to be a considerable amount of waste space in the hall for some time to come." The American Association for the United Nations started conducting guided public tours of the headquarters when the General Assembly Building was completed. The guided tours were highly popular, attracting 250,000 guests during six months in 1953.
UN officials installed a temporary meditation room next to the north lobby in late 1952, although a lack of funds prevented the installation of a permanent room. The UN built a security checkpoint next to the north lobby in February 1953, and
Columbia University Press
Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City, and affiliated with Columbia University. It is currently directed by Jennifer Crewe (2014–present) and publishes titles in the humanities and sciences, including the fiel ...
began operating the bookshop in the building's basement later that year. Under the tenure of Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld, the General Assembly Building also began hosting concerts on
United Nations Day
United Nations Day is an annual commemorative day, reflecting the official creation of the United Nations on 24 October 1945. In 1947, the United Nations General Assembly declared 24 October, the anniversary of the Charter of the United Nations, ...
and other special occasions; the first such concert took place on United Nations Day in 1954. The UN dedicated Peter Colfs's ''Triumph of Peace'' tapestry at the building that October. A coffee shop in the basement opened in August 1954 as part of a US$380,000 renovation of the basement, and the seals in the Assembly Hall's rostrum were removed that year. The meditation room next to the north lobby was remodeled in February 1957, and Candido Portinari's ''War and Peace'' murals were dedicated at the building that September.
UN expansion
By 1957, the UN had 82 member states and was expanding rapidly. UN officials planned to replace portions of the observers' seating areas with seats for delegates. At the 1960 meeting of the General Assembly, Hammarskjöld had proposed a wide-ranging renovation program costing US$7.7 million, but this was not executed due to a lack of funds. Instead, the UN commenced a smaller renovation of the General Assembly Hall and the adjacent Conference Building in June 1960, which was estimated to cost US$100,000. The UN removed over 100 observers' seats and installed desks for six additional delegations. The work was completed in August 1961. The same year, ''Abstract Sculpture'' by American artist Ezio Martinelli was mounted on the eastern elevation of the building's facade. Prior to the 1962 General Assembly session, the UN reduced the size of the journalists' galleries so the hall could accommodate 108 delegations. Even so, there was so little space that some delegates had to sit in the journalists' seating area during the 1962 meeting.
The UN's planners had concluded that the headquarters could not fit additional delegations without undergoing significant renovations. To fit the new delegations, Secretary-General
U Thant
Thant (; ; January 22, 1909 – November 25, 1974), known honorifically as U Thant (), was a Burmese diplomat and the third secretary-general of the United Nations from 1961 to 1971, the first non-Scandinavian to hold the position. He held t ...
proposed either moving the journalists' seating areas or reducing each delegation to five seats. In late 1962, the General Assembly's budgetary committee approved plans to install microphones for delegates and to expand the hall's seating capacity to accommodate 126 delegations, though the committee rejected a more expensive proposal to expand the headquarters. Following complaints that the hall's cramped layout made it difficult to conduct
roll call vote
Deliberative assemblies – bodies that use parliamentary procedure to arrive at decisions – use several methods of voting on motions (formal proposal by members of a deliberative assembly that the assembly take certain action). The regular meth ...
s, the General Assembly started testing an electronic voting system in 1964. The UN also renovated the hall for US$3 million the same year. The work included reducing the number of seats for each delegation from 10 to 6; relocating the journalists' seating areas to make way for delegates' seating; and dividing part of the basement to create a TV studio and additional office space.
The UN continued to expand through the 1970s, further straining its physical facilities. By 1977, the General Assembly was considering expanding the Assembly Hall to accommodate up to 178 delegations. A bronze bust of the composer
Pablo Casals
Pau Casals i Defilló (Catalan: ; 29 December 187622 October 1973), usually known in English by his Castilian Spanish name Pablo Casals,
, who had performed at the General Assembly Hall twice, was dedicated in the north lobby the same year. The Fuller Company began expanding the General Assembly Hall in January 1978 as part of a US$26 million renovation of the entire complex, designed by Harrison & Abramovitz. Workers installed new wiring under the concrete floors, and the UN hired a Canadian company to refurbish the delegates' chairs, since the manufacturer of the original chairs no longer existed. The first phase of the renovation was completed in September 1979, prior to the opening of the General Assembly session. The expanded hall could fit up to 182 delegations. The renovation project as a whole was completed by 1981.
