UNESCO's new Headquarters; The UNESCO Courier: a window...

Special Issue

UNESCO'S NEW

HEADQUARTERS

. rice: 2/6 stg. (U.K.,

50 cents (U . S.)

150 francs (France)

November 1958 (11th year)

DESCENDING SPIRAL of concrete stairway blends with gentlycurving facade of one wing of Unesco's Y-shaped Secretariatbuilding. Stairway, for use of firefighters, has water supplycolumn running up its centre. However, in case of fire,Unesco staff would leave building by interior stairways.Horizontal partition bars projecting from building's facadeat each floor level are concrete. Vertical window partitionslabs are cut from travertine, a light-coloured Italian marble.

© Almasy, Paris

1 WINDOW OMN ON* THI irOILD

ner

NOVEMBER 1958

I I T H YEAR

No. II

CONTENTSPAGE

3

4

EDITORIAL

A NEW ART OF BUILDING

By Françoise Choay

5 THREE-POINTED STAR IN PARIS

10 MURALS BY AFRO, APPEL AND MATTA

16 UNESCO HOUSE IS THEIR HANDIWORK

18 THE LANGUAGE OF ABSTRACT ART

By Roque Javier Laurenza

19 UNESCO AND ITS DECOR IN COLOUR

23 TRIUMPH IN CONCRETE

Feats of imaginative engineering

26 PROMETHEUS BRINGING FIRE TO MAN

The glowing red fresco of Rufino Tamayo

27 PICASSO AND THE 40 PANELS

Giant composition on wood

29 BRONZE FORMS AND STONE PATTERNS

Haut-relief by Arp; Mosaic by Bazaine

30 GYRATIONS IN SPACE

Alexander Calder's clockwise spiral

31 REPOSE IN STONE

Henry's Moore's largest statue

32 GARDEN OF PEACE

Japanese invitation to meditation

34 MY LATEST WORK-A WALL

By Joan Miró

37 UNESCO: WHAT IS IT 7 WHAT DOES IT DO ?

Scientific and Cultural

France

French Edition

Spanish EditionRussian Edition

Published monthly by

The United Nations Educational,

Organization

Editorial Offices

Unesco, Place de Fontenoy, Paris 7"

Editor-in-Chief

Sandy Koffler

Associate Editors

English Edition : Ronald FentonAlexandre Leventis

Jorge Carrera AndradeVeniamin Matchavariani

Layout & Design

Robert Jacquemin

Sales & Distribution Offices

Unesco, Place de Fontenoy, Paris 7*

THE UNESCO COURIER is published monthly (I 2 issues a year) in English,French, Spanish and Russian. The United States of America edition is distri¬buted by the UNESCO Publications Center. U.S.A. 801 Third Avenue, NewYork 22, N.Y., Plaza 1-3860. Second-class mail privileges authorized ac NewYork, N.Y. (M.C. 58.1.130 A)

Individual articles and photographs not copyrighted may be reprinted providingthe credit line reads "Reprinted from THE UNESCO COURIER plus dateof issue", and two voucher copies are sent to the editor. Signed articles re¬printed must bear author's name. Unsolicited manuscripts cannot be returnedunless accompanied by an international reply coupon covering postage. Signedarticles express the opinions of the authors and do not necessarily representthe opinions of UNESCO or those of the editors of THE UNESCO COURIER.

Annual subscription rates: $3.00; IO/-stg. ; 500 Fr. frs. or equivalent.

a,COVER PHOTO

An immense "three-pointed star",Unesco's Secretariat building is raised16 feet off the ground throughout itsentire length by 72 concrete pilotis.Photo shows an end wall with four of the

pilotis and the graceful sweep of thisbuilding's south-west facade. In fore¬ground is part of delegates' lobby linkingSecretariat and Conference buildings.

UNESCO-Albert Raccah

Today Unesco possesses a home of its own in Paris, a

headquarters commensurate 'with its needs and with

the goals it has set itself. This is a building whichrests on something more than its foundations of concrete

for it harbours some of the noblest hopes of man-

The international character of its construction becomes

visible the moment one crosses its threshold: the floor is

of Norwegian quartzite, aluminium panels have come fromBelgium, lighting equipment "was made in the UnitedStates and on the French-made glass doors are teak

finger plates from Burma.

Architects from France, America, Italy, Brazil and

Sweden conceived and carried out the plans or gave

their help and advice. Industrial and technological

skills from many countries were brought to bear on the

construction and, as the buildings rose to join the Paris

skyline, the tongues of many nations were heard among

the workers and craftsmen on the site.

Within the large perimeter of this seven-and-a-half

acre site there has been a harmonious blending of

architecture and art. And like the architects, technicians,

contractors and workmen, the painters and sculptors too

are from many lands. They were born in places as far

apart as Amsterdam and Santiago, Strasbourg and Phila¬

delphia, and they include some of the best-known figures

in contemporary art.

In building the new headquarters Unesco received un¬

failing help from its Member States. First and foremostcame the contribution of the French Government which

enabled Unesco to build its home on an attractive site in

Paris. And throughout the buildings there is tangible

proof of the generosity shown by other countries in the

many and valuable gifts of furnishings and decorations.

Unesco House is far more than a collection of new forms

and decorative details, a synthesis of 20th century artistic

and architectural expression. It is above all a place in

which to work. The design of the Secretariat building

a "'three-pointed star*' which might lead one to suspecta formal aesthetic effort, is, in fact, completely functional.

It is an architectural formula which has enabled commu¬

nications within each department and between depart¬ments to be greatly shortened. The same concern for

efficiency has determined the layout of the Conference

building. The location of its committee rooms and offices

and its lighting and acoustical arrangements should all

make for good working conditions.

From a small flat in Grosvenor Square and two adjoin¬ing houses in Belgrave Square, London, where Unesco

was founded 13 years ago, the Organization went to the

Hotel Majestic in Paris. Here it continued to grow in

strength and authority until the day when Member

States decided that it could no longer be content with

makeshift premises.

As the new headquarters was inaugurated on November

3, 1958, the measure of this growth and maturity wassymbolized by the flags of Member States flying proudlyfrom their 81 masts.

NEW ARTBIT I T T\ ¥ TiT f**

U 1 Jj .D 1 N \J>

The visitor who stands at the foot of the Conference

Building at Unesco's new headquarters in Parisfinds himself facing a Wall of folded concrete unlike

any other a wall which, if one must find comparisons,suggests the large surfaces that the Egyptians designed forthe sun and our modern builders of dams design for thewaters of rivers. And when he turns to the Secretariat

building he must sense in the double row of its supportingconcrete pilotis the power of the thrust that lifts thebuilding high into the air.

Here, on the left bank of the Seine, an internationalteam of architects, artists, industrial designers andbuilders has conceived and wrought a work whose stylesprings directly from the heart of the materials andtechhiques exclusive to our age.

In erecting its headquarters, Unesco sought a functionalsolution that could be carried out as economically aspossible rather than the erection of a sumptuous buildingdesigned purely for purposes of prestige. Thus it choseas basic element the most inexpensive and widely usedof modern building materials^reinforced concrete.

The builders made full use of its essential quality,plasticity, to devise structures most appropriate to thefunctions of Unesco. These are spread over two buildings,the Secretariat and the Conference building, which arejoined by a broad, low lobby. Third unit in thisarchitectural ensemble is the building for permanentdelegations.

The Secretariat building presents a striking variationof a construction technique that has become a standardone ever since the age of supporting arches and wallswas superseded by the age of structures with supportingposts and beams. The architects took advantage of the

freedom this allows to use a Y-form with curved prongsthat made it possible both to complete the empty half of.the semi-circular Place de Fontenoy and to arrange theoffices in simple linear_succession. The common

circulation and service facilities^ (lifts, stairways, wash¬rooms) are grouped at the meeting-point of the prongsof the Y.

The chief problems raised by the Conference Building(to be used for meetings and discussions) were acoustical.Sound had to break constantly against the surfaces of itslarge walls. The solution chosen was a system of wallsand roofing of folded concrete, a material whose plasticityhas made possible a complex set of emergent and re-entrant angles, which create a succession of folds such as

might be obtained with a metallic sheet. The walls, whichare of unequal height and slope outward, support theextremities of the roofing. This sloping roofing, set ontwo asymetrical levels, rests at its centre on a row ofconcrete pillars.

Thus, the plasticity of concrete not only plays a role inthe choice of structure, but also makes for a greaterfreedom (of which modern architecture often fails to takesufficient advantage), and reveals itself in the fashioningof these buildings, in the forms given to their elements.The folding of the concrete, the contour of the pillars,whose forms defy description, appear as unhamperedvariations on a material of which anything can bedemanded. The 72 pilotis of the Secretar¬iat which lift the building five metresfrom the ground and create' a marvelloussweep of space, are' like something out of adream; thin and elliptical at the base andslanting inward, they are extended at the

THREE-POINTED STAR

RISES IN PARIS

To the rear of the Military College In Paris, on a site previouslyoccupied by a cavalry regiment barracks, now stands a groupof three buildingsUnesco's new headquarters. As shown onarchitects' model (left) they are: left, the Conference building;foreground, the building for permanent delegations; centre, theSecretariat building. Lower photo on opposite page (takenfrom the Eiffel. Tower) shows how the new Unesco head¬quarters has been integrated with an ensemble of classical

monuments and has Introduced into the Paris landscape anarchitectural pattern which represents a new art of building.Aerial photo (top of page) shows an axis of Parisian landmarks,old and new. From the foreground these are: semi-circularPalais de Chaillot (1937); Eiffel Tower (987 feet high; built1889-90); and at far end of the Champs de Mars with its trees

and gardens, 18th century buildings of the Military StaffCollege. Unesco buildings (not constructed when photo wastaken) now stand at top right-hand corner of this rectangleand complete the semi-circle of the Place de Fontenoy.

