Justification for Precedent Study

Building: The Municipal Building
Location: 1 Centre St. Manhattan New York
Architects: McKim, Mead & White
Construction Finished Approximately 1914

Home to a myriad of governmental offices the Municipal Building in Manhattan New York functions as the center for civic life in the city. It is a place where one can get married in “four minutes” and approximately 28,000 couples get married every year there. It is a building where it’s commodity is just as potent as it’s architectural appeal. Its architecture is so appealing that it inspired Stalinist architects during the cold war to build ornate skyscrapers surprisingly similar in form. The building was built due to the city’s need for more space beyond the original city hall. A design competition for the Municipal Building was put in place and the architectural firm McKim, Mead and White was selected with their renaissance inspired design in 1906. The building has classical and renaissance inspired details such as Corinthian columns, groin vaults, and a triumphal arch. The Municipal building synthesizes different architectural styles in order to represent the many different functions of the building itself and the democratic practices behind it. This building is quite pertinent towards understanding design today and the design of governmental buildings in America and the world.