Headquarters of the United Nations However, the UN did reject an unusual "model playground" proposal for that site, instead choosing to construct a play area similar to others found around New York City. The first 450 UN employees started working at the Secretariat Building on August 22, 1950. The United Nations officially moved into the Secretariat Building on January 8, 1951, by which time 3,300 employees occupied the building. At the time, much of the Secretariat Building was still unfinished, and the bulk of the UN's operations still remained at Lake Success. A centralized phone-communications system, was built to facilitate communications within the complex. The
Headquarters of the United Nations Norway and was designed by the Norwegian architect Arnstein Arneberg. The oil canvas mural depicting a phoenix rising from its ashes by Norwegian artist Per Krogh hangs at the front of the room. The 39-story Secretariat Building was completed in 1952. It houses offices for the Secretary General, the Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and United Nations Legal Counsel, the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs and Office of Disarmament Affairs, and the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management (DGACM). The library was founded with the United Nations in 1946. It was originally called the United Nations Library, later the United Nations