City Hall

[stinkweed]

City Hall Philadelphia

The William Penn Statue, 37 feet tall, is the largest single piece of sculpture on any building in the world. The statue stands on City Hall in Philadelphia (built 1871-1901), which is the tallest building ever constructed without a skeleton of steel girders. Today, Penn is framed by modern skyscrapers with decorative nighttime lighting. Visitors can take free tours of City Hall and ride a tower elevator up to the base of Penn

[stinkweed]

[zed]

San Francisco's is the most impressive I have seen personally. It seems worthy of being a state Capitol building. You can also see it in some of the Dirty Harry movies! Not sure how it compares to Philly however..

SF City Hall Website

Edited March 2, 2005 by zed

[Cotuit]

Right out of the box we got the two best. That's my opinion anyway.

[Spartan]

^I agree. Most vity hall that I am familiar with aren't grand. They are just buildings like any other.

[Brickell]

Hard to beat philly in this category.

Here's the City of Miami's - it's an old terminal for the Pan-Am flying boats.

and the City of Coral Gables

[CoreyPortlandME]

My vote also goes for Philadelphia (applauds respectively)

It reminds me of the Old Boston City Hall, except its a whole lot bigger and taller.

[cheeriokid61]

Nashville's is very nice. It sits on a hill smack in the middle of the city, and has a great story behind it that I'll tell you later but I have to go to bed, or my mom will kill me.

Philadelphia's city hall has an incredible view from the top of the tower. I wish I had taken pictures when I was up there. The view of the city was incredible.

[pwright1]

Seattle

The skyscraper with the green top.

[kgbnsf]

San Francisco

Now:

1906:

[SoMAtic]

and... i think we have a winner...

[Scott]

I have a love/ hate relationship with Boston City Hall. I love it outside and hate it when I have to do business there.

[stinkweed]

San Fran's resembles a least a dozen other buildings but look at this.

[Viper]

Jacksonville City Hall and Annex. Not the best but the Annex is just as blocky as it gets.

[Ron Newman]

I love the Asheville, NC city hall, but I haven't yet found a photo that truly does justice to it.

[LeTaureau]

Philadelphia's and San Francisco's are both great buildings, but they seem like copies of others that we have seen. Philly's is clearly modeled after Paris' Hotel de Ville (sans the tower) and San Fran's looks almost exactly like Paris' Hotel Des Invalides, right down to the lantern on top and gilded dome. These are two great examples of architecture in the US, but at the same time they are merely pastiches.

Hotel De Ville, Paris France

Hotel Des Invalides, Paris France

What I think is a great example of architecture is Boston's new city hall. Hated by many, liked by handfuls, this fine example of modern brutalist architecture truly makes a statement, and at the time of construction pushed the avant-garde in directions not seen anywhere else. There must be other US city halls that look more modern, as I'm sure many were built in the 50's and 60's when beaurocracies swelled and needed more space.

Here's a pic, what do you think? I like to hear people's opinions on this building

[Brickell]

Since you asked...

I saw it in person and hated it. I'm no fan of Brutalism to begin with but it seems especially wrong in Boston.

[Ron Newman]

I walk by it every day. It should be imploded.

If you want a modernist City Hall, I much prefer Toronto's.

Edited March 8, 2005 by Ron Newman

[Cotuit]

I like Boston City Hall, I just don't like the moonscape it resides in .

[tsoutside]

The architect of San Francisco's City Hall was a graduate of the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris so that's why it looks like a copy of the Hotel des Invalides. The great thing about SF City Hall is that it's part of an intact Civic Center, all designed by the same architect including the (old) Public Library, Civic Auditorium, Opera House and Veterans Memorial Building. Also Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe were married at City Hall but I guess that doesn't compare to the history of some other city halls LOL. The UN Charter was signed in the plaza between the Opera House and the Vets Memorial Building though.

I like the two old city halls in New Orleans--Gallier Hall and the Cabildo. The Cabildo is probably one of the most historic city halls in the country because the Louisiana Purchase was signed there.

Gallier Hall

The Cabildo

I also like Los Angeles City Hall.

LA City Hall

Is the US Capitol Washington DC's city hall?

[tsoutside]

ps. I like Boston's City Hall, too but I agree with the post about it being in a moonscape. Brutalism looks better when there are trees with foliage to soften it up a bit.

[grasscat]

I like ours...it's kind of obscured, but you get the idea:

(pic by montecarloss)

[CoreyPortlandME]

It says "great arcitecture.com" in the corner of the Boston city hall photos pffftt

...But honestly, I really don't mind the building. I has a nice section of stairs to talk down to the Quincy Market and waterfront area. The subway station is decent. I saw a free outdoor concert in the plaza last summer with my dad. However, when it's neccessary to head northwest up Cambridge St, I would cross over to the other side of the road and proceed.

I've never been inside, is that where they have a model of the city?

[LeTaureau]

I've never been inside, is that where they have a model of the city?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes its in the offices of the BRA (Boston Redevelopment Authority). That model is so cool, I wish I had one of my own.

Overall I like the building, but its just in the wrong place. Like others have mentioned Brutalism is better situated in softer context. The windswept brick wasteland that is City Hall Plaza is a vast missuse of urban space. Several years ago there were proposals to eliminate this area with an "urban forest", hotel and grass. There were also plans to extend hanover street through to cambridge st, which would have been great. But that plan died, like most great ideas, so we are left with an Aztec Tomb sitting in a red brick tundra.

[LeTaureau]

I like the two old city halls in New Orleans--Gallier Hall and the Cabildo. The Cabildo is probably one of the most historic city halls in the country because the Louisiana Purchase was signed there.

Is the US Capitol Washington DC's city hall?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The Cabildo is a great building. But was this used as a "city hall" or at the time, more like a statehouse. Not sure about that.

I know the artisan who helped restore all of the beautiful plaster work and building in this landmark building. It looks really good, I was down in NO a few years ago.