UNESCO

The Unesco Courier. November 1958

© von Werthern

Ä NEW ART

OF BUILDING **_«

top by consoles, which pair them in veritable porticos.Following on the aesthetic reaction, a closer study

reveals that these forms in no way represent a strivingfor effect. They are the mathematical expression of thesmallest quantity of material to be employed for theeffort required. Indeed, it is the portico structure, appliedto pilotis, that makes it possible for the shafts to be soslender, and if the ellipse of their base has been placedperpendicularly to the axis of the upper pillars, this wasdone in order to ensure the transversal rigidity of thebuilding. This dynamic arrangement also made itpossible to set the pilotis six metres apart and thus toserve aü a proportional unit for the entire building.

In the three buildings, the principle of economy ofmaterial makes for complex forms. Thus, the chiefgirders of the Secretariat, like metallic girders, taper attheir extremities in a slope that expresses the falling-offof the load; the thickness of the slabs which they supportis similarly reduced on the cantilever surface of theoffices, so that the ceilings of these rooms are nothorizontal but slope upward, heightening the effect ofthe glass surfaces of the facades.

Flights of fancy fordown-to-earth reasons

Similarly, the pillars of the Conference Building whosesplendid cement shafts justify their comparison tothe columns of antique structures are the result of

strict calculations which required a circular section attheir base and a rectangular one at the apex in order toensure the longitudinal rigidity of the edifice.

Moreover, the corrugations in the concrete of thisbuilding have more than an acoustical function. Instiffening the thin, 35-centimetre wall, they also resistthe static stress of the roof.

All of these forms, whose diversity and elaboration seemto be the product of flights of imagination, are really theresult of strict economic logic. The inside of the buildingsis a reflection of the outside, for there too the concretestructures are quite bare, as is testified by the walls ofthe conference rooms, by the columns of the delegates'lobby, or by the lift shaft, which acts as a support in thecentral core of the Secretariat building.

The expressiveness of the handsome structural formshas been enhanced by a metamorphosis of concrete, which,though used in its crude form, has been raised by skilfuland ingenious techniques to the level of the finest ofmaterials.

In the case of the girders and pillars, a striated texturethat catches the light was obtained by the use of aprepared shuttering. The once formless and lifelessmatter was shaped and quickened by the regular outlineof the woodwork. The walls of the Conference Building

are crossed horizontally and vertically by grooves whichdivide them into separate elements, and they areperforated with circular holes. The grooves and holes aretraces of the operations performed at each pouring toensure the homogeneity of the concrete and to avoiddistorting the form-work. These markings were not onlywillingly accepted but even exploited to bring life to thecharacterless surface of the concrete, by testifying thatthis was the work of human hands.

What materials were chosen to go along with the roughconcrete of^the structures? Firstly, glass was used as athin insulating skin on the principal façades, then Wood,being inexpensive, was employed for the entire window-casing (except that of the ground floor, which is of

HOUSE OF GLASS. Between April 1955 when ground was firstbroken on the seven-and-a-half acre site of Unesco's new headquartersand July 1956 when the basic construction work was completed twostriking buildings rose to join the Paris landscape. The Secretariat

aluminium), and finally, travertine, a handsome Italianstone which offers a contrast in texture and colour with

the concrete. . It was chosen to cover the outer and, in

many cases, even the inner, non-supporting masonrysurfaces. The primary function of the travertine is notto provide decoration but rather to emphasize theframework elements, to outline and point them up bymeans of contrast. For example, the hollow-brick fillingthat closes each of the- side walls of the Secretariat is

faced from top to bottom with a thin layer of travertine,which is cut' horizontally just above the pilotis, thusemphasizing the graceful slope and dynamic significanceof the pilotis.

Interplay of light onvast, glassed facades

In the Conference Building, the role of the two non-supporting façades is expressed by a facing of tra¬vertine which, in certain places, reveals the concrete

structural elements. The contrast between the struc¬

tural and non-structural elements is heightened here by agap which completely dissociates the folded concrete rooffrom the façades, to allow for continual movements ofexpansion and contraction of the concrete.

The interiors, which are a counterpart of the façade,offer the same contrasts. In the lobby of the Secretariat,the concrete pilotis are enhanced by a grey Norwegianquartzite floor, and in the large conference hall the samecontrast of colour is provided by the ebony of thespeakers' platform. Rough concrete posts and travertinewalls set each other off on the seventh floor of the


M|Hbuilding might well be called the "House of Glass" with its 1,068 win¬dows set in their array of concrete supports. Glass surfaces on thethree buildings at the headquarters cover a total area of nearly fiveacres, the weight of the glass amounting to 175 tons. Photo on right,

Secretariat while the uniform grey of the offices standsout against the whiteness of the accoustical tiles on theconcrete ceiling.

A tracery of horizontal and vertical lines has broughtintense life to the vast, glassed façades of the SecretariatBuilding. This result was achieved except in the case ofthe north façade by elements that give the window-structure a three-dimensional effect, thereby creatingnew volumes. Wooden window-frames are kept in placeby a system of prefabricated posts fixed at intervals ofthree metres; every second post is set off by a thin verticalslab of travertine joined at each extremity to louveredelements of prefabricated concrete sun screens thatextend the cantilever of the floor slab.

The light can in this way play in and out between theconcrete vanes in a myriad fashions and create various

patterns of shadow among this network of interstices,thus giving an intense animation to the whole. Thecombinations of light are made even more complex by thealternation of the travertine slabs on each floor. The

alternating arrangement practised here is the onlyvariation on the north façade, where the face not theedge of the slabs is visible. On the south and eastfaçades sun filters of tempered grey glass attached to theconcrete elements create a third level in depth.

The same animation has been achieved in another way

by the treatment of stairways and porticos. One exampleis the outside stairway of the east façade which is for theuse of firefighters. It is made entirely of identical partsprefabricated in concrete forms. The fantastic upwardwinding of this stairway, which is joined to the buildingat each floor, gives a kind of rapid synthesis of curves,straight lines and diagonals that vie with the harmonyof the façades.

Photos © von Werthern

taken during construction period, shows north-east facade of Sec¬retariat building (446 feet long). In centre is firefighters' stairway(see also page 2). Some of the 72 pilotis, set in pairs 20 feet apart,on which building rests are seen through ground floor windows.

Similarly, on the large piazza of the Avenue de Suffren,a canopy made up of two curved surfaces rests itsimposing cantilever on two small concrete masses andcontinues, on an ampler scale, the themes of the right andacute angles and of the sweep of the façades.

Vying with the boldestcreations of plastic arts

The architecture of the new Unesco Headquarters is

marked by a freedom, expressed in a wealth offorms in which functionalism does not' exclude

poetry. The stairway of the east façade and the foldedwalls of the Conference Hall have the quality of fancifulimages or of the boldest creations of the plastic arts. Itis also characterized by the attention it pays to a stricteconomy of material, which bases its forms on closelyobserved calculation and makes them a direct expressionof a dynamic plan. Finally, it is distinguished by itsfrankness, which makes for an immediate "readability",and by its uncompromising employment of materials andconstant use of emphasis and contrast. It is indeed, thebrilliant manifestation of a style.

Another version of this article appears in "Unesco Head¬quarters Symbol of the 20th Century," an album publishedby Gerd Hatje, Heidehofstrasse 40, Stuttgart, German FederalRepublic. This album can be obtained in English, French orGerman editions from Unesco House, Place de Fontenoy, Paris.It costs 1,000 Fr. frs. (or equivalent in other currencies) plus

postage. Orders should be accompanied by an internationalmoney order. For full information, write directly to Unesco,Place de Fontenoy, Paris.

IT T ' ImmWtPW

UNESCO - Berret

«THE REEDS'

Works by artists of widelydifferent origins decorate thewalls on the seventh floor

of the Secretariat building. In

addition to paintings by Afro(Italy), Matta (Chile) and Appel(Netherlands) there is a largephotomontage (9 feet by24 feet) by Brassai. Right,Brassaï and his work, "The

Reeds," which decorates the

cafeteria. One of the best-

known French photographers,Brassai is of Hungarian origin.

UNESCO - Brent Hannon


Top floor view (left) from thewestern end of the Secre¬

tariat building, 95 feet abovethe ground, highlights the strik¬ing effect achieved by the useof a corrugated roof and flutedend walls in the design of theConference building (right ofphoto). Afternoon sun reflectedin myriad windows of the Secre¬tariat building has painted aspeckled pattern on travertineside wall facings of the Conferencebuilding. A long, low hall linksthe two structures and in front

of this stand the two ceramic-

decorated walls of Joan Miróand Llorens-Artigas. The ceramicvisible here is the "Wall of the

Sun", the "Wall of the Moon"

being behind and at right anglesto it.

Functional reasons even more

than aesthetic ones prompted thechoice of a three-pointed starform for the Secretariat building.Its seventh floorfrom where

this photograph was takenisalmost entirely reserved forUnesco staff services: restaurant,

cafeteria, bar, staff lounge, all ofwhich offer magnificent viewsover Paris. Staff members and

visitors reach it in fully-automa¬tic, electronically-operated lifts,each capable of carrying 20 per¬sons at a speed of 5 feet a second.

At the extremities of each

wing of the Secretariat buildingare open-air terraces paved withtravertine, an Italian stone which

comes from Carrara, the regionwhere the raw material for Michel¬

angelo's sculptures came fromsome 450 years ago. Eachslab of travertine is 13 feet

square and weighs nearly one ton.

