Yes, today was the deadline for our #townhalliday snaps, but we have decided to extend the deadline given the surge of late interest. You now have until close of day 19 September to send in your town hall holiday photo or a glamourous muncipelfie (yes, that’s a selfie taken in front of a town hall or similar municipal structure. Look out for municipelfie in the OED’s new words list announcements of 2015). We’ve had literally a number of entries so it’s not too late to scoop the prize (which we’ve upgraded). You can not only win a copy of Municipal Futures, but also an invitation to the glittering launch of Municipal Futures II (around Christmas time) where you’ll be able to hobnob with the best and the brightest in local government over a glass of municipal white. To enter simply email us a photo at info@lgiu.org or tweet us a pic using the hashtag #municipelfie or #townhalliday on or before 19 September 2014. However, you may have to dig deep into your archives to top this entry from one dedicated council officer who sent this accompanying commentary. (Never fear, he did not send us an actual municpelfie so that category is still wide open!) Not that I’m desperate to win the competition you understand, but…… As I was on holiday in Mozambique earlier this week, lounging about and going through all those e-mails on the i-phone that one never usually gets round to reading, I stumbled on your competition. Now for what it’s worth, I am one of those sad individuals who likes to seek out a good town hall on holiday – purely for architectural interest – of course! And, not a day before, I had been admiring the qualities of the rather grand Maputo City Hall, the citadel of local government and bureaucracy for Mozambique’s capital city – and boy, do they like bureaucracy! Construction of this rather wonderful edifice commenced in 1910 but was not completed until 1945. Built by the Portugese, the design is rumoured to have been based on Lisbon Town Hall. Within the rather wonderful entrance lobby and hall are located rather crusty old models of the development of Maputo (or Lourenco Marques as it would have been then), which only adds to it’s allure. Most surprisingly, given that there were probably less than 10 UK tourists in Maputo this week, was to find that one of the other 4 members of the architectural tour which took in the City Hall, was a former Vice -Chair of the London Borough of Camden’s Planning Committee (in a much earlier life I myself worked as a planner for Camden)! Over the next couple of e-mails I shall enclose a few carefully composed pictures of said town hall for your kind consideration. Whilst I see that the literature suggested thast entires be submitted ‘by’ or was it ‘before Friday, 5th September’, I am sure you won’t mind, as I have literally just got back to the UK just now, if my submissions are a couple of hours late! And if you don’t consider these to be a worthy winner, then do let me know, and I’ll send you photos of Lyon City Hall, Casablanca City Hall, Copenhagen Council House, Stockholm Council House, the Administration Buildings New Delhi, the Administration Buildings Chandigarh, government buildings Brasilia, Buenes Aires City Hall, in fact any City Hall you care to mention………..!!! Best wishes John East, Director for Place Commissioning, LB of Newham And let it be known, that we here at LGiU do not consider such endeavours the least bit sad.
