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The U.N. Building (United Nations) [Hardcover]

Ben Murphy , Aaron Betsky , Kofi Annan


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Book Description

October 1, 2005
Published on the celebration of the United Nations' sixtieth anniversary. When it was completed in 1952 on a site on New York's East River, the United Nations building stood as a symbol of world humanitarianism, a beacon of unity after the Second World War. One of the most historic commissions of the twentieth century was seen through by architect Wallace Harrison, whose triumph put him on the cover of Time magazine.

Today, more than fifty years later, the building is regarded as one of the pinnacles of mid-century modernism. Its magnificent public spaces and assembly halls, as well as its artworks by Picasso, Chagall, and many others, make it one of the most visited sites in New York.

This publication presents a portrait of this fascinating building, through specially commissioned photography and illuminating essays that bring alive the historic events, speeches, and gatherings that have been central to the world's development since 1945. 200 illustrations in color and black and white.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review.
While a thorough photographic exploration of the U.N. building occupies the bulk of the book, the introduction by architect Betsky provides critical perspective on the "tortured and sometimes happenstance process" of the building's design, parsing its shapes and spaces in the Modernist context that produced them. Finally, and aptly, he segues into the photography that follows by offering an insightful consideration of how the U.N. has been portrayed in films throughout the years as a symbol of order and freedom. He also cites in many photographers' U.N. images a "slightly nostalgic tinge" "that makes us remember nothing so much as the promise the past felt the future once held." Murphy's photographs explore the grand spaces of the General Assembly Hall and Security Council Chamber and capture sweeping exteriors of the buildings. But we see Betsky's remarks about nostalgia echoed in the many tiny and well-preserved details Murphy captures: telephones and magnetic tapes inside interpreters' booths; centrally-synchronized I.B.M. vacuum tube clocks and signage designed using a font specially created for the U.N. Not even a typewritten card-catalog label ("Peace") in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library escapes his notice. Entirely devoid of human presence, Murphy's images present the U.N. complex as an artifact from an era of idealism. Recommended.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

A former art director at The Face magazine, photographer Ben Murphy works regularly for British and Italian Vogue, World of Interiors and a number of British newspapers. His photographs are in the collection the National Portrait Gallery in London, where he lives. Aaron Betsky is director of the Netherlands Architecture Institute and the author of numerous books on design, architecture and culture. Kofi Annan is Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 160 pages
  • Publisher: Thames & Hudson (October 1, 2005)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0500342164
  • ISBN-13: 978-0500342169
  • Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 8.7 x 0.9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,706,133 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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