It was built in 1963–69 and was designed by Alfred Easton Poor and Kahn & Jacobs, with Eggers & Higgins as associate architects.

A western addition, first announced on "inadvertently acquired land" in 1965,[2] was built in 1975–77 and was designed by Kahn & Jacobs, The Eggers Partnership and Poor & Swanke.

[7] A controversy developed over the artwork by Richard Serra commissioned for the plaza in front of the building, Tilted Arc.

[8] Other artworks connected with building include A Study in Five Planes/Peace (1965) by Alexander Calder and the Manhattan Sentinels (1996) by Beverly Pepper.

In the James L. Watson Court of International Trade can be found Metropolis (1967) by Seymour Fogel and Eagle/Justice Above All Else (1970) by Theodore Roszak.