All nations were given six General Assembly seats regardless of how large their delegations were. Some of the smaller delegations had as few as one member and always left several seats empty, while other delegations had to alternate their seats between dozens of members. Smoking was initially allowed in the entire complex, but the General Assembly banned smoking in some of the building's smaller rooms in 1983. People were still allowed to smoke within the General Assembly Hall and in private offices. The General Assembly typically only met between September and December, but the UN continued to host tours of the hall throughout the year. In addition, the delegates' cafeteria and the basement shops were open to tourists.
Renovation and 21st century
Due to funding shortfalls in the 1980s, the UN diverted funding from its headquarters' maintenance fund to peacekeeping missions and other activities. By 1998, the building had become technologically dated, and UN officials considered renovating the headquarters. The mechanical systems were so outdated that the UN had to manufacture its own replacement parts. ''The New York Times'' wrote that "if the United Nations had to abide by city building regulations ..it might well be shuttered". At the time, the UN had proposed renovating the building for US$800 million, as UN officials had concluded that the long-term cost of renovations would be cheaper than doing nothing. The UN's proposed budget for 1999 included US$22 million for fixing the roofs of the General Assembly Building and other structures in the UN complex. The UN commissioned a report from engineering firm
Ove Arup & Partners
Arup (officially Arup Group Limited) is a British multinational professional services firm headquartered in London which provides design, engineering, architecture, planning, and advisory services across every aspect of the built environment ...
, which published its findings in 2000. The report recommended renovating the UN headquarters over a six-year period, including the General Assembly Hall. The UN could not secure funding for the project at the time.
After Switzerland joined the UN in 2002, the Swiss government renovated the GA 200-room behind the General Assembly Hall's rostrum, which was rededicated in 2005. In addition,
Ranan Lurie
Ranan R. Lurie ( he, רענן לוריא; May 26, 1932 – June 8, 2022) was an Israeli-American political cartoonist and journalist, a senior associate at the CSIS (Center for Strategic and International Studies) since 1990, Louis Frederick Reuter IV originally designed the renovation, but he resigned in 2006 following various disputes between UN and US officials. Michael Adlerstein was hired as the new project architect. Engineering firm
Skanska
Skanska AB () is a multinational construction and development company based in Sweden. Skanska is the fifth-largest construction company in the world according to ''Construction Global'' magazine. Notable Skanska projects include renovation of t ...
was hired to renovate the Secretariat, Conference, and General Assembly buildings in July 2007. At that point, the cost of the project had risen to US$1.9 billion.
The renovation of the United Nations headquarters formally began in 2008, though other buildings were renovated first. The complex was retrofitted with various
green building
Green building (also known as green construction or sustainable building) refers to both a structure and the application of processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle: from planni ...
features as part of the project. The General Assembly Building was closed for renovations on May 31, 2013. During the project, the General Assembly met at a temporary building on the UN headquarters' North Lawn. Audio speakers were installed in place of the hall's former ashtrays, which had become obsolete after the General Assembly had banned smoking in the remainder of the building in 2008. The project also included cleaning the walls, as well as removing
asbestos
Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...
fireproofing and
mercury
Mercury commonly refers to:
* Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun
* Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg
* Mercury (mythology), a Roman god
Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to:
Companies
* Merc ...
from the hall. Workers installed an air-conditioning system under the General Assembly Hall's floor and added monitors to the desks. The murals by Fernand Leger were also restored. An ivory sculpture in the north lobby, a gift from the Chinese government, was also removed. When the building reopened in September 2014, it was the last structure in the UN headquarters to have been upgraded to New York City building codes.
Critical reception
When the building was completed in 1952, ''
Architectural Forum
''Architectural Forum'' was an American magazine that covered the homebuilding industry and architecture. Started in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1892 as ''The Brickbuilder'', it absorbed the magazine ''Architect's World'' in October 1938. Ownership ...
'' wrote that the "new Assembly Hall is almost as different as possible from the expectation raised by its chaste marble shell". According to ''Architectural Forum'', the design of the building "marked an architectural shift—from emphasis on 'function' and structural logic to emphasis on form and the logic of art." The ''
New York Herald Tribune
The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the ''New-York Tribune'' acquired the ''New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed ...
'' wrote that the roof "provides a dramatic foil to he headquarters'rigorous lines". ''
Life
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...
'' magazine characterized the building as having a "clifflike front of marble and glass" along with "pinch-waisted walls", while the ''
South China Morning Post
The ''South China Morning Post'' (''SCMP''), with its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Morning Post'', is a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1903 by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, it has remained ...
'' said the building had been likened to a "modern motion picture palace". ''Architectural Forum'' spoke in support of the design, saying it had arisen from "a different temper and a different approach from some of the best known modern masters".
