City Hall: City Hall: it’s not just an institution, a faceless bureaucracy, it’s also a physical place — a symbol of a community, its values, and collective interests. In the United States, the architecture of the building itself is likely to vary in accordance with local tastes and history: fromGeorgian andArt Deco, toBeaux Arts orBrutalist. But no matter how they look, all typically share a few things in common: they house administrative activities that articulate the human experience. Births, deaths, and marriages are all commonly registered here. This week, find your local city, town, or county hall. Take a picture of it and tell us how civic life is structured. Why do people visit city hall? Is there a mayor? Is there a civic council of some kind? If there is no city hall, photograph some other place where people gather to make community decisions (a school, a pub, a church).
Adam Basciano ’16, International Relations
There certainly is a distinct City Hall here in Jerusalem. It sits right in the center of “downtown” Jerusalem and is conveniently located on the city’s light rail. The City Hall square contains a large courtyard surrounded by administrative buildings. The courtyard contains multiple types and styles of art, including this old depiction of a world map (below) that has Jerusalem at the center of the world [of Europe, Asia, and Africa]:
A map in Jerusalem’s City Hall of Jerusalem as the center of the world
It is unfortunate to note that Jerusalem’s City Hall was the precise site of Israel’s latest terror attack. On February 22nd, an 18-year-old Palestinian stabbed an orthodox Israeli man. It turns out that Jerusalem’s mayor, Nir Barkat, and his security team were on the scene as it happened. The Mayor can be seen on video subduing and apprehending the terrorist, prompting him to become somewhat of a national hero in a country that is used to hearing these stories.