Launch Party: Insuring the City: The Prudential Center and the Postwar Urban Landscape

One of the most significant urban developments of the 1950s and 60s, the Prudential Center anchors the Boston skyline with its tall gray tower. It is also a beacon of a mid-century moment when insurance companies like Prudential deployed buildings in cities to symbolize and advertise their intangible product: financial security. The Prudential’s story also exemplifies the transition from the nineteenth century metropolis to the post-industrial city organized around highways and easy parking. In this new book, Yale architectural historian Elihu Rubin tells the full story of “The Pru” in its political, economic, and architectural contexts. Join Rubin and journalist Matt Dellinger for a conversation about the book and its implications for urban design today. www.vanalenbooks.org