When tasked with the assignment to design a world headquarters for sustainability and sustainable development, I was perplexed by the ambiguity of the conceptual aspect, but at the same time restrained with a comprehensive list of pragmatic requirements. Firstly, the term ‘sustainability’ is one that is vexed with different definitions, perceptions and contradictions. It was thus necessary to define what a United Nations Ecological Council strives to achieve in humanistically, ecologically, and symbolically. Secondly, as part of the U.N., there lies a fine line between security of the building and the potential for public space, as well as the public perception of the building and what it stands for. Finally, situated in New York City and next to the existing U.N. headquarters designed by Oscar Niemeyer and Le Corbusier, a balance between old and new, modernism and a relatively new paradigm of sustainable building, and urban and natural, needs to be achieved in an approach that is sensitive, yet novel. The design must complement the history of the site and the UN, reflect the technology and knowledge of today and anticipate a very uncertain future. These aforementioned problems necessitate a holistic methodology that balances these contradictions in such a way that creates value for the site, the city and the world. Looking at the task and understanding the task of design this building at several scales -- site, regional, global -- I began to understand the need for this building not only to be merely a ‘sustainable’ building in terms of energy efficiency or the usual interpretations of the ‘sustainable’ label within the discourse of architecture. I saw the necessity for this building to be a pedagogical tool that will educate the general public, one that serves to be a catalyst vis-à-vis sustainability and public understanding. The building and site must aspire to demonstrate the commitment of the UN to finding solutions to global issues: food security, greenhouse gas emissions, fossil fuel dependence, and provide an example for a future in which humans will work with nature rather than against it. The UN Headquarters of Sustainability will be designed to be part of the larger ecosystem in that it will, like other organisms, have a certain lifespan, will be able to grow and adapt and over its lifespan it will bring a positive net benefit to the city and the larger global community. The overall aim was to find and develop innovative techniques and schemes that mitigate local and regional issues that can be translated to larger global problems. My departure point with regards to researching and understanding the site, city and objective involved looking at typology and morphology of the city, environmental aspects such as climate and geography, society, culture, philosophical and ideological discourse, and phenomenology.