The varied treatment of the

three curved facades . of the

Secretariat building results fromdetailed research into the use of

and protection from sun radia¬tion. The various seasons of the

year and the critical hours of theday have been considered. Theresulting design shades the inte¬riors from the high summer andmidday sun, transmits, however,the low winter and morning andevening sun. This is achieved,without reducing the naturallight and the free view from theinteriors, by a combination ofprojecting ceiling slabs and parti¬tions with horizontal or vertical

solar glass filters. These greyglass sheets (seen in upper photo,left) filter out the infra-red raysfrom the sun. but let throughthe ultra-violet ones.

Photos UNESCO - Von Werthern

CROSS-SECTION

OF MODERN ARTIN the selection of the works of art that deco¬

rate the new Unesco headquarters, the Direc¬tor-General was counselled by an Interna¬

tional Committee of Art Advisers formed ofDr. C. Parra-Perez, of Venezuela (chairman),M. Georges Salles (France), Mr. Shahid Suhra-wady (Pakistan) and Sir Herbert Read (GreatBritain). Architects who prepared the headquar¬ters' plans were represented on this committee byM. Bernard Zehrfuss of France and the interna¬

tional panel of consultative architects by Mr. Er¬nesto Rogers of Italy.

By recommendation of the advisory committeepaintings by Afro (Italy), Karel Appel (Nether¬lands) and Roberto Matta (Chile) were commis¬sioned for the seventh floor, where there is also aphotomontage done by Brassai. Pablo Picassoand Rufino Tamayo (Mexico) painted murals, theformer a painting on wood that dominates thedelegates' hall, the latter a fresco in the largecommission room of the Conference building. A

statue by Henry Moore (U.K.), and a mobile byAlexander Calder (U.S.A.) adorn the grounds;sculptured motifs in haut relief by Jean Arp(France) decorate the end wall of the library ;ceramics by Miro and Artigas cover two wallsbetween the Conference and Secretariat buildings;

and at the foot of the building for permanent dele¬gations extends a garden designed by Isamu Nogu-chi and executed under his direction by Japanese

gardeners. Another work of art, a mosaic by theFrench painter Jean Bazaine has been commis¬sioned for the wall of the delegations' building

overlooking the Japanese garden. (Reproductionsof these works and facts about them and their

authors are published on other pages).

All these artists were chosen not as representa¬

tives of any particular school of painting ornational form of art, but as internationally recog¬nized figures in contemporary art.

'GARDEN OF HOPE'Born In Udine, Italy, in 1912, Afro (AfroBasaldella) was 18 years old when he heldhis first exhibition in Milan. At this time

his painting was post-Impressionistic. Later,he showed an interest in Cubism, but after

the war he turned to abstract painting in a

very personal style. He now lives in Romewhere, last year, he was doing theatricaldecor in addition to his painting. "La

Chronique Noire," a painting he did in I 950,was among the works exhibited at Brusselsthis year in the exhibition: "Fifty Years ofModern Art." Photo, right, shows Afro(on right of photo) helping to mount hispainting, "The Garden of Hope," on a wallof the 7th floor of the Secretariat building.

UNESCO - Marc Laloux

10


A WORLD OF HIS OWN

"If one wants to place Appel, it is fruitless tolook for a general term. It is hard to classifyhim. His mind is independent and certainlyhis attitude towards classicism is anarchistic.

In considering his work it is more appropriateto speak of expressionism." Karel Appel,of whom a French art critic wrote these

words, is a Netherlands' painter who wasborn in Amsterdam in 1921. "Appel,"wrote the same critic, "has succeeded in

creating his own adventurous world in astyle which he himself has devised. Hisart reflects a direct approach to his subjects,which he treats with violence and strength."Since 1950 Karel Appel (left, at work inhis studio) has been living and painting inParis where he has held several exhibitions.

UNESCO-Pablo Volta

ARCHITECT TURNED PAINTERAt 1 7 years of age Roberto Matta enteredthe School of Beaux-Arts at his birthplace,Santiago, Chile, with the intention of becom¬ing an architect. Three years later he wentto Paris where he enrolled in the School of

Town Planning and afterwards began workwith Le Corbusier who predicted a brilliantarchitectural career for him. But Matta

suddenly turned to painting. He was atfirst strongly influenced by surrealism anduntil 1948 he remained in the group ofsurrealists, but his art later evolved towards

expressionism. In I 957theMuseumof ModernArt in New York held an important retros¬pective exhibition of his painting. Matta haslived and painted in the United States, Mexicoand Italy, but has now returned to Paris.

UNESCO-Pablo Volta

II

UNESCO STAMPS

AND SOUVENIRS

Many of UNESCO'S Member States are issuing com¬memorative postage stamps to mark the inaugurationof the Organization's new Headquarters. Stampsreproduced here are from France and Poland.On November 1,1958, the French Government issued

two new postage stamps in denominations of 20 and3 5 francs representing two different views of theUNESCO Headquarters. First day covers, both enve¬lopes and postcards, featuring printed enlargements ofthe new French issues were available to philatelists onNovember I and 2, 1958, the first days of issue andcancellation. Philatelists may still obtain these firstday covers while the supply lasts, by placing orderswith: Unesco Staff Service, Office 7122, UNESCO,9, place de Fontenoy, Paris-7e, accompanied by advance

payment (plus postage) either by cheque or moneyorder payable to UNESCO Staff Service. Payments madein currency other than French francs will be convertedat the official exchange rate in Paris on the date ofreceipt of cheque or money order.

Cost of a set of two envelopes and a set of two postcards,each set containinga20fr. and a 35 fr. French stamp, is500 francs. On orders for less than ten sets, I 00 francsshould be added to the cost of the cards and the enve¬lopes to cover mailing costs.

Collectors visiting UNESCO Headquarters will also beable to buy stamps issued by the United Nations PostalAdministration and certain of the commemorative

stamps issued by UNESCO Member States. These stampsare on sale in the Main Lobby at the Gift Shop, a kioskof metal and wood construction presented by Norway.Similar in purpose to the shops of the United Nationsin New York and Geneva, this shop will display for salehandicrafts from Member States.

1,200 FEETOF BOOKSHELVES

Built around eight of the giant pilotis which dominatethe ground floor of the Secretariat building, the UNESCOLibrary is a gift of the Swedish Government, which entrustedits design and construction to the "Svenska Slojdforeningen"(Swedish Association for Arts and Crafts) and the SwedishNational Commission for UNESCO.

A reading room and reference library for UNESCO staff,it features 1,200 feet of shelving in light wood for booksand periodicals. The furniture is in natural fir and red beechwith plastic lacquer finish, most of It fixed to the floor, andsupported by black terrazo bases, rising from the naturalcoloured cork floor.

Special lighting has been installed on all the work tables andthe bookshelves Book lifts connect the reference library(12,000 volumes) with a storeroom of books not in currentuse and with departmental reference libraries located in thisbuilding. There are 50,000 books in the reserve stock andthe Library has a permanent collection of 3,000 periodicals.Area of the Library, for which the architects were HansBorgstrom and Bengt Lindroos, is 3,300 square feet.


12


STANDARD SIZE of the 650 offices in the

Secretariat building is 13 feet by 10 feet

by 8 feet 6 inches in height. From its centre,

each ceiling rises a further foot or so towards

the windows, whose French-made frames run

on German-made ball-bearings. The ceilings

are covered with white slabs of sound proofing

material, floors with grey linoleum (over

3 00,000 sq. ft. were used in the building).

Central heating pipes running at the base ofthe windows are hidden under slabs of grey

slate. Interior doors came from the Nether¬

lands and have metal fittings from the U.S.A.

UNESCO

MAIN LOBBY occupies most of the ground

floor of the Secretariat building. It has a

floor of grey Norwegian quartzite underneath

which central heating pipes are concealed.

Its great length is broken at regular intervals

by the 72 remarkable concrete pilotis on whichthe building is supported. Copper pipes

inside the pilotis drain the rainwater from the

roof. In this glass enclosed public space are

the bank, bookstore, travel and information

services, a gift shop and the entry to an under¬

ground cinema. At one end of the lobby is the

Unesco Library while the other end of thismain artery of circulation leads into the dele¬gates' lobby and the Conference building.

UNESCO-Berretty

O

<

Photos UNESCO - Berretty

14


i von Werthen

UNESCO-Berretty

'WINGED COIF'

ENTRANCE

Shape of the large concrete portico standingbefore the entrance of the longest facade of theSecretariat building is suggestive of a nun'swinged coif. It is 50 feet in length (about one-tenth of the total length of the facade) andover 100 tons of concrete were poured in itsconstruction. Dominating the whole facadeit has been described as a "triumph of imagina¬tive engineering" and "coming close to beinga piece of sculpture in itself." Main entranceto Unesco Headquarters, on the opposite sideof the Secretariat building, also has a portico,but of much smaller dimensions. Photo, above,is a close-up, looking skywards, of the hori¬zontal concrete louvers and vertical travertine

slabs which help to shade the interior of theSecretariat building from the sun. Extra pro¬tection is provided on south-west and partsof south-east facades by glass solar filters.

UNESCO-Pablo Volta

m&JMWÊÊM

15

Unesco

House

is their

handiwork

CHARLES

LE CORBUSIER

(FRANCE)

WALTER GROPIUS

(U.S.A.)

BERNARD ZEHRFUSS

(FRANCE)

PIER LUIGI NERVI

(ITALY)

MARCEL BREUER

(U.S.A.)

Designed by an international panel of architects, UNESCO'S new headquartersoccupies a seven and a half acre site made available to UNESCO by the FrenchGovernment.

Plans for the three buildings of the headquarters were prepared jointly by MarcelBreuer of the United States, Pier Luigi Nervi of Italy and Bernard Zehrfuss ofFrance; they were approved by an international panel of five architects: LucioCosta (Brazil), Walter Gropius (United States), Charles Le Corbusier (France),Sven Markelius (Sweden) and Ernesto Rogers (Italy). American architect EeroSaarinen was also consulted.

