Description:
The United Nations needs no introduction, but most people probably don't realize that the building itself is the product of a team of 11 design architects from as many countries (plus several other consultants from even more places), including French superstar Le Corbusier. It was as unprecedented an experiment in large-scale architectural modernism as it was in international governance. And although most readers know its exterior appearance, few are aware of its varied and often dramatic interior public spaces. The UN building is just one of the modernist icons that preeminent architectural photographer Ezra Stoller documented in a career that spanned more than half a century. Now retired, Stoller has been reassembling his work for permanent (rather than periodical) publication. The United Nations is one of a series published by Princeton Architectural Press that presents individual buildings in depth in a small-size volume. The photographs are not only stunning, they have particular documentary value in that Stoller shot them when the buildings were new--in this case, 47 years ago. The series has been designed for relative affordability, and its subjects are well chosen. Each volume includes a very brief preface by Stoller setting out his relationship to the building and a fairly short critical, historical, analytical essay. Buttressed by about a dozen endnotes, the essays occupy a middle ground between informal and scholarly writing. They are followed by 50 to 60 duotone photos and a few plan drawings. This is an expert look at an extraordinary building and well worth readers' serious attention. --John Pastier
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