Boston City Hall (1968)
In the early 1960s, the City of Boston held a design competition for the redesign of the Government Center complex. The winning design, from Kallmann, McKinnell & Knowles, broke free from the more traditional entries and the boxy, curtain-wall styles found in so many of the other 256 entries. They offered a grand Brutalist structure. Brutalism is a divisive style, evoking a ‘love it or hate it’ sentiment. One of those in the “hate it” camp was Boston Mayor John Collins. When the design was revealed to him and his team, Collins gasped in horror. One of his team blurted out, “What the hell is that?” While it has its defenders, its critics include the people who work in the building, who find it to be dark and unfriendly. The Boston public also tends toward the ‘hate it’ faction, mocking the building and finding it unpleasant and dystopian.
