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United Nations General Assembly Building, NYC, 2021 (cdn.masto.host)
submitted 11 months ago by to c/photography@fedia.io
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United Nations General Assembly Building, NYC, 2021 All the pixels, each with diplomatic immunity, at flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/51#photography

A glass curtain mid-century modernist office building, with a plaza and fountain in front.
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[–] [S] 1 point 11 months ago (9 children)

Love them or hate them, mid-century rectangular glass curtain buildings like this are easy to dismiss as being "boring", but I think that misses something. Reflections of the surroundings become part of the facade, which changes at different angles and throughout the day. I visited several times and made dozens of photos, all quite different, before I settled on this one, and there are infinitely many photos others could make, all unique. (Similar to the new World Trade Center in this regard).

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  • [–] 1 point 11 months ago

    @mattblaze I guess I'm in the "hate" category ... though the architecture seems more hostile than boring. It's entirely sharp lines and 90 degree angles, with masses of them relentlessly packed into the space.The pixelated reflection of anything else is the only decent thing about the building.

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 11 months ago (6 children)

    The UN Secretariat building was designed by an international team of architects (most notably Le Corbusier and Oscar Niemeyer) and completed in 1950. It was the first important "International Style" modernist skyscraper in New York - exemplified here here by a simple, unadorned rectangle with reflective glass curtain walls on either side.Glass box office buildings became almost cliche in mid-century NYC, but the UN remains unusual in being set apart in the skyline, uncrowded by neighbors.

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 11 months ago (5 children)

    I have mixed feelings about Le Corbusier's architecture (to say nothing of his urban planning philosophy - he clearly influenced Robert Moses), but I think the UN Secretariat building was one of his successes.An aside: If you look at the full resolution version (downloadable on flickr), you can see the HF amateur radio antenna on the roof. Nerds are everywhere, even/especially at the UN. There's also a family taking a group picture on the street in front.

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  • [–] 1 point 11 months ago

    @mattblaze My two favorite books on architecture are "How Buildings Learn" by Stewart Brand and "From Bauhaus to Our House" by Tom Wolfe. In MNSHO, slab-faced, steel and glass boxes are far from pretty. It is a great photo however. Thanks for sharing the background.

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  • [–] 1 point 11 months ago

    @mattblaze Highly unlikely I'll ever see that in person, but:1. That's a magnificent photo in full resolution, thank you for sharing it2. That's a magnificent building. Not only for how it looks, but for what it contains. The UN may not be perfect, but it's the only UN we have.

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