Kseniya Kudlai Esther Zipori Le Corbusier, United Nations Headquarters, NYC, 1947-53 Raymond Hood, McGraw Hill, NYC, 1930 BUILDING ANALYSIS- HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE IV

Raymond Hood 1881-1934 Le Corbusier American 1887-1965 Swiss // French Architect Architect (1924) (1933) (1928) Unite d’Habitation (1952) Designer Urbanist Writer Painter

MAINLY WORKED IN The FIVE point of Architecture THE STYLE. PILOTIS HAS BEEN EDUCATED FREE FACADE BOTH IN MIT AND THE OPEN FLOOR PLAN ECOLE DES BEAUX- RIBBON WINDOWS ARTS IN PARIS. MOST ROOF GARDEN OF HIS BUILDINGS WERE HIGH RISERS. DEVELOPING HIS HE TRAVELED CON- MAISON-DOMINO (A SET STANTLY BETWEEN BUILDING PROTOTYPE) EUROPE AND Palace of Assembly(1955) IN 1917 HE PUBLISHED AMERICA UNTIL 1914 HIS BOOK --TOWARDS A WHEN HE ESTAB- NEW ARCHITECTURE-- LISHED HIS OFFICE AFTER 1922 HIS IDEAS IN NEW YORK CITY. BEGAN TO TAKE PHYSI- CAL FORM WITH THE HIS FIRST MAJOR FIVE POINTS OF ARCHI- COMMISSION ONLY UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS TECTURE. ARRIVED IN 1922 WITH Sainte Mariw de La Tourette (1956) DURING WORLD WAR II THE TRI- HE MAINLY PRODUCED BUNE, A TOWER THAT THEORIES AND IDEAS HAD GOTHIC REVIVAL FOR A UTOPIAN ENVI- DETAILS. EACH PROJ- Masonic Templer (1930) RONMENT COMING UP ECT THAT FALLOWED WITH THE UNITE HAD LESS AND LESS D’HABITATION IN 1947. GOTHIC VOCABULARY HIS POST WAR BUILD- UNTIL AT THE END OF National Museum of Western Art (1957) INGS REJECTED THE HIS CAREER THE McGraw Hill Heidi Weber Museum(1867) EARLIER INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS HELD A FORM WITH BRUTE CON- SIMPLE GEOMETRIC CRETE AND ARTICU- MONUMENTALLY. LATED STRUCTURE. The McGraw Building The UN facade is a simple Facade with its blue-green grid curtain wall. It is a glazed terra cotta tiles is great example of the Inter- considered as One of the national Style. most ambitious uses of the material. The city reflects on the facade facing the city, there A great example of the is the complete absence of modern style at the time. ornamentation, it is a The building steel frame has smooth surface with a sym- many striped exterior strips metrical grid of repeating running horizontally and elements. vertically. The grid is simple as are Due to the buildings facade the materials used for the some historians consider facade creating a clean and the McGraw building as the clear facade. Almost a clean in between stage from Art canvas for light and shad- Deco into the International ows. style. The shape of the McGraw Hill building was a result of setback regula- tions for the NYC. Located between 41st and 42nd street, the building gradually steps back to let the daylight reach the streets.

Executives The form of the building also reflects the functions inside: the lower floors are occupied with the printing company, the tower houses office space, while the top part(crown) holds the executive offices. In the case of the UN building, the setback regulations did not affect the shape of the building -it is a simple rectilinear volume. The prob- lem is solved by pushing the building away from the street edge and

Office space creating a plaza. At the same time, the plain volume of the UN building doesn't reference the indoor activities.

The McGraw Hill building opens up to all four sides, maximizing the amount of daylight indoors.

The narrow block of the UN building has glazing on two larger facades only. Having mostly east-west orientation the building struggles with heat gain and light control. Publishing company Simple geometric forms and lack of ornamentation make the McGraw Hill building being viewed as one of the first examples of International style.

On the other hand, the UN building is a clear instance of this style. It also refers to the functionality and purpose of the building which houses international organization and ideally has to be free from the cultural references. The progression of Raymond Hood High raiser in NYC Project 23A- Le Corbusier original scheme for the United Nations

The McGraw Hill building is located in the hearth of within the dense city grid. Two edges of the building meet the streets. The mass of the building occupies the center of the block.

The UN building is a part of a large complex and is a focus point of it. It is separated from the street edge by a plaza in front and faces a large mass of water - East river on the other side. However, the building follows the established grid of the city.

WORK CITED Kilham, Walter H., “Raymond Hood, Architect Form Through Function in the American Skyscraper”, Architectual book Publishing Co, Inc. P 171-179, 1973, New York. Jeanneret-Gris, Charles, “UN Headquarters”, Reinhold Publishing Corporation, 1947, New York Walk Through the Big Apple, “https://sites.google.com/site/walkingoffthebigapple/raymondhood%2Cpart2” , Feb 24, 2012 Giedion, Sigfried, “Space Time and Architecture, The Growth of a New Tradition”, Giedion, P. 554-575, 1982, USA Mallgrane, Harry Francis, “Modern Architectual Theroy A Historical Survey, 1673-1968”, Cambridge University Press, P. 343-354, 2005, NY.