I've seen it in person, been inside of it. An impressive building indeed. But still the claim was that it was the largest municipal building in the US. I looked it up and saw the claim on other sites, but I still don't believe it.

According to our own SSP

Philadelphia City Hall - 58,529 m²
http://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?buildingID=178

New York Municipal Building - 85,151 m²
http://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?buildingID=4126

I think Fresno's city hall shows a very futuristic design. But it also mirrors the look of the peaks of the nearby Sierra Nevada mountains. The building was designed by Arthur Erickson and opened in 1991.

http://www.arthurerickson.com/images...gs/fresno9.jpg
http://www.arthurerickson.com/B_fres.html

It replaced the old 1941 city hall which was named by the Museum of Modern Art in New York as one of the most significant buildings constructed in the US from 1932 to 1944.
http://historicfresno.org/photo/cithal41.jpg

I vote for San Francisco's.

Austin City Hall


http://www.arcspace.com/architects/P..._city_hall.jpghttp://www.albradenphoto.com/images/...all/ach_01.jpg

http://www.urban-photos.com/gallery/...ly_06_8682.jpg
/www.urban-photos.com


The pictures posted so far of Philadelphia City Hall fail to show it in context. It's quite large and the tower gives 5 clear views down the city's major roads.

http://z.about.com/d/philadelphia/1/0/G/b/parkway1.jpg

and the other end of that Parkway

http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb...4-12EFF8FB.jpg



Just a side note.

Philadelphia's biggest subway station sits underneath connected to basically all of Philadelphia's transit lines and rail system and a large multiple block underground concourse.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_Hall_(BSL_station)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suburban_Station

yeah, i think the claim that it is the largest municapl building in the nation is a bit dubious. for further proof, chicago's daley center is also larger.

daley center - 136,103s m²

I am biased. But Philly's city hall is the most impressive I've seen.

http://www.wheninphilly.com/2008/08/...-in-world.html

The proper titles for Phila city hall I think are
1) Largest Masonry Building in US
2) Tallest Municipal Building in World (or US?)

For a modern building (1993), I think Phoenix's 368' 20floor City Hall is quite nice:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ITYHALL001.jpg

And I TOTALLY agree with this:

Jacques Brownson took his lessons from Mies and did something totally wonderful.

PS, the 62-story office building behind it to the left is the city hall annex. It was bought for half-price in the mid-90s downturn.

Its gross square footage is easily higher than the other "largest municipal buildings" listed in this thread.

I can't really believe the skepticism, to be honest. It's a fact that it's the tallest masonry building in the world. I'm not sure about largest - I guess that would be measured in square footage? But even then, I still would have a hard time believing that it's not in the top 5. This thing took 30 years to build I mean come on now. Again, yet another source: http://weburbanist.com/2008/01/19/th...ing-city-hall/. It's 548 feet tall.

http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/573367
http://www.citymayors.com/cityhalls/...-cityhall.html
http://www.danlepore.com/

The fact is cited in many books as well.

Well its not taller than The Daley Center in Chicago, which is 648', so its not the tallest municipal building.

Also, Tokyo city hall is probably the tallest in the world at a whopping 797'.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ember_2003.jpg wikipedia.com

OK, I am officially a fan of Philly's City Hall. LOVIN' it.

Here are some others that I think are worth showcasing:

Savannah:

http://www.georgia.org/NR/rdonlyres/...ty_hall_lg.jpg

http://www.terragalleria.com/images/...usga38384.jpeg

Old Richmond City Hall:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/84/20...5131a203b6.jpg

http://cache.virtualtourist.com/1399023.jpg

Tampa City Hall:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/190/4...3821729dc3.jpg

Louisville City Hall:

http://pics4.city-data.com/cpicv/vfiles2256.jpg

http://www.louisvilleky.gov/NR/rdonl...0/cityhall.jpg

Philadelphia City Hall is the tallest occupiable masonry building in the world, Washington Monument be damned. It does have a steel support structure under the crown to support the weight of the 37-ton William Penn statue but there are no steel support members for the building itself. At over 631,000 square feet, it counts among the largest buildings in Philadelphia but it isn't the largest municipal building in the country anymore (for a short period it was the world's tallest building). That's another of those 'old' Philadelphia facts that's rarely corrected - it was only a couple of years ago we all learned a couple of skyscrapers weren't actually as tall as everyone thought they were.

The building is a marvel, inside and out and houses the city's only public observation deck, surprisingly. The top of the statue's hat (547 feet, 11 inches) was the city's unofficial height limit for decades though only one building constructed prior to the 80's dared to rise higher than 491 feet.

Man, philly's hall takes ALOT of the cake :D

While I like Milwaukee's City Hall, I think Salt Lake City's is more attractive and monumental. This I believe is due in part to it's plot location, backdrop and symmetry. As far as Richardsonian styles go, it is by far one of the most beautiful buildings on the continent, IMO.

http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/...uide-ga12b.jpg
salt lake city guide

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2223/...38b1f2.jpg?v=0
bridgepix

http://content.lib.utah.edu/cgi-bin/...eng&CISOPTR=45
shipler photography collection, taken 1902

.

There are a few seperate county buildings that hold all those particular offices.
Old County Hall...
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...10/1563426.jpg
another...
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...10/1546058.jpg

The following website has more info on city hall, along with pictures of both the outside and inside of the building. Check it out...

http://www.buffaloah.com/a/niagSq/65/city.html

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i228/telesto10/25.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i228/telesto10/2.jpg

^^^
Very beautiful county building indeed... Though I'd like to implode that annex behind it!!
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...10/1546130.jpg

I would agree with you, not a fan of the building that sits behind it.
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...10/1546058.jpg


Back on topic, I do like the Salt Lake building alot.

by night or day, toronto's city hall is the best example from its era.
more than 40 years after building, it's still a head turner.


http://static.flickr.com/38/115458471_761ea761bd.jpg


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...l_at_night.jpg