…but you can clean it up. Very cool article on why Philadelphia wouldn’t clean up City Hall until almost a century after it was built.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/25/arts/design/25hall.html?_r=1&oref=sloginÂ
11 thoughts on “You can’t fight City Hall”
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why do they keep refering to it as “Victorian”? I would assume that concept has no meaning in the US.
Doesn’t Victorian refer to that time in WWII where we bailed you guys out and were victorious?
I think they meant to call it Second Empire . . . which although popular during the “Victorian” era, I don’t think is usually lumped together under the Victorian umbrella, ala Queen Ann (And for forty bucks, I’ll sell you a dirty picture of Queen Ann under a Victorian umbrella–HI YO!). I always think of second empire as being a little frenchified. Am I right? Is there an architectural historian in the house?
Never heard of Second Empire. Wonder if that’s just because I’ve never heard of it, or because it’s an American term.
The French have the concept of “Republics”, as in First Republic, Second Republic, etc. don’t they? Although I guess they had “Empires” mixed in amongst them whenever Napoleon declared himself emperor.
I’ve visited the British D-Day beaches, it’s pretty humbling seeing the rows of graves in the cemetaries. I’ve not been since I was a teenager though. Meant to visit Omaha and Utah, as well as St Mare-Eglise in May when we were in France, but we were late for the ferry at Cherbourg and couldn’t stop. I intend to go back and visit Omaha, Utah etc later this year.
“Second Empire” refers to the reign of Napoleon III (born Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte), the supposed-bastard son of Napoleon’s brother Louis. Nap III ruled France in the 1850s & 60s. Oddly, according to the internets, he was also president during most of the “Second Republic” before the empire was restored. He was deposed following the french defeat in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. He died in exile (in England) and is buried in Hampshire (again, according to the internets).
American historians like me usually only know anything about #3 because he took advantage of American distraction due to the Civil War to install Maximillian (some Austro-Hungarian nitwit) as Emporer of Mexico. Even I don’t understand how exactly that went down . . . but the guy didn’t last long after the US encouraged the French army to leave in 1866.
is wikipedia your best friend?
No, we just met. I was told not to trust it, but it seems nice enough.
Sorry about that, I just had to figure out that whole second empire thing . . . then share it.
Won’t happen again.
🙂
cause it’s mine.
Ah, well, for the UK, it’s only the original Napoleon who’s relevant, Napoleonic wars, Trafalgar, Waterloo, etc.