archBOSTON ARCHIVE

DowntownDave · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 374

A tower crane is being erected on the site, so hopefully we'll be seeing it go up soon.

Papi · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 90

Preconstruction was scheduled to take a year, and about that much time has passed. Last time I walked by it looked like the concrete foundation had been poured, so hopefully this puppy will be getting steel soon.

Mike · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 402

DarkFenX · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 1111

I still think this building is ugly. I hope the finished project will change my mind.

Poolio · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 193

It's tough to tell from that rendering, but it appears to be of a size, style, and materials that will complement nicely the existing steetwall. Which, for a site like this, is what you pretty much want.

It does look an awful lot like a cross between the Little Building and the Colonial Theater. Hopefully it doesn't end up mocking its neighbors through shoddy construction and comically transparent details. I believe that if this building is honestly constructed, it will be just fine.

user_90 · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 10

I attend Emerson college and must say that I'd never live in that dorm (mainly because either it won't be finished before I graduate or I won't get housing junior year). I don't like the idea of building 14 floors on top of a basketball court. How the hell is that supposed to work?

You can't break up a basketball court with structural supports. I don't want to be around when that building collapses. It's nice to see that they have a crane up since all last year it was just a dirt pit that never seemed to be making any kind of progress.

There's also a live webcam of construction http://pages.emerson.edu/departments/construction/index.html

justin · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 418

MUCH greater distances than the missing tooth in Piano Row have been spanned before. Sleep easy.

justin

PaulC · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 172

I believe that Suffolk University has already done this. Click on building 1 - Ridgeway.

http://www.suffolk.edu/virtual_tour/index.html#

user_90 · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 10

The red crane is back today. Anyone care to take some photos?

DowntownDave · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 374

Voila....

user_90 · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 10

Thanks! Awesome shots.

I can't wait to see this building begin to take shape.

DowntownDave · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 374

Complete.

Boy, does a hot hazy overcast sky look awful....

Mike · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 402

update ... a few floors of steel are up now.

user_90 · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 10

Anyone care to take some ground perspective shots?

TheBostonian · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 617

Emerson is pretty good at squeezing buildings into tight spots. Ex: The new Tufte building.

shiz02130 · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 94

Aug. 26, 2005

Merper · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 227

amazing how the frame is already having a positive impact on the street wall...

Gravedigger4444 · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 62

Is the building called Piano Row or is the area called that? If it's the area, how did it get that name?

Bowwest · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 616

The whole block is called Piano Row because at the turn of the century almost all of Boston's piano companies were there. I think there were around 15 or so. Now there is only one left I believe.

BostonFaker · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 703

It's a damn shame about all the piano stores/companies. But, the culture/market changes.

Bowwest · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 616

RandomWalk · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 16

^--- Compare that Boylston Street streetwall, with its varied detailing on the buildings, to the Park Essex. Are architects being banned from detailing their facades? Here's to hoping that the dorm will have some well executed detailing, instead of the de rigeur precast facade elements.

-RW

justin · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 418

I don't know that there is more than a handful of craftsmen left who could make the sort of ornament that was standard on 19th/early 20th c. buildings; certainly not enough for the budget of a run-of-the-mill college dorm.

justin

Lurker · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 112

Plenty of places still produce prefabricated ornament at reasonable prices. Most ornament in the early 20th century was factory made and not uniquely carved or designed for each building, but rather assembled through a kit-bashing process. If a firm designed something unique to be manufactured for a specific building, then they'd often use the same "custom" detail in several other projects in order to establish a trademark move, but also to save money in production. If you look at all of SBRA's and Peabody & Stearns buildings from the turn of the last century you'll notice all the columns, doors, lighting, vent grates, wainscotting, window types, radiators, plumbing fixtures, etc that were designed by the firms were used in almost EVERY PROJECT they did. In some projects extra leftover decorative columns wound up being used in basements to simply get rid of excess construction materials from other projects, the boiler/coal storage rooms of the Ames building and the Flour and Grain Exchange building are examples of this.

The problem with applying ornament is that it must be made to represent current iconography or be abstracted to remain somewhat timeless like art deco is, otherwise it becomes a historical copy-fest. Applying ornament significantly dates a building to a specific era. No respected architect wants to put anything on a building that is going to date it nowadays as there is an obsession with making building's timeless.

RandomWalk · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 16

So, instead of getting sourdough unique to Boston, we're stuck with Wonder bread. Smile

Lurker, thank you for a thoughtful response. I've been bothered by the creeping growth of inoffensive, undaring, buildings being erected, not only in Boston, but everywhere. Alternatively, daring is equated with sweeping arcs of glass. Either way, it seems like craftsmanship and detail has been sucked out of architecture and construction, in the name of simply getting the project done.