Architectand designer, Marcel Breuer has taught and lectured in universities andart institutes in the United States and other countries. He is the author of manywidely published articles on art and architecture. Important projects of his nowbeing built include: Arts Centre and Theatre, Sarah Lawrence College, New York;Grosse Pointe Public Library, Michigan; and the Airport Terminal buildings atFairbanks and Anchorage, Alaska.

Pier Luigi Nervi, engineer, architect, teacher and writer, has designed and cons¬tructed many buildings in Italy, making special use of reinforced concrete. Theseprojects include stadiums, theatres, industrial plants, department stores andaerodrome buildings.

Bernard Zehrfuss, winner of the Rome Grand Prix is architect and adviser to

many official and private organizations. Among his recent works are the NationalCentre for Mechanized Industries, in Paris, the Renault motor car works at Flins

and many housing projects in France, Algeria and Tunisia.

Charles Le Corbusier is widely known for his bold architectural conceptions whichhave materialized in such projects as the city of Chandigarh in India and the ultra¬modern building, the cité radieuse, in Marseilles, France.

Walter Gropius is one of the pioneers of modern conceptions of architecture andthe founder of the famous Bauhaus school in Germany.

Ernesto Rogers has carried out many important town-planning and architecturalprojects and has taught in several universities.

Sven Markelius is town planner for Stockholm.

Lucio Costa drew up the plans for Brazil's new capital, Brasilia.

Eero Saarinen is architectural consultant to General Motors.

The technical construction work at the Unesco headquarters site was directed by

Eugene H. Callison, American architect and engineer.UNESCO'S new home is the result oftheir joint efforts.

LUCIO COSTA

(BRAZIL)

SVEN MARKELIUS

(SWEDEN)

ERNESTO ROGERS

(ITALY)

EERO SAARINEN

(U.S.A.)

A Secretariat build¬

ing. - B Conferencebuilding. - C Thirdbuilding. - D Car park.- E Car entrance. -

F Piazza. - G Dele¬

gates' patio. - H Japa¬nese garden.

I Library - 2 Visitors'service - 3 Lifts -

4 Bookshop - 5 News¬paper stand - 6 Traveland hotel accommo¬

dation - 7 To the cine¬

ma and radio studios -

8 Bank - 9 Tourism -

10 Salle des Pas Per¬

dus - I I Plenary hall1-12 Cloak-room -

13 Bar - 14 Reception

>

<

P V-

u

$£

Ol

i

t>

JÇ> -.

\

1.6


- 1 5 Documents distri<

bution - 16 Commit

tee room

17 Commission room

II - 18 To Rooms IV

and V - 19 To Press

room - 20 Way toRooms VI, VII & VIII.

U E 5 U

17

THE LANGUAGE OF

ABSTRACT ARTby Roque Javier Laurenza

Among the many people who have visited Unesco'snew headquarters on Place de Fontenoy in Paris,

d there are some who have made unfavourable

comments about the predominating abstract style of theworks of art which decorate the Organization's newhome.

Such criticisms are not new, nor are the argumentsin favour. But perhaps a further comment will not beout of place.

For anyone who does not have frequent contact withworks of art, abstract art like so-called pure poetryand musicdoes not reflect human interests or

conflicts. It is an impenetrable phenomenon, gratuitousand incomprehensible. Basically, this criticism isfounded on the debatable premise of the antagonismbetween form and content, the old belief that theaesthetic value of a work lies in its meaning, insomething anecdotal, logical and discursive. But inreality a work of art is an autonomous universe, aworld in itself.

A story is told which gives point to this argument.A distinguished lady, on meeting Delacroix, said tohim: "Oh what a pity that you were not at the BritishEmbassy ball! Just imagine, the Duke of Wellingtonwas talking to Prince Metternich in a corner for ageswhat a subject for a painter!" And Delacroix, bowingto the lady, replied: "Madam, for a true painter therewas only a blue spot beside a red spot..."

It is difficult to reproach abstract art with beingcompletely estranged from life. What could be moreexpressive of human feeling than the intimate landscapesand the secret perspectives of the soul of an artist?Of course, abstract painting is not a definitive style, noran example for all time. But it is an undeniable factthat it represents one of man's artistic expressionsthrough the ages, and that it reappears with a strangelycyclical regularity.

Nor is it necessary to take a stand and say, cate¬gorically, that abstract art is the only valid art formof our time. It is better to adopt a long view and toconsider it as a very generalized expression of thiscentury's culture. Artistic phenomena do not springup like mushrooms. It is a historical fact that abstractart forms have appeared simultaneously in the UnitedStates and in France, in Brazil and Greece, in Peruand India.

TN the case of abstract or non-figurative art, thefirst thing that strikes us is that wherever itappears, it seems as if it were emerging from deep

historical strata and not simply from the whim of anisolated group of artists. A second look will showthat the tendency towards the purely abstract is notnew and that it has a special significance. And lastly,it does not indicate the absence or decadence of a

technical ability to reproduce reality in its precisedetails. On the contrary it responds to an expresswill of art, or Kunstwollen, as the Germans say.

One of the principal characteristics of abstract art(as of all art) lies in the free and autonomous use ofartistic elements: lines and colours in the case of

painting; sounds in certain classical musical composi¬tions, as for example in a Bach fugue, and thepleasures produced by them do not have a patheticrelationship with the private feelings of one personor another, as Ortega y Gasset once pointed out.

A factor which has played an important part in theevolution of abstract art is the development ofphotography. The faithful eye of the camera hasliberated the arts from their servitude to concretereality. For deep down in human consciousness thereis always the desire to perpetuate one's memory onearth. The custom of erecting monuments and paintingpictures to record the profiles and acts of men whetherit be a Caesar or just an ordinary man arises fromthis psychological need.

There is another factor to be taken into account

when considering abstract art. Art historiansJ have pointed out that the existence of natural¬

istic and antinaturalistic styles through the centuriesare an echo of different spiritual realities. Naturalistictendencies generally appear in times of stability, whenman is content with his lot and when violent anta¬

gonisms do not exist. The trend towards abstrac¬tionism, on the other hand, generally appears in timeswhen this happy relationship between man and hisenvironment does not exist. In this case, since theartist reflects his time, it often happens that he createsabstract forms because he can introduce in them a har¬

mony that responds to a basic human desire forbalance and concord.

We live in a time of vital change, when men arewrestling with vast problems to which they cannot yetfind the answers. This may explain the retreat of theartist from reality. Then there is also the impact ofscience. The world is full of mathematical formulasand abstract forms of scientific discoveries charted in

laboratories. It may toe that the artist, influenced bythese factors, is trying to translate such mathematicalimages into the algebra of an artistic style.

All this goes to show that, after all, abstract art doesmean something. In fact, each form of art has its ownparticular language and those who study it must knowor at least understand this language. It is by no meanscertain that all classical forms are understood at first

glance, for the work of art speaks only to sympatheticears.

In any case, the works of art exhibited in the newUnesco headquarters are in harmony with thearchitecture. They are the creations of artists ofinternational repute and are examples of contemporaryart. The saying: "I do not propose anything, I do notimpose anything, I expose" would be a very apt mottofor any collection of modern works of art.

The rest is a debate for tomorrow. Time will show

whether these particular works are Horace's "eternalmonument" or Malraux's "scar on the earth". But

they are the products of our time, and as such theymay have many meanings and bring further proof thatthe twentieth century is striving for unity and orderamong the diversity and chaos of our time.

18

f -

Uli M 1

II1III1 s s

lililí a

a s

li

t >

Î^WWTOTOÎï,

UNESCO Albert Raccah

LONGEST FACADE of the Unesco Secretariat building (486 feet) overlooking the spacious headquarters piazza.

KAREL APPEL "Encounter in Springtime." Painting decorating wall of restaurant, Secretariat building.UNESCO Claude Ferrand

XI

$ &s3*

ft. ¡<i

YAft

M^Jfc

THE WALL OF THE MOON

THE WALL OF THE SUN

20

Standing in the gravelled court between the Secretariatand Conference buildings are two free walls at rightangles to each other, decorated with ceramics whichconstitute a striking ensemble in the new Unescoheadquarters. The joint work of two Spanish artists,Joan Miro and José Llorens-Artigas, the ceramics formtwo murals symbolizing day and night. The smallerwall has as its central theme the blue crescent of the

moon (above), the larger wall representing the burningred disc of the sun (below). Miro and Artigas executedthis great work of art in a tiny village in Spain, paintingand firing 585 tiles of different sizes which werethen transported to Paris for assembling at UnescoHouse. See page 34, 'My Latest Work A Wall'.

UNESCO Photos - Claude Ferrand

21

\

V

UNESCO Jean-Pierre Grabet

PABLO PICASSO. Painting in delegates' lounge, Conference building.

22UNESCO - Pablo Volta

AFRO. "Garden of Hope." Wall painting, 7th floor, Secretariat building.


TRIUMPH IN

CONCRETE


The Unesco Conference building with ¡tsrfluted end walls and corrugated roof ¡s a striking monumentto the decorative use of reinforced concrete. This concrete has been treated in such a way that itbears the imprint of the wood shutterings. The roof slopes from a height of 40 feet at one endand 46 feet at the other down to a centre height of just over 32 feet. Here it is supported on sixcolumns. The roof is covered by 20 tons of copper sheet which has been treated chemically toproduce the green patina which age normally gives to this metal. Above, the folded concreteceiling of the Plenary hall. This exposed structural ceiling and the end wall of the hall both offera number of acoustical advantages. Below, the corrugated roof seen from the Secretariat building.

von Westhern

23

UNESCO


ULTRA-MODERN

MEETING PLACEAll conference and committee rooms

at Unesco's Headquarters are group¬ed, together with their services, under

a single roof in a structure of singulararchitectural character. This Conference

building, which is linked to the main hallof the Secretariat building by a long, low

hall, has three levels.

