Archinect - News

Michael McKinnell, co-designer of Boston's Brutalist City Hall, dies from COVID-19

2020-03-30T12:59:00-04:00

Michael McKinnell, a co-designer of Boston's love-it-or-hate-it Brutalist City Hall, has passed away from pneumonia following a positive diagnosis for COVID-19.

McKinnell was born in 1935 in Manchester, England and grew up during World War II. He earned a bachelor’s degree in architecture in 1958 from the University of Manchester in England and later attended Columbia University as a Fulbright scholar, earning an M.Arch degree there in 1960. Two years later, McKinnell and Columbia assistant professor Gerhard Kallmann joined forces to enter a competition for the design of Boston's new city hall. Their unexpected victory, both were unlicensed and neither had designed a building on their own at that point, served as a launching pad for Kallmann McKinnell & Wood, a practice that would go on to practice for decades to wide acclaim.

The Boston Globe reports that in 1969 McKinnell, describing his vision for the city hall building, told a reporter, "This isn’t a building where the pattern ...

10 academic architecture projects in Boston we liked this month by architects based in Boston

2020-03-24T18:53:00-04:00

Hardly any other American city is as closely associated with higher education as Boston, with some of its universities making frequent appearances in Archinect's academia-related news coverage.

As part of our month-long editorial Spotlight on Boston, why not take a look at ten standout architecture projects for institutions of higher learning and K12 schools in the greater Boston area? All selections were picked from projects uploaded to Firm profiles of practices based in the city.

Searching for architectural jobs in the region? Check out these firms that are currently hiring in the city and catch up also with our latest curated job picks specifically for Boston.

If you missed our recent regional project roundups, head over to Miami, Austin, Los Angeles, and, most recently, residential projects in Boston.

↑ New England Conservatory Student Life and Performance Center in Boston by Ann Beha Architects (Design Architect) with Gensler (Associate Architect); Photo: Peter Vanderwarker

...

Scrambling to get your remote work operation set up? Check out this in-depth webinar from the Boston Society of Architects

2020-03-19T21:33:00-04:00

The Boston Society of Architects (BSA) is holding a series of webinars over the coming weeks aimed at sharing tips and best practices for remote work that architects can use in their own practices as firms respond to the COVID-19 crisis.

The first installment in the series covers general guidelines for working remotely and features contributions from Diana Nicklaus, President and CEO of Boston-based Saam Architecture and Cynthia Gibson Murphy, Senior Project Manager and Associate Partner at Marguilies Perruzzi, which is also based in Boston.

Previously on Archinect: “Exploring Remote Work and 'Radical Flexibility' in Architecture With Diana Nicklaus.” Shown: Saam Architecture team photo. Courtesy of Saam Architecture

Topics covered in the inaugural webinar include: understanding different communication preferences between different workforce demographics, understanding the appropriate breakdown of software licenses and computers per employee, using Revit’s “workshare monitor” funct...

10 residential architecture projects in Boston we liked this month by Boston-based architects

2020-03-18T13:16:00-04:00

As part of Archinect's month-long Spotlight on Boston, we have selected ten of our favorite residential architecture projects in the greater Boston area uploaded to Firm profiles of practices based in the city.

Next week, we will follow up with a look at Boston's outstanding academic and workplace projects. Don't miss it.

Searching for architectural jobs in the region? Check out these firms that are currently hiring in the city and catch up also with our latest curated job picks specifically for Boston.

Missed our other recent regional project roundups? Head over to Miami, Austin, and Los Angeles.

And here now, finally, Boston:

↑ Congress Square (mixed use) in Boston by Arrowstreet; Photo: Robert Benson

↑ Norman Street in Marblehead by BLOOM Architecture; Photo: Trent Bell

↑ Macallen Building in Boston by NADAAA / MPdL Studio; Photo: John Horner Photography

↑ Waltham Watch Factory (mixed use) in Waltham by Bruner/Cott Architects

↑ West Newton in Boston by BUTZ + KLUG Architecture...

Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation publishes letter urging "respectful" reuse of Boston Government Service Center

2020-03-14T09:00:00-04:00

In light of the planned redevelopment of the Boston Government Service Center (BGSC), designed by Modernist architect Paul Rudolph in 1962, the Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation has issued a pointed letter advocating for "the preservation of the Boston Government Service Center, as a part of the larger effort to preserve and interpret Boston’s architectural and urban history."

