Boston City Hall Is Awesome

I’m a lifelong resident of the Boston area. I was born shortly after Boston City Hall was built.

https://www.google.com/search?q=boston+city+hall&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS1037US1037&oq=boston+city+hall&aqs=chrome.0.0i271j46i131i175i199i433i512j46i175i199i512l2j0i512l6.7531j1j9&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#lpg=cid:CgIgAQ%3D%3D,ik:CAESW2h0dHA6Ly90MC5nc3RhdGljLmNvbS9pbWFnZXM_cT10Ym46QU5kOUdjUmlTSy1ldUZSU1RIbk84SnNSTlNETi14ZjFFWXExVERtVU9YUGY5MTRPLTUydUVNaTU

As a young person, I thought it was ugly. I thought we could do better. But now, I think it’s amazing. Brutalism just needed its time.

Long Live Boston City Hall.

ETA: I wish I was better at links.

Here’s a link to a Wikipedia photo of the building.

I’m pretty sure that AT-ATs can dock at those sticky-out bits above the doors. :wink:

(It is a cool-looking building.)

Brutalist architecture at its finest. Not my favorite style, but this quite an excellent example of the genre.

Our city hall (Los Angeles) looks very old-fashioned in comparison!

Imgur

Your city hall looks like a dong.

Ours looks like Batman’s HQ

Batman’s HQ wasn’t a parking garage

Eh, I think San Francisco has you both beat.

Honestly, most architectural styles are better than Brutalism.

I think Boston City Hall is interesting to look at (One contemporary critic described as looking like “an Aztec Tomb”), but terrible to use. I’ve heard many complaints abouts its lack of space, dead-end hallways, and poor organization. I think of it as another “wasted space” building, with too many places that have pointless high ceilings, yet not enough floor space.

And that’s a criticism independent of its Brutalist style, which I’m not a fan of.

Boston City Hall looks like where hopes of good government go to die.

The complex as a whole did spawn a good song.

Well we’ve got a lot, a lot, a lot of hard work today
We got to rock at the Government Center
To make the secretaries feel better
When they put the stamps on the letter

  • Jonathan Richman

Yeah, most reports from people who work there is that it’s not a very good use of space, nor is it comfortable.

I’ve played a lot of Fallout 4, and I’ve never seen that building. (The brick building in the background, however is packed with super mutants!) It reminds me of a grander version of a courthouse I’ve visited that the locals all claimed was ugly.

With all due respect.

That is uglier than a mortal sin.

It reminds me of some of the monstrosities that were erected along Dundas Street in Toronto in like the 70s.

No accounting for tastes, and all that.

Every time I see Boston City Hall and it’s been a while, it takes my breath away in its hideousness. It’s so grotesque that I must forget to preserve myself.

I’ve never played Fallout 4, but I’m surprised they wouldn’t include City Hall. It’s a real presence in the city, whether one likes it or not.

50-year resident of the Boston area here.

I’ve been to City Hall four times.

The first time was to get a marriage license (big mistake).
The second time was to pay a traffic ticket.
The third was to watch the 2006 World Cup final on a huge screen set up on City Hall Plaza, with my France going up against thousands of Italy fans from the North End.
The fourth time was to see Ronnie Spector play at City Hall Plaza. That made up for the other three times.

Other than that, I avoid the place like the plague.

City Hall Plaza is quite nice. Too bad it’s near City Hall.

Agree on both points. Just because you can build it, does not mean that you should

Government Center used to be Scollay Square, where Charlie’s wife would hand him a sandwich on the M.T.A.

Exactly what someone whose mind, from childhood, has been warped by growing up beneath the oppressive shadow of brutalist architecture would say.

So I guess it checks out.

But seriously, I think it looks pretty good. Only the reddish-brown brickwork at the base detracts somewhat from the overall effect. Like if they built the Lincoln Memorial on top of an exposed pile of rubble.