Analysis of the architecture, iconography, and spatial relations that constitute the town hall to explore its historical ability to accommodate the "public" in different political and social contexts
"Contributors offer valuable discussion of the post-WW II German Rathaus as an attempt to deal with an "uncertain" national identity and provide a good examination of architecture in the service of Mussolini's Fascist state. A welcome global approach that features material on Bombay, Jakarta, Mexico, and Korea is revealing, especially on the influence of colonialism; however, more could have been said about sources of indigenous, pre-European civic engagement. Endnotes and numerous, adequate, black-and-white illustrations are provided but no bibliography. Although this volume shows the inevitable fragmentation typical of such an enterprise, the attention to unfamiliar themes and innovative approaches means that this book will interest serious students of civic architecture.Summing Up: Recommended" --W. S. Rodner, Tidewater Community Colleg, CHOICE Reviews, January 2015