Previously on Archinect: "Paul Rudolph's Boston Government Service Center is in danger." Image courtesy of Flickr user Gunnar Klack.

In October 2019, Archinect reported that the city of Boston was in the process of identifying a developer who could take on the redevelopment of the site currently occupied by the building. The building features the same "corduroy concrete" finish as Rudolph's widely influential Yale Art & Architecture building, which was completed just as design work on the BGSC was being undertaken.

The letter is published below in full:

03/09/2020

Brona Simon, Executive Director
Massachusetts H...

The archived works of Cape Cod-style architect Royal Barry Wills are now publicly available

2020-03-13T13:08:00-04:00

Historic New England, one of one of the oldest and largest regional architectural heritage organizations in the United States, has announced that the archives of Boston-based architecture firm Royal Barry Wills Associates will be made available to the public for the first time. Founded in 1925, Royal Barry Wills, FAIA is famously known for its mastery of the iconic Cape Cod-style house, in addition to other notable projects reflecting Colonial Revival designs.

The collection was made possible by Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and Wills' son, who donated a majority of the firm's archives to Historic New England in 2013. Consisting of architectural drawings, photographs, negatives, and other firm documents dating between the 1920s and 2003, the collection is another example of organizations aiding in providing access to pieces of architectural history.

By digitizing and cataloging the collection, Historic New England will provide the public with an account of Wills' ...

Boston is America's most congested city (again)

2020-03-10T19:52:00-04:00

Boston continues to hold the dubious distinction of having the worst traffic in the United States, fending off the likes of Los Angeles, New York and Chicago to top traffic data analyst INRIX’s list of congested cities for the second year in a row. [...] Chicago, Philadelphia, New York and Washington, D.C., round out the worst five U.S. cities for congestion. Wichita, Kansas, tops the study for least congestion.

The latest annual Global Traffic Scorecard published by transportation analytics company INRIX calculated that the average Boston commuter lost 149 hours — that's more than six days — per year due to traffic congestion, amounting to $2,205 per driver in time lost. Boston ranked as the nation's most congested city for the second consecutive year, followed by Chicago (145 hours), Philadelphia (142 hours), New York City (140 hours), and Washington D.C. (124 hours).

The American average was 99 hours lost per year due to congestion, costing the United States nearly $88 billion in 2019.

Boston also managed to claim a top ten spot on the global list of traffic-choked cities, coming in at number 9, followed by Chicago at 10. Dominating the international field in 2019 were the rapidly growing Latin American cities Bogota, Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City, and São Paulo, with a few European old-school offenders sprinkled in the mix, such as Istanbul, Rome, Paris, and London.

800-unit mixed-use development heading to Boston suburbs

2020-03-09T18:53:00-04:00

Following the successful passage of a ballot initiative on Super Tuesday, the town of Newton, Massachusetts is moving forward with a proposed 23-acre community development plan that could bring up to 800 new housing units to the site of a former strip mall.

View of the proposed Northland Newton Development project highlighting the development's streetscapes and apartment buildings. Image courtesy of Northland Investment Corporation.

The so-called Northland Newton Development project will bring hundreds of new homes to the area, including 140 income-restricted units. In addition, the 14-building development will create 180,000 square feet of office spaces and 115,000 square feet of retail. The development won local City Council approval back in December 2019, but was put to a public vote due to fierce disagreement over a necessary zoning change involved with the approval.

Site plan view of the proposed Northland Newton Development. Image courtesy of Northland Investment Corporation....

11 of the best Architecture Jobs in Boston right now

2020-03-05T19:08:00-05:00

The city of Boston is home to a unique blend of historical and contemporary architecture projects. Besides its lively sports culture, active city life, and notable academic institutions, Boston is a place filled with exciting architectural job prospects. Following our month-long Spotlight on Boston focus, we've collected job listings from seven Boston-based firms that are currently seeking the right candidates to join their team.

View of the St. Regis Residences in Boston. Image courtesy of Elkus Manfredi Architects.

Elkus Manfredi Architects seeks a Technical Architect
Elkus Manfredi Architects is focused on creating dynamic, connected, sustainable environments that foster a sense of community, from the smallest workplace to urban neighborhoods around the world. The firm seeks technical architects with strong design skills, exceptional technical knowledge, commitment to sustainable design, and passion for working closely with colleagues and clients. Ideal candidates will leverage the...

