“The intention of the Syracuse City Hall is to define a sense of place. The U-shaped building obscures the city jail on one side and the power plant on the other, thereby creating a plaza. The building is placed on axes with a mall leading to the principal shopping area of Syracuse. A series of bridges, ramps and walkways invites the people of Syracuse to walk from adjacent residential areas through the great porch of the building and the plaza to the town center. The building is so arranged that it forms an amphitheater for public celebration and ceremonies. Thus it has been formed as much by external considerations as by internal ones.”
Above quotation by the architect. Moholy-Nagy, Sibyl, and Gerhard Schwab. The Architecture of Paul Rudolph. New York: Praeger, 1970. P. 108.