Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations
235 East 43rd Street
New York NY

'Charles Correa, a leading architect in India, has long been preoccupied with cultural iconography.. the red granite base topped by a canyon red aluminum curtain wall is suggestive of the red sandstone architecture of northern India.

The site is a narrow through block, 42 feet wide on the East 43rd Street side [pictured] and 24 feet wide on the East 44th Street side. Twenty-eight stories high, the lower four floors are administrative offices for the Chancery of the Indian Government. Above this sit residential quarters for mission employees.

[At] the top of this building... Correa has designed a double-height penthouse porch that echoes the Indian barsati, used for open-air sleeping... sadly it is not very noticeable from ground level. What is readily apparent is the grand, monolithic bronze entryway, reinforcing Correa's reputation as an architect interested not only in the significance of the ancient, but also in the power of authority.'

Susanna Sirefman in New York - A guide to recent architecture, 1997

Photographs Simon Glynn 2001

How to visit

The building can be seen from the outside in East 43rd Street in Manhattan, but is not open to the public.

While in the neighborhood, you may want to visit the UN headquarters and the Ford Foundation building at 320 East 43rd Street.