KPMB Architect's new building for Boston University reaches for carbon neutrality

2020-03-05T12:52:00-05:00

Boston University's new Center for Computing and Data Sciences building is set to be the largest carbon-neutral building in Boston when completed. The 19-story structure will house the university's mathematics, statistics, and computer science departments.

Previously covered on Archinect back in 2018, the goal for the project, according to Toronto-based architecture firm KPMB Architects, is to create a structure that would be "an iconic fixture on campus." Besides, its stacked, podium-like volumes, which are meant to resemble stacked books, the structure will also stand as the tallest—and greenest—building on campus.

A press statement by university president Robert A. Brown expresses, "This building is a physical statement about our commitment to the field. We wanted architecture that would signal to everyone that this was a special place, the center of campus,"

Boston University's Center for Computing and Data Sciences. Image courtesy of KPMB Architects

Boston University's Cente...

Henry Cobb, the architect behind some of America's most iconic skyscrapers, has passed away

2020-03-03T21:26:00-05:00

Henry N. Cobb, the bold Modernist architect responsible for the designs of a wide range of iconic buildings through his work with Pei, Cobb, Freed & Partners, has passed away at age 93.

Sadly, the great Harry Cobb has died at 93. A teacher, poet of form, gentleman, longtime partner of Pei, the architect of the Hancock Tower, still producing works of subtlety like the African American Museum in Charleston at the end of his life. A truly humane and generous soul.
— Michael Kimmelman (@kimmelman) March 4, 2020

Michael Kimmelman, architecture critic for The New York Times, broke the news Tuesday evening via Twitter. Word of Cobb’s passing was confirmed to Archinect by members of Pei, Cobb Freed & Partners.

The US Bank Tower in Los Angeles, designed by Henry Cobb. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons / Selvingarcia.

In 1955, Cobb was one of three co-founders, along with I.M. Pei and Eason H. Leonard, of the now-storied Pei, Cobb, Freed & Partners architecture practice, based in New York C...

Introducing Archinect's Spotlight on Boston

2020-03-03T15:40:00-05:00

For the month of March, Archinect is focusing its Spotlight on Boston, the largest city in Massachusetts and the northernmost node of America's Northeast megalopolis.

The focus on Boston follows our recent Spotlight on Miami theme from the month of February.

Boston, of course, has a relatively long history dating back to 1630s when it was first settled by Puritan colonizers from England. In the 390 years since, Boston has grown from a powerful shipping town and a major site of the American Revolution into an intellectual and biomedical powerhouse, home to some of the country's most prestigious schools and universities, including Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which are located in the adjacent city of Cambridge.

Simmons Hall on the MIT campus, designed by Steven Holl Architects. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons / Daderot.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the city worked to rectify some of the destruction caused by 1950s-era Urban Renewa...

Cross-Laminated Timber net-zero apartment comes to Boston

2020-02-20T15:29:00-05:00

In winter 2021, Boston is expecting Model-C, its first ground-up full Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) Passive House demonstration project. Designed and developed by Generate, an architectural tech company, and Placetailor, a leading sustainable housing developer, Model-C replaces the conventional concrete and steel construction materials with the CLT "cellular structure."

The new development will consist of 14 residential units and an "affordable" co-working space for the surrounding community on the ground level. Moreover, the five-story mixed use building will use a prefabricated kit-of-parts for its construction. A CLT rooftop canopy sits at the peak of the structure, allowing for the implementation of photovoltaics.

The construction speed achieved through the reduction of interior framing and the use of modular and prefabrication methods has enabled the construction timeline to significantly diminish. Construction is due to begin later this summer and building is projected to be c...

Rahul Mehrotra selected to lead GSD's Department of Urban Planning and Design

2020-02-20T12:42:00-05:00

The Harvard University Graduate School of Design (GSD) has named architect and academic Rahul Mehrotra as the new Chair of the Department of Urban Planning and Design at the school.

Mehrotra is also being named to the position of John T. Dunlop Professor in Housing and Urbanization. Mehrotra joined GSD as a faculty member back in 2010 and served until 2015 in the same position he is being elevated to once again. At that point, Mehrotra shifted to become the Director of the Master of Architecture in Urban Design Degree Program and Co-Director of the Master of Landscape Architecture program. NBBJ principal architect and academic Alex Krieger is currently serving as the Interim Chair of the Department of Urban Planning and Design; He took over the position from Diane Davis in 2017.

