I work directly across the street from Boston's South Station, and were I to stay with my company for the next ten years, I would walk out of my pre-war industrial loft building every day and face this:
I was bequeathed about 30 issues of Progressive Architect from the late 80s, and WOE did I see many such high-gloss-glass-chrome wedding-cake debacles. GEE I HOPE THE INTERIOR WILL BE AS SUMPTUOUS AS TRUMP TOWER'S!
Why is this happening to my city that I love? Not a single refreshing or innovative building on the Boston skyline.
Cesar Pelli is an embarassment. He is the Paul Goldberger of architects... He confuses real estate development with architecture. I heard that he was being chosen as a "starchitect" for some Gensler-driven development in Vegas and I had a good laugh...
is that definitely going through?
that building has been in development or on the boards
for years...the interiors that i've seen would make even
donnie trump swoon.
as far as buildings on the boston skyline though..the towers
in chinatown aren't horrible.
and the john hancock tower was pretty innovative/interesting
when it was built...and the clock tower is interesting...and
how can you hate on the pru? and the fed is nice too..
now if you're talking the financial distric i'll agree...although
the pregnant building is interesting in a ..wow that's ugly
kind of interesting.
and what constitutes skyline..how tall does it have to be...
cause i think you're actually living through a high period
for architecture in boston comparative to the 70s.
all the development at MIT, the new buildings outside of kendall,
the ICA, soon to be buildings at harvard (daly/genik's new
museum) piano's soon to be new museum, the expansion of the
MFA...etc etc.
You're right about Boston having excellent architecture and projects in the works. I prefer hyperbole for dramatic effect. But the preggo building is definintely one of my favorites. Having been a bike messenger and having been inside every single building downtown and most of back bay, I have an extra aversion to the BRA and its trigger-happy developing finger (and many of their hackneyed proposals).
which ones the pregnant building? there are some great high rises in boston, including many of those mentioned, but the financial district is just a consortium of some of the ugliest corporate towers around. there's a great post-mid-century (not sure the exact time period, i'm guessing 50s-60s) residential tower next to my building on the corner of huntington and st. alphonsus. i just love the thing
sofya...i understand about the BRA...
i worked for a firm that was highly developer driven in the
mid nineties..to the credit of cambridge they changed the review
process for projects and made it far more difficult for developer's
to build the monstrosities that were made in kendall sq at that
time. i grew up in boston and lived there for a while after school
and was highly annoyed at the awful architecture getting built..but
teh recent trend towards hiring contemporary/forward thinking
architects for most major buildings and actually building buildings
for contemporary art makes me happy.
flm
the pregnant building...when you walk out of south station and walk
towards summer st. going towards the common...it's on your right
i believe it has something to do with air rights or something..
they couldn't build to the extent of the site at the base and at the
top..so they built out right in the middle as much as they could.
Boston regresses to 1985, thank you Cesar Pelli
I work directly across the street from Boston's South Station, and were I to stay with my company for the next ten years, I would walk out of my pre-war industrial loft building every day and face this:
I was bequeathed about 30 issues of Progressive Architect from the late 80s, and WOE did I see many such high-gloss-glass-chrome wedding-cake debacles. GEE I HOPE THE INTERIOR WILL BE AS SUMPTUOUS AS TRUMP TOWER'S!
Why is this happening to my city that I love? Not a single refreshing or innovative building on the Boston skyline.
I don't like it ...
...but South Station seems to.
Reusing renderings from the '80's is a real time saver.
(BTW - The Federal Reserve, on the left, is one of my favorites.)
Cesar Pelli is an embarassment. He is the Paul Goldberger of architects... He confuses real estate development with architecture. I heard that he was being chosen as a "starchitect" for some Gensler-driven development in Vegas and I had a good laugh...
What's next?
is that definitely going through?
that building has been in development or on the boards
for years...the interiors that i've seen would make even
donnie trump swoon.
as far as buildings on the boston skyline though..the towers
in chinatown aren't horrible.
and the john hancock tower was pretty innovative/interesting
when it was built...and the clock tower is interesting...and
how can you hate on the pru? and the fed is nice too..
now if you're talking the financial distric i'll agree...although
the pregnant building is interesting in a ..wow that's ugly
kind of interesting.
and what constitutes skyline..how tall does it have to be...
cause i think you're actually living through a high period
for architecture in boston comparative to the 70s.
all the development at MIT, the new buildings outside of kendall,
the ICA, soon to be buildings at harvard (daly/genik's new
museum) piano's soon to be new museum, the expansion of the
MFA...etc etc.
Lars, here's today's article.
You're right about Boston having excellent architecture and projects in the works. I prefer hyperbole for dramatic effect. But the preggo building is definintely one of my favorites. Having been a bike messenger and having been inside every single building downtown and most of back bay, I have an extra aversion to the BRA and its trigger-happy developing finger (and many of their hackneyed proposals).
which ones the pregnant building? there are some great high rises in boston, including many of those mentioned, but the financial district is just a consortium of some of the ugliest corporate towers around. there's a great post-mid-century (not sure the exact time period, i'm guessing 50s-60s) residential tower next to my building on the corner of huntington and st. alphonsus. i just love the thing
sofya...i understand about the BRA...
i worked for a firm that was highly developer driven in the
mid nineties..to the credit of cambridge they changed the review
process for projects and made it far more difficult for developer's
to build the monstrosities that were made in kendall sq at that
time. i grew up in boston and lived there for a while after school
and was highly annoyed at the awful architecture getting built..but
teh recent trend towards hiring contemporary/forward thinking
architects for most major buildings and actually building buildings
for contemporary art makes me happy.
flm
the pregnant building...when you walk out of south station and walk
towards summer st. going towards the common...it's on your right
i believe it has something to do with air rights or something..
they couldn't build to the extent of the site at the base and at the
top..so they built out right in the middle as much as they could.
wow, we have the same building in downtown los angeles by him but it didn't come in super-shiny then...
silverlake, isn't the one behind it in century city? maybe they are photoshop blocks in cesar's computer?
whoa that's exactly the same!!
smooth glass towers suck...why can't anybody build a decent pagoda anymore?
orhan, the one behind it is in century city. who cares about portraying it in its true context, its only a skyscraper!
Despite my love of brutalism (yes, I even love Boston City Hall) I really don't understand the pregnant building.
I like the "Caution: Falling Ice" signs that appear around that building for six-eight months out of the year.
Well the reflective thing seems to go over well in Boston...
speaking of reflection, 1985 was the last year i was happy...
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