Not long after the end of World War II, the United States embarked on a major embassy-building program in capitals around the world and used modern architecture to convey America as a progressive, modern nation, unlike the repressive, Communist Soviet Union. Some have called it the battle of the “curtain wall” versus the “Iron Curtain.”
The embassies built during the Cold War were designed by some of the most renowned architects in the world, including Eero Saarinen, Walter Gropius, and Edward Durell Stone. These buildings were not simply a place to apply for a visa or for diplomats to discuss international relations—they also housed agents of the newly formed C.I.A. and were used for cultural diplomacy or “soft power,” with auditoriums, libraries, and art exhibitions where locals could learn more about the benefits of an open, modern America.
