London, GB | Formerly of New York, Buenos Aires, Fife, and the Western Cape. | Saoránach d’Éirinn.
In a town known for its buildings, New York’s City Hall looms large in the imagination yet its architecture is under-appreciated. The 1802 design competition was won by Joseph-François Mangin and John McComb Jr. and was completed in 1812. It has undergone a series of renovations in 1860, 1898-1917, 1956, and 1998.

These images of City Hall show the superb skill and eye for detail of the architectural photographer John Bartelstone — a licensed architect in his own right — and date from the completion of the most recent set of renovations in 2015.

Grosvenor Atterbury’s renovations between 1907 and 1917 skilfully highlighted the American Georgian interiors, such as the entrance hall here.

The sweeping staircase of the rotunda is impressive, but the bland palette would be much improved if the walls were painted in a pale Georgian blue.

A committee room with stuccoed ceiling.

Cellars, below, have been repurposed as office space.

Some of the custom-made furniture features the eagle-and-globe crest from the city’s coat of arms, including five stars to represent the five boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queen’s, the Bronx, and Staten Island.

As it lacks the crisp Georgian simplicity of many other rooms in City Hall, I suspect much of the detailing of the Council Chamber dates from Leopold Eidlitz’s 1860 renovation or perhaps later.

The banner on the wall is the colours of an early local militia unit, the Second Regiment of Artillery, New York State. Sadly I can find little further information on the choice of this flag.

Curiously I can’t seem to find any proper books on City Hall itself, though there are fading pamphlets aplenty, and the building features in fiction be it in print, in cinema, or on television.

If only Henry Hope Reed were still walking this earth he would be perfect to write one of his “architecture and decoration” books like he did for the United States Capitol, the Library of Congress building, and the New York Public Library.

This building is calling out for a thorough and well-illustrated history.

(All images © John Bartelstone)
Published at 5:00 pm on Monday 5 March 2018. Categories: Architecture New York Tags: , , , .
Comments

Andrew –

A very interesting article on wonderful building. Our city hall seems to be overlooked in the maze of skyscrapers by which it is surrounded. That is a shame.

Harold

— Harold 6 Mar 2018 2:26 pm

I saw the exterior recently but could not imagine how beautiful the interior is.

— maurizio 2 Sep 2018 8:26 pm
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