City Hall is the first book to feature striking contemporary images of the most architecturally significant city halls in the United States. This diverse collection includes New York, the oldest; Philadelphia, once the tallest building in the world; and Boston, the first major brutalist building in the United States. Organized chronologically, the book traces the evolution of American civic architecture from the early 19th century to the present day and represents diverse styles such as Federalist, art deco, and modern. Architects, current and former mayors, historians, and preservationists tell the story of how each city hall came to be, what it says about its city, and why it's important architecturally. With a foreword by noted historian Douglas Brinkley and an essay by architectural writer Thomas Mellins, City Hall spotlights these often underappreciated civic buildings and affirms architecture's unique power to express democratic ideals and inspire civic engagement.
Arthur Drooker is the author and photographer of American Ruins (Merrell, 2007), Lost Worlds: Ruins of the Americas (ACC, 2011), Pie Town Revisited (UNM Press, 2015) and Conventional Wisdom (Glitterati, 2016). For more information, please visit arthurdrooker.com. Foreword by award-winning historian Douglas Brinkley, professor of history at Rice University, the CNN Presidential Historian, and a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. Essay by Thomas Mellins, an author who has curated exhibits for institutions including the Museum of the City of New York, the National Building Museum, and the New York Public Library.
Thomas Mellins is the coauthor of New York 1880, New York 1930, and New York 1960 and the curator of numerous exhibitions, including The New York Public Library: Celebrating 100 Years. In 1999 he was designated a Centennial Historian of New York City.
City Hall, dives into 15 of the most architecturally unique city halls in America including those whose design deviates from the Greek- and Roman-inspired style of neoclassical architecture, which has long been the dominant design of government buildings. It explores how each buildings design reflected the people of the city and the political and social issues at the time of construction, as well as the evolution of civic architecture in America. -- Bloomberg CityLab
In 88 photographs and stories of city halls around the country, from San Francisco to Philadelphia, in styles ranging from Art Deco to Beaux-Arts and beyond, Drooker connects architectural and municipal history with civic pride. -- The New York Times
Over the course of four years, Drooker traveled to around 40 of America's 300-plus city halls. Often spending days at each, he documented their grand exteriors, explored long-forgotten corners and spoke to local politicians and architects about how the institutions operate. The resulting images reveal a surprisingly rich variety of styles, from Flemish Renaissance Revival in Milwaukee to Art Deco in Saint Paul, Minnesota. -- CNN
Boston City Hall the one in the Wiseman documentary is among the buildings Arthur Drooker photographed for his book City Hall....The photographs are handsome, and the stories often surprising. -- The Boston Globe