On the lower level, there are the officesof the Conference Secretariat, the press,radio and television rooms, and three com¬

mittee rooms; on the main (ground) level,

the plenary hall, the main commission roomand the delegates' bar and snack bar; on theupper level, the Executive Board room anda committee room.

Photos on these pages show some as¬pects of these conference halls and com¬mittee rooms. Largest of all is the PlenaryHall (left, lower photo) covering an areaof 1,000 square metres and accomodatingnearly 1,000 people. Its seating arrange¬ments include 477 seats for delegates andobservers, 359 for the public and 42 forthe press. It is equipped for simultaneousinterpretation in four languages and for theprojection of films. Photo was taken atthe opening of Unesco's 10th GeneralConference. On either side of the hall are

ebony-covered cabins for interpreters,photographers, radio and TV representatives.

Next largest hall is the Main CommissionRoom. Unlike the Plenary Hall which

relies entirely on concealed lighting for itsillumination, the Commission Room has

4,300 square feet of special double glassset in an unusual pattern of windows (left,upper photo). Above the entrance to theroom Rufino Tamayo has painted his "Pro¬metheus bringing fire to Man", which isflanked by decorative plaster panels.Slatted walls, a hanging ceiling in acoustictiles and natural ash furniture are other

features.

Photos, right, show three of the commit¬tee rooms which have been decorated and

furnished by Member States.

Top, in the German room, the remark¬able white stucco "draped" ceiling whichwas placed between the concrete beams togive a wavy effect and an impression ofheight and light. Grey marble table in thisroom has 24 walnut working surfaces.Floor is of darker Wallenfels marble.

Centre, Denmark's contribution. Room

has pinewood slatted ceiling, bright coiroured wood and natural ash walls. Semi¬

circular oak and teak tables face long rec¬

tangular presidential table. Copper lampfixtures following the shape of the table aresuspended from the ceiling.

Bottom, room given by Switzerland.Circular walnut table is overhung by circu¬

lar metal light fixture. Table can be takendown and re-arranged, and its heightadjusted. Glass panels separate committeeroom from foyer giving view of Picassomural. Windows look out on Secretariat

Photos UNESCO - Marc Laloux


mw^mf mmr^

' I w^ mm

WWWA

J0mâ iflfflP Kff is«

1 bI ft'i 5 U :m\ i*

^^

25

'PROMETHEUS BRINGING

FIRE TO MAN'

0ufinoTamaya, the Mexican painter, climbeddown from the scaffolding on which hehad been working for two months to

complete his mural, "Prometheus bringingfire to Man." "All my friends were tellingme that I should decorate the new UNESCO

building," he said. "Here is my contribution,"he added, presenting his great mural in whichall the colours of fire itself burned.

"I had successively been offered the chance tomake ceramics on a terrace, a painting alonga passage or in the restaurant. Finally, theMain Commission room, which is the most

suitable for me as I prefer painting largemurals, seemed to me to be fit for a themededicated to UNESCO. The work is done on

plaster; the paint itself has a plastic base.It dries fast and can be washed. I have alreadyused this in previous murals and can obtainexactly the same colours as I would withnormal paint.

"When I wasa child," said Tamayo, "I was moreinclined to be a musician than a painter. InSouth Mexico, where my family lived, I learnedmusic. When I was eleven years old we wentto Mexico City and I discovered I had a giftfor drawing. But at home they wanted meto study something practical and to become amerchant. So I went to the School of Fine

Arts without telling my parents."

Photos show (top) Tamayo working in his stu¬dio and (bottom) on his mural at UNESCO'Sheadquarters. The note reproduced at the topof the page was written by Tamayo speciallyfor this souvenirlssue of THE UNESCO COURI ER.

It says: May the light which is supposed tocome from the fire of my little-illuminated"Prometheus" illumine the minds of all who

undertake the immense task of uniting theworld through culture. Friendly Greetings,

R. Tamayo.

26

Photos UNESCO - Pablo Volta


FWÊfí ith a laconic D'accord "Agreed" (see above), PabloLTAtJ Picasso indicated his willingness in November 1957 toÄA4I contribute to the decoration of Unesco's new headquarters.

His painting was executed on 40 wooden panels. Coveringan area of 860 square feet, it was placed on a 28 feet high wallat the end of the delegates' lounge in the Conference building.

As soon as this enormous mural (35 feet by 30 feet) was shown tothe public it stimulated comments and discussions sometimeslively ones. Hî.re is whit M. Gîarges Salles, Honorary Directorof French Museums, had to say about it in "The Unesco Chronicle""At the entrance to the main conference hall is a composition by

Picasso. What does this represent ? Bathers on a beach ? If onewants a symbol one can see in it a struggle between the forces ofgood and evil and what I have described as the fall of an Icarus-likefigure into the shadows."

Pablo Picasso, born in Malaga, Spain, in I 88 I, was already recognizedwhile in his teens as an "artistic phenomenon." After his "BluePeriod" and his "Rose Period" in the early years of this century,he turned to an increasingly abstract cubism. From 1919 onwardsrealist pictures alternated with more formalized works and greatnudes inspired by Greek sculpture of the antique period. Picassowas hailed by the surrealists as the great forerunner of their move¬ment, and in the middle thirties his work was pronouncedly surrea¬list. After 1948 he took up all his old themes in still life, portrait

and landscape.

Photos show: above, the mural being mounted for its first public

showing in Vallauris, in April 1958; left, Picasso with his painting

Phuto Tony Saulnier © Paris-Match, reproduced by permission

27

GIFTS FROM

19 NATIONSSomething like a score of nations

has contributed to the furnishingand decoration of Unesco's new

headquarters. Photos on this pageshow three examples of these donationswhich in their ensemble compose amosaic of current trends in decoration

and furnishing in various countries.

Top, the committee room furnishedand decorated by Italy. It featuresolivewood walls and ceiling with roundedangles and a floor of Vincenza marble.Olivewood tables are arranged in anoval. Black polished metal chairs areupholstered in natural calf. Forty-five Murano lampshades are incor¬porated in the ceiling.

Centre, modern tapestries on endwall and floor are striking features ofthe committee room presented by France.Tapestries were made at Aubussonfrom designs prepared by Adam (grey,black and white) and Singier (reds andblues). Room has mahogany tables andmetal chairs covered with grey leather.

Bottom, the Executive Board Room,a contribution of the United States,

whose decoration was carried out bythe International Council of the Museum

of Modern Art, New York. It has 42 white

plastic sculptured wall panels suspendedlike heraldic emblems from enamelled

steel poles, against velvet walls. Astriking contrast to this is providedby the bush - hammered concrete wall(on right of photo). The elliptical tablesof ebonized walnut on black anodized

aluminium frames have white parch¬ment tops. Eighty-two suspendedlights in concentric ellipses reflectthe lay-out of the furniture.

Three other committee rooms were

furnished and decorated by Denmark,Switzerland and Germany (see page 25).

Other gifts from Member States in¬clude : Non-governmental Organiza¬tions' Room (Czechoslovakia) ; PressRoom (Netherlands) ; Library (Sweden) ;Unesco Information Office (Canada) ;Gift Shop (Norway) ; Hall furnitureon each floor tables in light woodwith special Finnish veneers and metallegs arranged in groups with sofa andtwo armchairs(Finland) ; Office of theChairman of the Executive Board (United

Kingdom) ; Office of the Director-Gene¬ral furnished thanks to a donation

from Belgium.

80 tons of rocks,and the assistance

gardeners to carryout the design of the Japanese garden.

Morocco and Tunisia have donated

rugs. The Director-General has alsoaccepted on behalf of Unesco the offerof a tapestry from Lebanon and thegift of a painting and a marble plaqueby Afghanistan.

Japan supplied60 tree saplingsof 3 specialized

28


PATTERNS

IN STONE

On the outside wall of the delegates' building at Unesco's Headquarters, aspace has been reserved for a mosaic to be executed by the French painter,Jean Bazaine.

Bazaine says he has chosen a movement of water as its theme, as this fits inwith the long and narrow surface he has to decorate and with the Japanesegarden to which the mosaic will provide a background. He has decided notto work directly on the wall (to facilitate any retouching work he may haveto do) but at a mosaicist's where he has found exactly the same lighting condi¬tions as those on the site. He intends to use enamels and stones (accordingto whether brilliant or dull effects are required) of quite small dimensions, andalso, by the use of inequalities in the size and arrangements of the stones,to give an animation to the entire surface.

Born in 1904 in Paris, where he still lives, Jean Bazaine ¡s an Important figurein contemporary French painting. He has frequently exhibited in Paris andin 1948 he published Notes sur la peinture d'aujourd'hui. He has madestained glass windows for the church of striking modern design at Assy In theHaute Savoie, and in 1951 he executed a large frontal mosaic measuring 60 feetby 12 (photo, below) for the church of Audincourt, also In Eastern France.The mosaic Bazaine has planned for Unesco will be similar in style to his workat Audincourt, but composed of much smaller elements.

© Paul Bony, Paris

FORMS IN

BRONZERarely is the work and

personality of an artistso connected with the aes¬

thetics of his times as is

the case with Jean Arp, whowas born in 1887 at Stras¬

bourg, France. Friendshipand association with the

early theoreticians and pioneers of modern art have

given him a place in every major artistic movementsince the first world war.