Mehrotra is the founder and principal of RMA Architects, a Boston and Mumbai-based firm that works cross a variety of project types, including speculative work. The practice helped craft a conservation plan...

KPF unveils new mixed-use Boston Harbor Tower

2020-02-05T11:46:00-05:00

A city review of design for The Pinnacle at Central Wharf, a high performance mixed-use tower on the Boston waterfront, is underway. Led by developer The Chiofaro Compant and architects Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF), the new tower will replace a 7-story parking garage that currently sits on the site in question.

“For The Pinnacle at Central Wharf, we worked hard to create a form that responds to the city of Boston,” said KPF Design Principal Trent Tesch in a statement. “The building’s elegant rounded composition steps back in a series of scaled stacked volumes. Its massing is emphasized by the façade’s simple vertical expression, which also diffuses sunlight and wind for a more comfortable experience at the ground plane. Dramatic openings at the base activate the area’s newfound public space...”

The building is anticipated to achieve a LEED Gold rating, which is projected to be achieved through a comprehensive approach to sustainability. A "high-performance envelope" will be introduced...

Studio Gang and Henning Larsen selected to design Harvard research center development

2019-12-19T17:18:00-05:00

The Harvard Allston Land Company (HALC) in Boston has selected a development team led by Tishman Speyer, Studio Gang, and Henning Larsen to create the first phase of a new research campus at Harvard University.

The proposed 36-acre Enterprise Research Campus, according to The Harvard Gazette, could bring a mix of laboratories, residences, and commercial uses to a former industrial rail yard situated in the town of Allston on the banks of the Charles River. Also included on the project team are design firm Utile and landscape architects SCAPE. The project team, as it happens, is powered by three woman-led offices: Mette Kynne Frandsen at Henning Larsen, Jeanne Gang at Studio Gang, and Kate Orff at SCAPE.

Phase one of the project measures 14 acres in size and has received initial regulatory approval for 900,000 square feet of new development from the Boston Planning and Development Agency. The plan for the district, which has not been wholly formalized, could unite research facilities...

Paul Rudolph's Boston Government Service Center is in danger

2019-10-31T11:32:00-04:00

According to a recent article from The Boston Globe, due to city's "hot" real estate market, which has "prompted a number of developers to tear down and build up," the Governor's office now wants to get in on the action.

On Wednesday, the Baker administration unveiled plans to redevelop the state-owned Charles F. Hurley Building, reports the Globe. The efforts will open up a 3.25 acre site with a deal earning the state tens of millions of dollars, "at a minimum." The administration is moving quickly, hoping to identify a developer within 18 to 24 months after putting the project out to bid. Plans are reported to include a new office complex, new ground floor retail, and possible restaurant spaces.

Paul Rudolph began the design process of the brutalist building in 1962 and construction began in 1966, lasting 5 years. Yesterday, The Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation posted a call-to-action on its website and twitter feed. In a blog post titled, S.O.S: - Save Rudolph's Boston Governmen...

Boston architects create a waterfront hotel with permeable ground floor to prepare for sea level rise

2019-09-27T13:30:00-04:00

“We are building a 100-year building. We want to make sure it will last 100 years, but well beyond that,” explained William R. Halter, an architect for Elkus Manfredi, the firm behind the building’s design.

Elkus Manfredi's design for the St. Regis Residences allows the lowest floor of the 22-story luxury tower to be permanently be raised by up to five feet without disturbing the building's two-story ground-level restaurant. The design was created to allow the building to adapt to rising sea levels by plugging into a planned network of elevated streets set to rise above the area's existing roads.

The 114-unit complex is slated to be completed in 2021.

Are vacant parking lots affecting the cost of housing? A new study in Boston sheds light on the issue

2019-08-06T20:59:00-04:00

A widespread over-supply of parking in metro Boston residential developments is driving up the cost of housing and may encourage people to own cars who otherwise would not, according to a new study by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council.

What’s the true cost of parking?

