it was obvious that a tall building would be required to
house all of the offices. Niemeyer’s 39-story Secretariat
Building was controversial in its time, but has since
become an icon for the modernist style of the complex.
The exterior facings of the 550-foot tall (167.6 m) Secretariat
Building were made exclusively of aluminum, glass and
marble. Wide areas of green-tinted glass were unbroken
by conventional setbacks. In contrast, the windowless
north and south facades of the building were faced with
2,000 tons (1814 metric tons) of Vermont marble.
In keeping with the international character of the United
Nations, materials for the Headquarters were selected
from many lands. Limestone for the facings of the
Assembly and Conference Buildings came from the United
Kingdom; marble from Italy; office furniture and shelving
from France; chairs and fabrics from Czechoslovakia (now
the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic) and Greece;
carpets from England, France and Scotland. In addition,
tables were purchased from Switzerland and various
woods for interior finishing came from Belgium, Canada,
Cuba, Guatemala, the Philippines, Norway and Zaire (now
the Democratic Republic of the Congo).
© Wikipedia
10
21018_BI_NA.indd 10 05/04/2013 1:26 PM
To Next Page
Loading...
