The fortress-like Ronald H. Brown U.S. Mission to the United Nations replaces a 12-story glass-and-cast-stone slab on the same site. The stark white tower contrasts with the taller blue-green glass of UN Plaza, which wraps around the mission and adjacent Uganda House. Ronald H. Brown served as Secretary of Commerce under President Bill Clinton, and died in a plane crash while on a trade mission to Croatia.
While the need for more space dictated a new building, the need for security dictated the concrete construction, unflatteringly likened to a bunker. Inside the tower, staff and visitors even have separate elevators.
U.S. Mission to the United Nations Vital Statistics
- Location: 799 UN Plaza (First Avenue) at E 45th Street
- Year completed: 2011
- Architect: Gwathmey Siegel & Associates
- Floors: 22
- Style: postmodern
U.S. Mission to the United Nations Recommended Reading
- Wikipedia entry
- Archinect portfolio
- New York Magazine article
- Wired New York article
- Fox News article
- Emporis database
- United States Mission to the United Nations website
- Guide to Contemporary New York City Architecture
(book)