The work he has executed for Unesco is an abstract bronze

haut-relief which has been placed on the outer wall of

the library on the ground floor of the Secretariat

building. Photo, left shows in foreground an element

of Arp's haut-relief on which he worked in his studioat Meudon near Paris.

Photos UNESCO - Pablo Volta

29

« SPIRALE

In a note (above) which he sent to Unesco's Press Officer, AlexanderCalder wrote: " I have decided to call the mobile simply 'Spirale'."

UNESCO - Berretty

GYRATIONS IN SPACE

Alexander Calder, whose blackened steel mobile

sculpture, "Spirale," stands in the piazza of Unesco's

new headquarters, has been creating mobiles since

1932. Born in Philadelphia, U.S.A. in 1898, he

studied to become an engineer, then took up painting'

and techniques for sculpture. During the I920'she went to Paris where he. was associated with the

Surrealists, Dadaists and Cubists. His sculptures inwire and metal were first exhibited in New York in

1928. Attracted soon to non-figurative art, he made

his first mobiles four years later. The mobile he has

made for Unesco (above) is the largest in Europe,

having a height of 32 feet and a span of 24 feet. The

base weighs nearly one and a half tons and the mobilehead 1,100 lbs. Right, Alexander Calder supervising

the erection of "Spirale." Its five carefully balanced

arms revolve in a clockwise spiral with the wind.

UNESCO

30



REPOSE IN STONE

Massive "Reclining Figure" shown above silhouettedagainst the brightly-lit facade of the Unesco Secre¬tariat building is the largest statue ever made by

British sculptor. Henry Moore. The statue itself weighs39 tons, the table on which it rests 12 tons and the threefeet of the table about 4 tons eachover 60 tons for the

whole. That is why Henry Moore had to go to a mountainin Italy to make it, instead of working in his studio in England.The travertine block he worked from in Querceta at the foot

of the Carrara mountains on and off for nearly a year, weighedsixty tons. When finished, the statue was transported toParis in four pieces. Moore (seen on left, with his finishedwork) is pleased with the site allocated to the figure. "Thearchitects have placed it facing the right d i rectiontowardsthe sun," he says. "The sun brings a piece of sculptureto life." Speaking of the forms his art takes, Moore hassaid: "Beauty, in the later Greek or Renaissance sense, isnot the aim of my sculpture. Between beauty of expressionand power of expression, there is a difference in function.The first aims at pleasing the senses, the second has a spiritualvitality... more moving and going deeper than the senses."

UNESCO - Sabine Weiss

GARDEN OF PEACE

Keystone

STRANGELY - SHAPED ROCKS, a brook, green hummocks, waterfalls, fruit trees and pineswith these elements IsamuNoguchi has shaped a Japanese garden of distinctive character with a reverie-provoking landscape for the headquarters of Unesco.

The visitor to Unesco House who leaves the Conference

building and follows the long gallery leading to the dele¬

gates' patio enters a new hemisphere and emerges into

the Orient. Here ¡s a Japanese garden with its invitation to

meditation. This is the work of Isamu Noguchi, the American

sculptor and landscape gardener (born in Los Angeles of a Japa¬

nese father and an American mother).

Though designed in the traditional Japanese manner by

Noguchi, the garden is entirely modern in inspiration, and

bears the original stamp of the sculptor's own Ingenuity. Dwarf

trees and 80 tons of rocks, great and small (selected for

32

their sculptural beauty and shipped directly from Japan as

a gift from the Japanese government) a brook, a pond, a

bridge, green hummocks all these form a reverie- provoking

landscape.

From Japan too came three gardeners to help Noguchi in

laying out the garden. One of them brought with him trees

to decorate itmagnolia, cherry, plum, bamboowhich were

a gift from UNESCO well-wishers in Japan.

For .this souvenir Issue of The Unesco Courier, Isamu

Noguchi explains the ideas which have given such a distinctive

character to his garden :


© Paul Almasy, Paris

PEACE is engraved in Japanese on a giant rock weighingeight tons from which water cascades into a series of falls.

My original commission was to design the upper patio. The lowergarden came about following my suggestion that this area would beenhanced by the inclusion of greenery which could be gained by includingthe adjoining sunken area as a part of a general plan. This is how theroadway came into being as a means of achieving this interrelationof great changes in level.

It serves the same purpose as the Japanese veranda (roka) for viewingthe garden. In theatrical terms, it is like the "flowery path" orbridge of entry (hanamichi).

The lower garden is often referred to as the "Japanese garden".In my estimation, it would be almost more correct to say that thetruly Japanese part is that which is least obviously so.

It is true that I have paid a more obvious homage to the Japanesegarden In the lower area. This follows the nature of the commission,and because of the very generous gift of all the stones from Japan.

To learn but still to control, not to be overwhelmed by so strong atradition, ¡s a challenge. My effort was to find a way to link that ritualof rocks which comes down to us through the Japanese from the dawnof history to our modern times and needs. In Japan the worship ofstones changed into an appreciation of nature. The search for theessence of sculpture seems to carry me to the same end.

This is an ambulatory garden, the enjoyment of which is enhancedby walking In it whereby one perceives the relative value of all things.

The raised paved area in the centre of the lower garden recalls theupper patio. One arrives on it and departs from it againwith timebarriers of stepping stones betweenit is the land of voyage, the placefor dancing and music which may be viewed from all around the gardenand from all levels of the surrounding buildings.

I have included two very old chosubachi or water basins In deferenceto the quality of age (shibui) which is so much a part of the Japanesegarden. Everything else was both designed and executed by me.

The UNESCO garden does not attempt to reproduce the old or thetraditional, excepting In allusion and as a point of departure. A con¬sideration of the tea ceremony resulted in one arrangement of seatson the upper level.

Paul Almasy, Paris

DELEGATES' PATIO between the Conference and Secret¬

ariat buildings forms the upper level of the Japanese garden.

l/êv V%%. *»/ AsC<r~VK «sAv

UNESCO - Berretty

TREE-PLANTING operations in the garden being super¬vised by Isamu Noguchi (pointing, with his back to camera).

33

MY LATEST WORK

-A WALLby Joan Miro

IN HIS STUDIO at Gallifa, Spain, José Llorens-Artigas (on right) prepares one of the 585 tilesused in making the two surrealist ceramics:Wall of the Sun" and "Wall of the Moon".

All photos UNESCO-Català Roca

In 1955 Unesco asked me to take

part in the decoration of its newheadquarters buildings, then

under construction in the Place Font¬

enoy, Paris. Ttvo perpendicular wallsone 24J feet long, the other 50 feet

long near the Conference buildingwere put at my disposal. My ideawas to decorate them with ceramics,in collaboration with Llorens-Artigas,using the same sharp fire processwe had recently used to make over200 works which were later exhibited

at the Maeght gallery in Paris.

Once my proposal had been adopt¬ed, I began discussions with the ar¬chitects. I wanted to work closelywith them so as to be quite sure thatmy work would integrate as perfectlyas possible into the architecturalscheme. The art of mural decoration

has nothing in common with thecreation of works "in isolation"; whileretaining its individual characteris¬tics, the work must also become anintimate part of its surroundings.

So I went to the site to look for

ideas and it was there that my planwas conceived and developed. I wasgiven a room near the architects'office; I talked with the architectsand with the engineers and workmen;I studied' models of the structures,and I meditated before the concrete

walls, surrounded by piles of buildingmaterial and the hustle and bustle of

the operations, and from all thesethings I drew inspiration.

The design and colouring for thewalls I was to decorate were suggestedby the shapes of the buildingsthemselves, their spatial structure,and the play of light. I sought toincorporate my wprk in the whole bymaking it provide a contrast with thearchitecture.

Thus, as a reaction to the hugeconcrete surfaces around the largerwall came the idea of a large, vividred disc. Its counterpart on thesmaller wall would be a blue crescent

to accord with the more confined area

it was to occupy. I could see thesetwo shapes in powerful colours and

JOINT CREATORS of the two Unesco ceramics, Joan Miro (right) and Llorens-Artigas discusstheir work in front of a small-scale preliminary painting of the smaller work: "Wall of the Moon".

34

given still more force by incised work.The chessboard compositions and theforms of the human figures were

inspired by details of the building,such as the design of the windows.I aimed at a crude and forcefulexpression in the large wall and atsomething more poetic in the smallerone. I also Wanted to provide anelement of contrast within eachcomposition itself, and for this reasonI conceived harsh, dynamic outlinesside by side with restful colouredshapes, in flat-tinted or in checkdesign.

These first compositions wereconsiderably altered when I trans¬ferred them to larger sketches.Indeed, modifications were made atevery stage in the work, a good manychanges being needed both in formand colour, in order to adapt mywork to a larger scale and to transfermy ideas from the paper to the clay.

The second stage in the task wasto study with Artigas how my planin ceramics was to be carried out.No ceramist had ever before been

faced with an undertaking of thisscope. Besides this, as both wallswere to be in the open air and un¬protected, we had to keep in mind theextent to which the materials usedwould resist differences in tem¬

perature, humidity, and the sun'srays. There is no doubt that Artigaswas the only person capable of solvingthese extremely difficult problems.

Modern techniques concentrate onthe production of earthenware orstoneware. The former would not

stand up well to the.Parisian climate,and the latter is unsuited to mypalette. Artigas adopted a combinedprocess he used fire-clay coveredwith a white slip, the whole beingfired at a temperature of 1,000 de¬grees; after this the backgroundwas laid on in coloured sandstone, adifferent colour being used for eachsquare, and this was fired at atemperature of 1,300 degrees. Nextcame the firing to apply the decora-


tion, at a temperature of 1,000 de¬grees, in enamel and colour. Woodwas used for the firing of the wholework, since it gives effects that arenot obtainable with gas, charcoal orelectricity.