Many commentators were highly critical of the design. ''Architectural Forum'' wrote: "Only a handful of the critics seemed willing to recognize that perhaps Harrison, a man of many notable accomplishments, might have had some good reason for deviating so far from canons of contemporary architecture."George Howe of the
Yale School of Architecture
The Yale School of Architecture (YSOA) is one of the constituent professional schools of Yale University, and is generally considered to be one of the best architecture schools in the United States. The School awards the degrees of Master of Arc ...
disagreed with ''Architectural Forum'' characterization of the building as "popular baroque", saying: "I should prefer a more analytical adjective. One might call this interior, for example, the legislative phase of modern architecture."
Pietro Belluschi
Pietro Belluschi (August 18, 1899 – February 14, 1994) was an Italian-American architect. A leading figure in modern architecture, he was responsible for the design of over 1,000 buildings.Belluschi, Pietro. (2007). In ''Encyclopædia Britannic ...
of the
MIT School of Architecture and Planning
The MIT School of Architecture and Planning (MIT SAP, stylized as SA+P) is one of the five schools of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1865 by William Robert Ware, the school offered the f ...
was even more direct in his disapproval, saying: "If this is the fruit of 50 years' trial and error in architectural thinking, there is reason to be discouraged." ''Architectural Forum'' also interviewed Robert Woods Kennedy, a younger architect who called it "eclecticism turned modern", and
Landis Gores
Landis Gores (August 31, 1919 – March 18, 1991) was an American architect, born in Cincinnati, Ohio. Landis was known for his modernist Gores Pavilion, the Gores Family House, and the House for All Seasons.
Early life
After growing ...
, a modernist who said "the ineptness apparent everywhere in the Assembly Building cannot be excused by a counteroffensive against architectural principle". One of the few supporters of the design was
Nathaniel A. Owings
Nathaniel Alexander Owings (February 5, 1903 – June 13, 1984) was an American architect, a founding partner of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, which became one of the largest architectural firms in the United States and the world. Owings viewed ...
of the architectural firm
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) is an American architectural, urban planning and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel A. Owings, Nathaniel Owings in Chicago, Illinois. In 1939, they were joined by engineer Jo ...
, who said it was a "very interesting and successful building, with nothing about it that wasn't a logical development of a reasonable research program".
Some of the criticism arose from the fact that the building's massing did not necessarily reflect its function, contrasting with the views of many modern architects. Architectural critic
Lewis Mumford
Lewis Mumford (October 19, 1895 – January 26, 1990) was an American historian, sociologist, philosopher of technology, and literary critic. Particularly noted for his study of cities and urban architecture, he had a broad career as a wr ...
said that "one could forgive all the architectural lapses" in the complex when they viewed the buildings from the north. Mumford likened the "billowing forms" of the north lobby's parapets to drawings by German architect
Erich Mendelsohn
Erich Mendelsohn (21 March 1887 – 15 September 1953) was a German architect, known for his expressionist architecture in the 1920s, as well as for developing a dynamic Functionalism (architecture), functionalism in his projects for department ...
. British journalist
Alistair Cooke
Alistair Cooke (born Alfred Cooke; 20 November 1908 – 30 March 2004) was a British-American writer whose work as a journalist, television personality and radio broadcaster was done primarily in the United States.The Manchester Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' that the dome "looks as if it had keeled over in a bog of cement that had failed to harden". The modernist architect Paul Rudolph said "the building is not really a product of the International Style but rather a background for a grade 'B' movie about 'one world' with Rita Hayworth dancing up the main ramp". Rudolph also criticized the fact that the building's exterior did not at all resemble its interior.
The General Assembly Building and its connected structures have been depicted in numerous films such as ''
The Glass Wall
''The Glass Wall'' is a 1953 American drama film noir directed by Maxwell Shane and starring Vittorio Gassman and Gloria Grahame. The black-and-white film was produced and distributed by Columbia Pictures. The title refers to a design feature o ...
'' (1953) and ''
North by Northwest
''North by Northwest'' is a 1959 American spy thriller film, produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason. The screenplay was by Ernest Lehman, who wanted to write "the Hitchcock picture to ...
'' (1959). The 2005 film ''
The Interpreter
''The Interpreter'' is a 2005 political thriller film directed by Sydney Pollack, starring Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn, Catherine Keener, and Jesper Christensen. It was the first film shot inside the United Nations Headquarters, as well as the fin ...
'' was the first to actually be filmed inside the headquarters. During the filming of ''The Interpreter'' in 2004, ''The New York Times'' wrote that the building "was not an instant hit with the architectural community when it opened in 1952, and it is interesting in light of this latest chapter in its history to see how its detractors chose to put it down".