Civis, civilis, civitas. Citizen, civil, city.

This month, we look at buildings whose function is rooted in those closely related Latin words—civic buildings that serve citizens in the city and house the institutions underpinning what we have come to call civilization. Few architects today would conceive a public building along the lines of an ancient Roman monument—all pediments and columns– but contemporary civic buildings remain crucial to the life of the city— and some turn out to be catalysts for reviving urban areas that have been in decline.