Town halls first emerged in North Italian cities in the Middle Ages. The development of this type of building is strongly tied to the rise of the European city and the middle classes.
The sixteen town halls featured in this book date from the twentieth century, when local representative democracy was introduced in most West European countries. As a result of this development, town halls had to meet new requirements. Over time, the monumental, representative character of the typical town hall gave way to a more neutral, office-like appearance.

Dutch edition
This book is only published in Dutch. Click on 'Nederlands' in the left corner of this page, to read the Dutch summary.

About the editors:
The editors are architects and teach at the Faculty of Architecture, Delft University of Technology.