United Nations : the story behind the headquarters of the world

The headquarters of the United Nations is one of the world's best-known buildings – and perhaps the most important. The building is located in Manhattan, on the site of a former slaughterhouse. Architectural writer Mark Isitt has, together with photographer Åke E:son Lindman, gained unique access to this masterpiece of a building. In addition to the Security Council assembly room and the gleaming General Assembly, everything has been documented from Ban Ki-moon's office on the 38th floor of the Secretariat to the upholstery workshop in the chilly basement of the conference building. This is a depiction of this unique building’s architecture and creation.

Isitt is an award-winning architect critic at Swedish daily Göteborgs-Posten and has written about architecture and design in Swedish and international magazines for 25 years.

Åke E: son Lindman is Sweden's most experienced architectural photographer. He is acclaimed for his many books and works for both Swedish and international journals.