The problem with most modern architecture is 30-40 years on it ends up looking like this.
"What has been gained is a notable achievement in the creation and control of urban space, and in the uses of monumentality and humanity in the best pattern of great city building. Old and New Boston are joined through an act of urban design that relates directly to the quality of the city and its life." - Ada Louise Huxtable
Sorry, Ada. Your word salad aside, Boston City Hall is a monument to ugliness. It is perhaps the most outstanding civic eyesore in the United States. How could the citizens of Boston blight their attractive downtown with this architectural boil?
8 comments:
I thought the same thing on a visit to Boston a few years ago. You walk down cobbled stone streets past all of this colonial history to only end up in a concrete desert with this monstrosity. Too bad it’s not a mirage.
When I was in exactly that spot 2 weeks ago I said the same thing to my kids. It was a mistake when it was new and I was in school in Boston , it is a greater shame that urban planners hold such sway and refuse to correct past mistakes. BTW just to the right is the "Customs House" from 1849.
What are you talking about, Lou, that's the lovliest concrete pillbox I've ever seen!
Then again, Philadelphia's City Hall was considered a Rococco nightmare, only now appreciated (albeit expensive to maintain)
But they buried the Central Artery, which is good. I haven't been to Boston since 2002 and I am curious to see how it all looks now.
Downtown, in my city of about 200,000, those are the buildings that can't get tenants (entire floors are obviously vacant)
Buildings built up to the 1950s, and those built in the last 20 years with a classic architectural style (red brick, etc.) have no trouble staying rented, even in this economy.
But they buried the Central Artery, which is good. I haven't been to Boston since 2002 and I am curious to see how it all looks now.
The CA/T was worth every penny and then some.
BTW, most of the costs went to urban renewal and not pure transportation which is why the cost spiraled.
One thing about the Big Dig-- I really wish they had made one lane express through Boston. Hubby has fambly on the South Shore (ugh) and driving there is a complete nightmare.
All the more reason to stay north of the border!
Hitler was an urban planner. Pol Pot too.
The Boston City Hall dump is a reminder, like Saddam statues in Bahgdad, that an small leftist elite control everything, and don't you forget it, and there will be no working class/middle brow kitch here, Peasants!
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