United Nations Headquarters - Planning and Construction

Planning and Construction

Rather than announce a competition for the design of the facilities for the headquarters, the UN decided to commission a collaborative effort among a multinational team of leading architects. The American architect Wallace K. Harrison was named as chief architect and director of planning, and a board of design consultants was nominated by member governments. The board consisted of N. D. Bassov of the Soviet Union, Gaston Brunfaut (Belgium), Ernest Cormier (Canada), Le Corbusier (France), Liang Seu-cheng (China), Sven Markelius (Sweden), Oscar Niemeyer (Brazil), Howard Robertson (United Kingdom), G. A. Soilleux (Australia), and Julio Vilamajó (Uruguay).

Bound by such constraints as the East River Drive (later the Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive) and the East River, it became necessary to build a high-rise office building. 50 designs were evaluated by the team, and a design based on Niemeyer's project 32 and Le Corbusier's project 23 was finally chosen. Le Corbusier's project 23 consisted of one building containing both the Assembly Hall and the councils in the centre of the site. Neimeyer's plan proposed two buildings, one for the General Assembly, located alongside the river, and one for the Secretariat. This plan included a public plaza as well. Le Corbusier and Niemeyer together submitted the scheme 23–32, which was built and is what can be seen today. The 39-story Secretariat Building was controversial in its time but became a modernist landmark.

Per an agreement with the city, the buildings met some but not all local fire safety and building codes. The Secretary-General's office is on the 38th floor.

Construction on the initial buildings began in 1947, with the cornerstone laid on 24 October 1949, and was completed in 1952. The Dag Hammarskjöld Building was added in 1961. The construction of the headquarters was financed by an interest-free loan of $65 million made by the United States government, and the cost of construction was also reported as $65 million.