The architects who designed Boston's City Hall designed it in the New Brutalist style, favoring function over elegance. In recent years, Mayor Thomas M. Menino, young architects and the public have condemned the building as just brutal, with its raw concrete columns, maze of a layout and lack of trees. And state Rep. Marty Walsh, who is running for mayor, recently recommended that the city sell it and use the money for parks and universal kindergarten for four-year-olds.
Proponents of keeping the building have said that it's an icon of the city that could be renovated.
Curious about New Brutalism? Check out our slideshow of City Hall past and present, and other examples of the architectural style in Boston and Massachusetts.
Also, Boston Public Radio's Jim Braude and Margery Eagan asked listeners if City Hall is the ugliest building in the country and what the city should do with it.
