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

An in-depth look at Boston's Prudential Center and what its story reveals about the evolution of the modern American city

The Prudential Center anchors the Boston skyline with its tall, gray tower. It is also a historical beacon, representing a midcentury moment when insurance companies such as Prudential were particularly aware of how their physical presence and civic engagement reflected upon their intangible product: financial security.

Looking to New York's Rockefeller Center, the creat...