Thus, Llorens-Artigas sought, likean alchemist of old, the type of earth,the sandstone enamels and thecolours that he Would use. It wastrue creative work, starting fromnatural products feldspar from Pa-lamos, clay from Alcaniz, sand fromFontainebleau, and metal oxides,copper, cobalt, uranium, etc., fromevery sort of place. The amounts andproportions in which they were usedare age-old secrets once lost, butnow rediscovered thanks to the know¬ledge and intuition displayed by Arti¬gas. Meanwhile, working with JoanArtigas (the ceramist's son), I trans¬ferred my plan to a fullsize .charcoalsketch on paper and coloured it ingouache. Now the preparatory stagewas ended and we were ready tobegin the actual work.

MIRO'S UNESCO MURALS

WIN INTERNATIONALPRIZE COMPETITION

Joan Miro has been named the 1958winner of the S 10,000 GuggenheimInternational Art Award for his two

ceramic wall designs at Unesco's newheadquarters. This awardprobablythe largest in the artswas establishedby the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foun¬dation in 1956, and is granted everytwo years. This year I 14 artists fromtwenty-two countries participated.

It was then that we suddenly decid¬ed to visit Santillana del Mar to haveanother look at the famous cave

paintings of Altamira and gaininspiration from the world's earliestmural art. While we were in the"Collegiata," the old Romanesquechurch at Santillana, we were deeplymoved by the extraordinary beauty ofthe material used on an old wall,rotten with damp. Artigas madenotes about it for the purpose of hisbackgrounds.

Having made our journey to thefountain-head, we thought we shouldalso go where we could feel the in¬fluence of the Catalan Romanesqueartists and of Gaudi. The Barcelonamuseum has wonderful Roman¬

esque frescoes, which have inspiredme since I first began to paint. I hopetheir inspiration has not failed menow; the rhythm of the larger wall in.particular, I think, owes much tothem. Finally, we visited Gaudi'swork in the Guell park; and here Iwas struck by the sight of an enor¬mous disc set into the wall, revealingthe bare rock. It bore a strong re¬semblance to the disc which I hadintended to carve and paint on thelarger wall in Paris, and this coincid¬ence I took both as confirmation andas encouragement of my purpose.

We went back to Gallifa, the oldvillage With its stone houses and itsgreenery, where Artigas had set uphis kiln and his workshop. Thevillage is dominated by a great

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

35

UNESCO Cátala Roca

BOLD SOLUTION chosen by painter Joan Miro in executing large forms and lines requiring single brush strokes was touse a long-handled brush of palm fibres (above). A single mistake could easily have ruined months of preparatory work.

amphitheatre of rocks; these replac¬ed, for me, the towering concretewalls of the Unesco building, and Iconsidered my larger sketches inrelation to them. . It was vital for me

to be able to test the effect of the

sketches against the grandeur of thisbackground, and I made variousalterations as a result. The surface

of my plan Was divided into equal-sized rectangles to correspond withthe slabs that now had to be modell¬

ed in earth,, dried and fired for thefirst time, with simply a layer ofsandstone to strengthen this "biscuit"or unglazed work. I then had toapply . the sandstone enamel incolour, for the second and last firing.

After Artigas had completed thefiring of 250 slabs in 33 batches hetold me that he was not confident ofsuccess. He was not satisfied with

the basic material we were using andhe feared that the geometrical re¬gularity of the tiles might harm thefeeling and "life" of the work. Herealized that it was his own technicalskill which had led him to go so far,and that the backgrounds he hadproduced, remarkable though theywere, were not what was needed.

36

Then he remembered the wall of

the Collegiata, and succeeded inreproducing, in his tests, thewonderful depth of feeling we hadfound there. In much the same way,the sight of the walls of the oldchapel at Gallifa, with their irregularcourses, was a revelation to us. Wesaw that, in deciding how to divideup the surface we were to cover, weshould think of the "throbbing"irregularity of the stones at Gallifa.We had to begin again, using slabs ofdifferent sizes.

Now that we had discovered how

to arrange the slabs and the base, thefirst firing gave no trouble whatever.Now it was up to me to reproducemy plan and to apply the enamelcolouring to the material spread outon the ground. Here again, myshapes were altered. As for thecolouring, I had to rely on Artigas'knowledge for the enamel onlyassumes its true colour after it has

been fired. No matter what pre¬cautions are taken, the firing is thedecisive factor; its action is unpre¬dictable, its decision final. This, Ithink, is what gives this form ofartistic expression its value.

One more difficulty lay ahead thelarge size of the surface I was topaint. If some of the shapes andlines were to retain their originalform and spontaneity, they wouldhave to be made with single brushstrokes. For this purpose I used along-handled brush made of palmfibres. Artigas held his breath whenhe saw me take the brush and paintin shapes of five or six metres. Onemistake could have ruined the work

of several months.

The last firing was on May 29, 1958.It was the thirty-fifth of the wholeseries. We had used 25 tons of wood,4 tons of earth, nearly a quarter of aton of enamel and 15 lbs of colouringmatter. We had only seen the piecesthat composed our work lying on theground there had been no opportuni¬ty to see the whole from a distance.We were therefore waiting anxiouslyand impatiently, to see both wallserected in the setting, and in thelight, for which they were designed.

Reproduced from "Derrière le Mi¬roir," numbers 107, 108 and 109,1958, by courtesy of the publisher,C. Maeght.


WHAT IS IT AND

WHAT DOES IT DO?

Unesco seeks "to contribute to peace and security bypromoting collaboration among the nations througheducation, science and culture, in order to further

universal respect for justice, for the rule of law andfor the human rights and fundamental freedoms whichare affirmed for the peoples of the world, withoutdistinction of race, sex, language or religion, by theCharter of the United Nations."

The Constitution of Unesco was drawn up in London byrepresentatives of 44 countries attending a conferenceconvened by France and the United Kingdom inNovember 1945. The Organization came officially intoexistence on November 4 1946. By November 1958, Unesco .had 81 Member States. The Organization has threeprincipal organs:

The General Conference, consisting of delegates ofMember States, chooses the Executive Board, electsthe Director-General, passes the financial and staffregulations, admits new Member States, determines thepolicies of the Organization, decides upon the programmefor a two-year period and votes the corresponding budget,to which all Member States contribute in proportion totheir population and their national income. The spendinglevel for Unesco's operations in the two-year period1957-58 was set at $22,679,638.

More schools for Latin America

The Executive Board (24 members) meets at leasttwice a year. It supervises .the execution of the pro¬gramme and advises the Director-General on many

matters, including the preparation of proposed pro¬grammes and budgets for consideration by the GeneralConference.

The Secretariat, with. headquarters in Paris,. consists ofabout 1,000 international civil servants recruited frommore than 50 Member States. It is headed by a Director-General, Who holds . office íor six years and can bere-elected for a second term.

The Secretariat is composed of several programmedepartments and services: Education, Natural Sciences,Social Sciences, Cultural Activities, Mass Communication,and Exchange of Persons. In addition, there areadministrative bureaux such as: the Bureau of MemberStates, the Legal Bureau, the Bureau of Programme andBudget, the Documents 'and Publications Service, and theBureau of Conference Planning and General Services.

An innovation in the 1957-58 programme was the launch¬ing of three major projects designed to concentrate theresources of both Member States and the Secretariat onwork of major significance in the three fields of educa¬tion, science and culture. They deal with the extension ofprimary education in Latin America, scientific researchon arid lands, and the promotion of mutual appreciationof Eastern and Western cultural values.

Forty-five per cent of all the adults in the world areunable to read and write. Over 250 million children haveno schooling at all. Unesco is therefore concerned withthe teaching of illiterates, in addition to dealing with manyother problems of education, including those arising inthe most highly specialized fields. In every instance, theaim remains the sameto improve education throughinternational action and to increase international under¬standing through education. For the present, Unesco'sDepartment of Education is concentrating on two typesof work.

One is Fundamental Education, which is designed tohelp uneducated people, often living in abject poverty, tosolve the problems of their immediate environment bygiving them the knowledge and skills necessary for gooduse of their natural resources, for health, for home-making, for literacy and for the development of theircommunity life, and so helping them to improve their

standard of living and to realize their potentialities morefully as individuals and as members of society. TwoUnesco regional centres for training future fundamentaleducation leaders and producing teaching materials havebeen established, one in Patzcuaro, Mexico, for LatinAmerica, and the other in Sirs-el-Layyan, Egypt, for theArab States. National fundamental education centres are

also in operation in Ethiopia, Cambodia, Indonesia,Jordan, Korea, Liberia, the Sudan and Thailand.

The other main concept is free and compulsory educa¬tion, which must eventually be accessible to all childrenthroughout the world, as stated in Article 26 of theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights. Unesco seeks tomake the experience of countries which have realized freeand compulsory education available to governments thatare now introducing it, or broadening its present scope,so that decades of trial and error may be avoided.

The major project for the extension of primary educa¬tion in Latin America, for example, aims at puttingevery Latin American child into school within the next10 years. At present about 17 million children in thatarea do not attend school and it is estimated that some

400,000 more teachers would be required to teach then.iif sufficient buildings Were available-

In both fundamental education and school educati'on,the present need is for quick results in quantity moreschool buildings and more teachers. But the question ofquality is quite as important. Hence Unesco's programmeincludes work in the organization of school systems,teacher training, curriculum reform and. the improvementof textbooks.

Unesco's work in out-of-school education is concen¬trated on youth groups and adult education activities.

Recognizing that study and travel abroad can be one ofthe most effective means of transmitting knowledge andskills between nations and of encouraging internationalunderstanding, Unesco actively promotes the Exchange ofPersons, whether as students, professors, teachers, workersor youth leaders.

