Headquarters of the Asia Society

Located at the intersection between Park Avenue and East 70^th Street in New York stands a building that makes any passerby glance twice at its unique structure. Known as the headquarters of the Asia Society, this institutional building was completed in 1981 with eight floors filled with offices and conferences as well as provided a large spacious room to showcase an Asian collection. A gift from John D. Rochefeller the 3^rd, the origins of the collection ranges from India to Japan to Korea. Outside, the building was constructed in a way to represent both Western and Asian architectural influences to express the harmony of both cultures together as one. The architect, Edward Larrabee Barnes, was able to bring an Asian feel to the building by adding a reddish tint color to the granite as well as inputting semicircular windows on both the front and side of the building. Although unique due to its color and window structure, the Society’s headquarters shared similarities to other buildings near by through the architectural design of rectangle shapes and connecting the terraced garden along the neighborhood to illustrate the blending of Western elements with the East. Besides the unique construction of Asia Society’s Manhattan headquarters, there are many other centers that are stationed across the United States. The Asia Society even expands its influences to Asian countries such as India and Korea. However, their architectural style cannot compare to the Society’s headquarters that is able to blend two cultures in an architectural building.

The origin of Asia Society was first organized as a non-profit organization by John D. Rockefeller the 3^rd in 1956. Seeing the need to educate Westerners about Asia, he began to sponsor programs and spread knowledge “about Asian politics, business, education, arts, and culture through education.” Due to Rockefeller’s action of founding the Asia Society and the Society’s headquarters role in overseeing all centers around the world, many Non-Asian individuals are able to gain knowledge about Asia and can distinguish the different cultures instead of grouping all Asians into one group. They are also able to distinguish between false stereotypes as well as break their own underdeveloped image of a typical Asian person and create a new and more corrected image. Overall, the main message that the Asia Society strives to uphold is creating a sense of understanding and building strong bonds between the United States and Asian countries.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia_Society

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9806E4D61139F932A25757C0A967948260&pagewanted=2

http://asiasociety.org/