A Striking Juxtaposition: Hand-Woven Textiles in the United Nations Conference Building Interiors

This article considers the history and significance of three major hand-woven textile projects commissioned for the United Nations Conference Building, which opened in 1952: the room dividing screens by Dorothy Liebes for the Delegates Dining Room, the tapestry curtain by Marianne Richter for the Economic and Social Council Chamber, and the drapes by Paula Trock for the Trusteeship Council Chamber. In each case, the textiles played pivotal roles in these interiors. They provided visual focus, softened glare, carved out private spaces within exposed open plan interiors, and provided tactile and visual richness within the building’s somewhat hard surfaces. The work of Richter, Trock, and Liebes contributed a much-needed vocabulary of warmth, texture, and humanity to United Nations complex. Caustic fireproofing materials damaged these textiles and changing tastes minimized their significance within the building’s historical narrative. This essay seeks to redress this lack of knowledge about the works, expanding the history of modernist architecture.