Boston City Hall and Mitchell/Giurgola Architects: Thoughts and Themes on a Competition's Runner-Up

Analysis of the unofficial runner-up in the 1961-62 design competition for Boston City Hall-the scheme by the Philadelphia-based team of Mitchell/Giurgola Architects (MGA) in association with David A. Crane and Thomas R. Vreeland Jr.-reveals not the creation of an isolated monument but a humanist restructuring of a city's urban spaces at the heart of a modernist-inspired post-war government centre. Unusually for the time, this scheme was developed through deep dialogue with an existing urban morphology, historic buildings, and the literal ground of the city. This paper highlights the scheme as the first in a series of significant urban design projects undertaken by MGA in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s. These projects sought to directly engage with the structure, spaces, and artefacts of the historic American city. Further, MGA's City Hall also crystallised compositional themes that would be pursued and developed by the practice in subsequent decades.

Automated summary

This article analyzes the unofficial runner-up design scheme for Boston City Hall in 1961-1962. The scheme by Mitchell/Giurgola Architects in association with David A. Crane and Thomas R. Vreeland Jr. reveals a humanist restructuring of urban spaces, engaging with existing urban morphology and historic buildings. It highlights the scheme as the first of a series of important urban design projects undertaken by MGA in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s, and crystallizes compositional themes pursued by the practice in subsequent decades.