PA Final Manhattan Municipal Building

The Manhattan Municipal Building, built in 1912 by the architecture firm McKim Mead and White, celebrates eclectic ornament, democracy, and civic duty. The Municipal building made such an impact that during the midst of the cold war, Stalinist architects modeled their government buildings after it in order to compete through architecture. Stalinist architects purposefully made the center towers far greater in scale in order to mark their importance on the landscape and out-do such American skyscrapers as the Municipal Building.

The Municipal building however was not built necessarily to compete with Russian architecture. New York’s population increased significantly during the industrial revolution and by the late 1800s the city was in need for a much larger city hall. After various designs were turned down a design competition was held in 1893. Thirteen firms competed, each with a three-person jury, which represented the design as a whole in order for fair judging in the competition. The commissioner of bridges and the art commission would have the final approval of the building. McKim, Mead, and White’s entry won the competition mainly because their cohesive design provided the most floor space of all the competition entries.
At the intersection of Centre and Chambers street sits the early skyscraper, the first in New York to incorporate a subway station at its base. The Manhattan Municipal Building is the center for civic life in Manhattan and is one of the largest government office buildings in the world (1). Accommodating numerous offices and departments the building also includes the official CityStore of New York City. A triumphal arch at the entrance proceeds into a tunnel that goes through the middle of the building, now only open to foot traffic was once open to street traffic itself. Transportation is largely incorporated in the building through the arch of Constantine inspired tunnel and the subway station, now used only on the south side of the building. The municipal building brings people together from all five boroughs (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens and Staten Island) and sees about 28,000 people married each year.
The building has a romantic notion about it with its eclectic foray of classical and renaissance inspired details throughout. A myriad of sculptures including the female personification of the city cover much of the façade. These Roman inspired sculptures represent civic duty, fame, and pride. The skeleton of the Municipal building was the first to go up and is built mainly with granite and concrete.
The design of the Municipal building had a resounding effect around the world. Stalin and architects of the ‘new’ soviet society modeled such buildings as the Seven Sisters and the main building of the University of Moscow after the Municipal building. All borrow from Palladio’s three-tiered system of a large tower with smaller structures flanking each side of the tower. Each building is a white marble or stone skyscraper with Roman and Renaissance inspired details. The Reichstag building in Germany is also very similar through its use of ornament and materials. McKim, Mead, and White set the tone for many governmental buildings to come since their eclectic use of civic statues and classical roots mimic the notion of democracy and justice in government.

Thousands of New Yorkers get married at court in the Municipal Building each year. Besides being used for office use, the courts, and courtroom marriages, the building brings people from all walks of life together as it caters to many different governmental needs. It may not be the tallest skyscraper or the most magnificent but it had such an impact on the world that our 'enemies' had to re-create it in order to compete. Many people ignore it's underlying greatness since next to the rest of New Yorks skyscrapers it seems somewhat insignificant. Nevertheless, the Municipal Building is a center for democracy which reflects America's ideals through classic and eclectic architecture.