Better living in the 'dry belt'

Since Unesco works more to encourage than to itselffinance such exchanges, it concentrates mainly oncollecting and distributing information about oppor¬

tunities for educational travel abroad. For this purposean annual handbook, Study Abroad, is published. ButUnesco does itself award a certain number of fellowships-as a means of giving international training and experienceto persons who are helping to carry out its programme.In 10 years, about 1,500 awards, have been made. Unescoalso administers fellowships awarded by governments andother organizations, and gives active assistance to inter¬national exchanges between particular groups.

Unesco promotes international co-operation by bring¬ing scientists together, individually and through theirinternational organizations. It brings science to thepublic by helping to improve science teaching in theschools, by circulating information through articles inspecialized journals, and by organizing travelling exhibi¬tions. It also helps to promote research for raising theliving standards of mankind.

For example, the major project in science seeks, throughco-ordinated research, to improve living conditions in 16countries situated in the dry belt that runs from NorthAfrica, through the Middle East to South Asia. The aimof the project is to develop and assemble all experienceand research in aridity problems. Spe¬cialists are being trained; desert researchinstitutions strengthened or created; theinterchange of scientists facilitated throughfellowships. An international AdvisoryCommittee on Arid Zone Research set up

Cont'd

next page

37

UNESCO (Continued)

by Unesco, will be at the centre of a network of natio¬nal and local committees engaged not only on thescientific aspect of the problem but also conducting abroad education programme to inform the public on thescope of the project which covers such subjects as waterprospecting, irrigation, use of dew, purification of salinewater, wind and solar energy, and adaptation of human,animal and plant life to desert conditions.

Since economic development depends in large measureupon science, Unesco has opened four science officeswhose activities cover large regions deficient in scientificknowledge: in Uruguay for Latin America; in Egyptfor the Middle East; and in India and Indonesia forSouth Asia. These offices encourage scientific researchwork, assist in improving science teaching, help localscientists to keep in touch with developments in otherparts of the world, and organize lecture tours, visits byoutside experts and refresher seminars in special fields ofscientific research.

Unesco is seeking to organize international co-opera¬tion between relatively new branches of study, in whichthere are not always enough specialists to deal with thework waiting to be done. It is encouraging new studieswhich must be pressed on rapidly if the problems of ourtime are to be solved. If it is true that "all tensions can be

resolved by peaceful means," it is the role of the socialsciences the sciences concerned With people and theirrelationships to each other as groups and individuals todiscover causes of tensions and the means of resolvingthem. In the underdeveloped countries, new tensions areliable to be created by industrialization and the shift ofpopulation from rural areas. Unesco considers that, byutilizing the expert knowledge and methods of socialscience, governments can greatly ameliorate the conditions.under which their peoples adjust themselves to the oftenfar-reaching changes brought about by current pro¬grammes of economic development.

Unesco's role is to make available to governments allthe knowledge which has resulted from research on thecauses of these problems in human relationships, as wellas to report methods Which have been used to deal withthem successfully in various parts of the world. It supportsan International Research Office on this subject locatedin Paris and a regional office which opened in Calcuttain 1956.

Spotlight on the facts of race

Some 22 countries have asked Unesco for expert helpin social science teaching and several missions havebeen dispatched in response to these requests.

The question of race prejudice has been studied indetail by Unesco. As part of its programme to promotehuman rights for all peoples, the United Nations re¬quested Unesco to undertake a scientific investigation ofthis question by bringing together experts in all the socialsciences concerned.

Such meetings in 1949 and again in 1951 led to a generalstatement of scientific facts concerning race. The state¬ment showed that from all the evidence available today,there is no justification for the contention that one raceis inherently superior to another.

It is generally accepted that there is an urgent need forgreater understanding between peoples and it is agreedthat knowledge of, and respect for, the outstandingfeatures of various cultures can contribute greatly to betterunderstanding. Unesco's cultural programme, therefore,seeks to spread this knowledge and respect through abroader use of museum and library facilities; throughexhibitions, art reproductions and translations; throughpromotion of the arts in school curricula, and through theestablishment of professional societies.

Within this general framework, the major project pro¬moting the mutual appreciation of Eastern and Westerncultural values was started in 1957 as a vital effort to

increase understanding between these two vast regions.Accelerated exchange of persons, ideas, information,literature and art is to be emphasized in the first stages ofthis programme.

In recent years Unesco has published catalogues of thebest available colour reproductions of the world's greatest38

paintings, and albums of significant but little known artin various Member States, such as medieval frescoes inYugoslavia and Norwegian Stave Churches. It has beguna programme of translations from Arabic, Persian, theIndian languages, Japanese, Chinese, Italian, Spanish andPortuguese in order to make world masterpieces betterknown in major languages. It has organized travellingexhibitions of colour reproductions which are sent toMember States on extensive tours of towns and villages.It has introduced public library systems into South Asiaand Latin America, It has initiated the establishment of

10 professional societies in art, music, theatre, architectureand philosophy.

Down with barriers to knowledge

To increase international protection of the rights ofthose who produce the World's books as well as itsart and entertainment, Unesco sponsored the

Universal Copyright Convention. At the beginning of1958 it had been ratified by 29 countries.

The press, films, radio and television can and should bea principal means of producing an intelligent, informedbody of opinion. Since they are a powerful force increating understanding between peoples and nations, it isvital that they should be put to their fullest use for theadvancement of education, science and culture.

Unesco seeks, therefore, through publications, seminarsand professional meetings to promote the interchange ofexperience in these fields in order that techniques whichhave proved successful in one country may be equallyapplied in others.

Unesco's world-wide reports and surveys on com¬munication facilities show the great inequalities existingin large areas of the World. To help alleviate thepoverty in communication facilities, expert missions aredispatched to advise on the expansion of the existingfacilities and the construction of new ones.

There are many obstacles to the free flow of informationbetween countries. Some of them can be removed byinternational agreements, and Unesco is striving to securethe adoption of such instruments as the Agreement forfacilitating the international circulation of visual andauditory materials of an educational, scientific andcultural character, which eliminates customs duties onbooks, periodicals and newspapers. By January 1958, 26countries had ratified this Agreement.

Again, the Unesco Coupon Schemes enable persons insoft-currency areas to buy books, films and scientificequipment from hard-currency countries, and help reduceforeign exchange restrictions on educational travel.Gift Coupons offer people all over the world a simplemeans of taking a direct and active part in Unesco'sprogramme by making voluntary contributions forequipping educational * establishments in countries inspecial need of this type of help.

Unesco's broad public information task of telling asmany people as possible about the aims and activities ofthe Organization and promoting human rights, betterinternational understanding and teaching about the workof the United Nations in general, is carried out throughdirect contacts With press, film, radio and televisionorganizations and through co-operation with UnescoNational Commissions and international and nationalnon-governmental organizations.

Unesco is annually allocated a share of the SpecialUnited Nations Fund for Technical Assistance. In 1957,this share was approximately $5 million. In 1957, 246Unesco experts were on mission operating 122 technicalassistance projects in 53 countries. In addition, morethan $500,000 worth of equipment Was found for theseprojects and more than 150 fellowships were provided.

To help Unesco carry out its world-wide programme,which here can merely be outlined, most Member Stateshave set up National Commissions, which link the Secre¬tariat with government departments as well as withnational groups. Unesco maintains constant contactwith the United Nations and the .other U.N. SpecializedAgencies and also co-operates closely. With some fourhundred international non-governmental organizations.

In short, Unesco is striving, in all countries, to co¬ordinate the efforts of all people who are working offi¬cially or voluntarily, for the progress of learning, cultureand research and are seeking to lay the foundations of apeaceful, abundant future for the World.

TWELVE WINDOWS OPEN ON THE WORLDThis issue of The Unesco Courier is an exceptional

oneâ special souvenir number devoted entirelyto the story of Unesco's new headquarters. Forthis reason it cannot convey to those who are making

the acquaintance of the magazine for the first time an ade¬quate idea of its normal style and content. As Unesco'smonthly illustrated magazine it has followed a set goal :to serve as a window open on the world, presenting in bothtext and image informative and thought-provoking reportson events and problems of world significance in the arts,the sciences and education. On this page we reproducecovers of issues which illustrate the broad range of subjectsdealt with during the past twelve months : John Comenius,Apostle of Modern' Education ; Treasures of World Art(a special colour issuej on Russian Icon Paintings, Mayan

Wall Paintings and Temple Paintings from Ceylon); ManAgainst Nature; The Divorce of Science and Culture;700 Million Illiterates in the World ¡World Health; YoungArtists in Paris; Masterworks of Japanese Stone AgeArt; The Art of Decorating Ourselves; Giant Dams : ThePyramids of Today; Solar Energy Today & Tomorrow;Science v. Old Age. A subcription to The Unesco Courieris the best way of keeping in permanent touch withUnesco and the goals for which it stands. Annual sub¬scription (12 issues) only S3. 00; 10/- (stg.); 500 Fr. frs.Orders are accepted by any bookseller or by Unesco'sNational Distributors. In the U.S.A., write directlyto Unesco Publications Center, 801 Third Avenue, New

York, 22, N. Y. ; in the United Kingdom, write toH. M. Stationery Office, P. O. Box 569, London, S.E.I.

Courier »Courier

RUFINO TAMAYO

"Prometheus bringing fireto Man." Fresco in the

main commission room of

the Conference building.UNESCO Jean-Pierre Grabet

ROBERTO MATTA

working on the paintingwhich decorates a wall on

the seventh floor of the

Unesco Secretariat building.UNESCO - Pablo Volta

Date post:	30-Oct-2018
Category:	Documents
Upload:	hathuan
View:	213 times
Download:	0 times