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- Boston City Hall, opened 1968. Kallmann, McKinnell and Knowles, architect. Boston City Hall was the first major brutalist style building in the United States. Photo by Arthur Drooker
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- Buffalo City Hall, opened 1932. John J. Wade, architect. In he lobby, murals painted by William de Leftwich Dodge celebrate local industries and tiles painted in designs derived from Native American signs and symbols decorate the vaulted space. Photo by Arthur Drooker
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- Chicago City Hall, opened 1911. Holabird & Roche, architect. Twenty thousand plants covering more than 20,000 square feet thrive on the roof of Chicago City Hall—the first on a city hall. Photo by Arthur Drooker
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- Cincinnati City Hall, opened 1893. Samuel Hannaford and Sons, architect. Stained glass windows, created by Potter & Stymus, a prominent Victorian design firm, depict scenes of early Cincinnati history and decorate the grand staircase. Photo by Arthur Drooker
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- Dallas City Hall, opened 1978. I.M. Pei & Associates, architect. The bold inverted pyramidal design helped the city repair its tarnished image in the wake of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Photo by Arthur Drooker
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- Los Angeles City Hall, opened 1928. John Parkinson, John C. Austin, Albert C. Martin, architects. Los Angeles City Hall, the city’s first skyscraper, seen from Disney Hall, two architectural icons that define the Los Angeles skyline. Photo by Arthur Drooker
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- Milwaukee City Hall, opened in 1895. Henry C. Koch, architect. Milwaukee City Hall was one of the first buildings in the United States to feature an extensive atrium.
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- New York City Hall, opened 1812. Joseph-François Mangin and John McComb, Jr., architects. The “floating staircase,” an engineering marvel that’s one of the first of its kind in the country, encircles the rotunda. Photo by Arthur Drooker
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- Palm Springs City Hall, opened 1957. Frey, Clark, Chambers, and Williams, architect. Palm trees soar through a cutout above the entryway, making Palm Springs City Hall a notable example of mid-century modernism. Photo by Arthur Drooker
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- Philadelphia City Hall, opened 1901. John McArthur, Jr., architect. Once the tallest building in the world, Philadelphia City Hall, with more than 700 rooms and 14.5 acres of office space, remains the largest municipal building in the United States. Photo by Arthur Drooker
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- San Jose City Hall, opened 2005. Richard Meier & Partners, architect. The classically influenced, yet modern rotunda hosts civic ceremonies and events. The boulders in the foreground are part of Waterscape, an art installation by Anna Valentina Murch and Douglas Hollis. Photo by Arthur Drooker
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- San Francisco City Hall, opened 1915. Bakewell & Brown, architect. At 307 feet, the dome of San Francisco City Hall is the tallest in the United States. Photo by Arthur Drooker
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- St. Paul City Hall, opened 1932. Holabird & Root, architect. The 36-foot-tall Vision of Peace, a statue of a Native American spirit sculpted from rare white onyx by Carl Milles, honors Saint Paul’s war veterans. Photo by Arthur Drooker
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- CITY HALL, published by Schiffer, 2021
City Hall
They stand in the heart of our cities. In stone, steel, and glass they make powerful statements about who we are and what we stand for. They are incubators of leadership and proving grounds for progress. Yet many of us take them for granted. They are our city halls.
The traveling exhibition, City Hall, features photographer and author Arthur Drooker’s striking contemporary images of 15 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.
City halls are the places where democracy is practiced in its most direct form. Americans trust their local government not only to provide essential services but also to address the issues that define our times, including climate change, immigration, and marriage equality.
“Part of me felt like I was on a mission to create a manifesto for democracy,” Drooker said, explaining why he undertook the five-year photo and book project, “because democratic ideals are baked into these buildings, whether it’s a quote on the wall or a city council chamber designed to be welcoming to the general public.”
The companion publication, City Hall (Schiffer, 2021), 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. With a foreword by noted historian Douglas Brinkley and an essay by architectural writer Thomas Mellins, City Hall spotlights these often-underappreciated buildings and affirms architecture’s unique power to express democratic ideals and inspire civic engagement.
Listen to B & H Photo’s Podcast interview with Arthur Drooker about City Hall