In 2014, Sarah Goodyear wrote a piece for CityLab titled "How Parking Spaces are Eating Our Cities Alive" that provides a framework for answering the question. In her article, Goodyear discusses how the average parking space takes up about 300 square feet, or “the size of a studio apartment in New York,” according to the article. That wasted space is compounded across the average city, Goodyear argues, creating vast areas that are not only heavily dependent on cars, but that also contain lots of empty parking spaces much of the time.

This begs the question: exactly how many 300-square-foot parking spaces are being left vacant? It's alarming to reflect on the amount of unused real estate that’s being taken up by parking, especially when we consider how these spaces happen to correspond in size to a much-needed housing type. If these unused parking spots were converted to apartments, would the cost of housing fall?

In Boston, a study by the Metropoli...

Exhibition examines the social concerns underpinning the works of Frederick Law Olmsted

2019-07-01T17:25:00-04:00

Big Plans: Picturing Social Reform, an exhibition currently on view at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, examines how landscape architects and photographers concretized contemporary social critiques through their work in American cities during the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Plan of Existing and Proposed Parks and Boulevard drawn by Daniel Burnham. Image courtesy of Harvard Libraries.

The exhibition highlights city plans, maps, photographs, and other archival materials to showcase how seminal urban design efforts by Frederick Law Olmsted, Calvert Vaux, Charles Eliot, and Daniel Burnham were inspired and shaped by the photographic works of Lewis Wickes Hine and by the cultural concerns of social reformer Isabella Stewart Gardner.

Photo by Lewis Wickes Hine showing children playing in a tenemenet alleyway. Image courtesy of Art Institute of Chicago.

Included in the exhibition are Olmsted and Vaux's plans for New York City's Central Park, Boston's Emerald Necklace, and Ch...

The Power of the Facade: French 2D explains how facades are punctuations on the urban landscape

2019-05-24T19:03:00-04:00

What's in a facade? For those outside the architecture and design profession, the function, importance, and commonality facades play in the built environment might not be so clear. But the exterior wall, or "face" of a building, in fact, plays a crucial role in conveying a building's structural design as well as the artistic intentions of the designer.

Because the look of facades has dramatically changed over time to become more sleek and streamlined, thanks to material exploration and advances in building technology, it's easy to forget the amount of detail, and intention that goes into design.

New York by Gehry. Image courtesy of New York by Gehry

Tara Theatre designed by Aedas. Image by Philip Vile

Despite this trend, especially within bustling urban landscapes, facades create opportunities for buildings to be loud, imposing, simple, or decorative. Regardless of their visual intention, however, facades also have the power to prompt the general public to look and notice the built...

Boston-based Payette receives 2019 AIA Architecture Firm Award

2018-12-06T14:58:00-05:00

The AIA has announced the Boston-based firm Payette as the 2019 Architecture Firm Award recipient. Now in its 56th year, the annual award is the top honor a firm can receive from the AIA, and given in recognition of "a practice that consistently has produced distinguished architecture for at least 10 years." Prior winners have included LMN Architects (2016), Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects (2013), Gensler (2000), Perkins & Will (1999), and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (1962).

The AIA highlighted the technologically complex work done by Payette that challenges conventional hypotheses and cultivates design innovation without preconception. In particular, they pointed to the Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Complex at Northeastern University in Boston and the National University of Ireland, Galway Research Bundle as two examples of the firm's commitment to building craft, embedded nature, energy efficiency, and programmatic complexity.

Interdisciplinary Science and Engineer...

KPMB Architects takes Boston University's data science building to new heights

2018-10-22T13:19:00-04:00

We wanted architecture that would signal to everyone that this was a special place, the center of campus...We wanted a building that in 2100 would stand up and mark the dynamic change in the University and talk about the century we're in. - Robert A. Brown Boston University President

Boston University and KPMB Architects have announced their plans to construct a 17-floor tower which will house BU's new Data Sciences Center. A program booming within the field of academia, BU plans to be a leader in this area of education. Alongside the team at KPMB, the architecture firm aims at building a structure that will be an "iconic" fixture on campus.

The monumental teaching center has a "podium" like base that is 4 stories high. On top of this base are 13, slightly off centered, floors that were designed to resemble an image of stacked books. The visual representation was made to play homage to the university's mission in its passion for research, artistic creativity, and scholarship among the staff and students on campus.

Also functioning as a public building, the interiors of the center are designed to foster innovation and collaboration. The space will be filled with whiteboard walls and terraced platforms that will serv...