When I stand on my balcony, I can see the United Nations, the East River, the famous Pepsi sign, and Egypt, Nigeria, and Kuwait's missions to the U.N. But most of the time, that's not where I look. My attention is usually fixed on one of the United Nations Plaza buildings. It's my favorite building in New York.

Look at the top. Doesn't it appear to be paper thin? Isn't that astonishing? How do architects and builders do that? What… Continue