-RW

Bowwest · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 616

kz1000ps · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 112

Update!

JoeGallows · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 96

A little blurry, but shows nicely how the new dorm matches the height of the Little Building.

kz1000ps · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 112

-From this afternoon-

Rick · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 56

kz1000ps · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 112

From Monday. The facade is blech with a capital B.

Vanshnookenraggen · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 364

Still beats a hole in the ground.

Joe_Schmoe · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 180

Does anyone have a recent pic of this project? It must be done by now.

shiz02130 · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 94

I'll be going for a "construction bike ride" tomorrow, so I'll soon be posting pics of this project and many others.

shiz02130 · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 94

March 30, 2006

ablarc · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 825

Could be better, could be worse. Needs a cornice and a better window pattern.

JoeGallows · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 96

This design is a tad more boring than I was expecting (which also wasn't too much). The windows, however, I don't mind terribly much.

One: they make the building look bigger than it's surroundings by a good deal:

Two: vertically, they look like lengths of film.

Ah well, at this point, all we can hope for is a good ground level.

LeTaureau · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 118

Not bad, it blends in with the rest of the neigborhood, though I agree a cornice would have made this building much better.

Ron Newman · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 1007

TheBostonian · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 617

Ron Newman · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 1007

This is on the front page of Boston.com right now. I know nothing more...

BREAKING NEWS: Two people are believed dead after a construction crane collapsed and landed on at least two cars on Boylston Street between the intersections of Tremont and Charles streets, according to broadcast news reports. Television reports are showing rescue crews at the scene in front of Emerson College. --Developing

Bowwest · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 616

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/city_region/breaking_news/2006/04/crane_collapse.html

statler · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 825

Whoa. I just walked by there at lunch time. Sad

Ron Newman · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 1007

Now on Boston.com:

SCAFFOLDING COLLAPSE UPDATES: John Beresford, who works at Commonwealth Books at 134 Boylston St., was in the back of the store when "I heard a loud bang and the street shook." Co-worker Brian Trimmer called 911. Beresford said emergency crews gave CPR to one person and took away another who looked like he had a broken leg. Just after 2 p.m., crews removed the scaffolding from a crushed gray Honda Civic and removed at least one body. Cory Hopkins, a graduate student at Emerson working in a nearby building, said another car rear-ended the Civic after it was crushed. He also saw what appeared to be the body of a construction worker removed from the scene. Boylston Street is closed between Charles and Tremont, and Emerson students at 120 Boylston have been asked to leave via the Tufte Building, which exits to an alleyway that leads to the state Transportation building.

Ron Newman · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 1007

from BostonHerald.com

Three killed in downtown crane collapse
By Thomas Caywood/ Breaking News
Monday, April 3, 2006 - Updated: 02:45 PM EST

Three people were killed and two injured in an afternoon construction accident today on Boston?s Boylston Street that sent scaffolding plummeting into the street and left one of the victims in the middle of the road.
Eyewitnesses said an enormous amount of scaffolding had collapsed from as high as the 14th floor of a building undergoing construction. A lift used to hoist building materials to upper floors was also said to be involved in the 1:18 p.m. tragedy.
A man who witnessed the scaffolding crumbling said it all seemed to start in slow motion.
?I looked up and saw it falling. It was falling slow at first,? he told the Herald. ?There was a construction worker lying on the ground and he was in a pool of blood.?
On the street, police were trying to determine if a woman was trapped in a Honda Civic. Sections of the scaffolding had dropped on the roof of the car.
A Boston Emergency Medical Services commander on the scene reported the fatalities. A press conference was expected.
The construction work was being done doors down from Emerson College. Scaffolding on the building reached almost to the very top of the building being worked on.
A car located below the crane was crushed and debris from the building littered the sidewalk.
Betsy Doherty, a manger of Remington?s Restaurant on Boylston Street, said everybody heard a ?big crash? and realized something had gone terribly wrong.
?I went outside. A crane had collapsed straight across the street. This one little car was crushed,? she told the Herald. ?They?ve closed the street and the ally and a lot of ambulances and police are around.?
She said the cranes were building dorms at Emerson College.
?I just got a sick feeling in my stomach hoping no one was hurt,? she added.
Traffic in the area was completely backed up and large crowds gathered near the common.

user_196 · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 7

Here's a picture of the crushed Honda from the Boston Herald website:

Ron Newman · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 1007

People are doing some live on-the-scene reporting here:

LiveJournal: b0st0n community

LiveJournal: emersoncollege community

LeTaureau · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 118

Matt · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 840

patrick0000 · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 2570

this is so terrible. i am sorry for boston and anyone negatively affected by this.