TD Gahhhden expansion

[czsz]

What matters is that in 1890 Trinity Church was one of the most respected bits of architecture in the US. in 1990 the same was still true

But in 1960 people were calling buildings like Trinity Church (if not exactly up to their quality standards) "ghastly Victorian piles" and clamoring for them to be torn down in favor of clean, modern architecture.

City Hall is just rounding the corner from that point in its history now. In 40 years, it will be beloved.

[HenryAlan]

I've always liked City Hall, and I have no architectural training. People who enjoy variation and cleverness should see something in that building.

[itchy]

Originally Posted by datadyne007

The last time Boston was truly cutting-edge was when we built City Hall.

That sounds like a pretty good argument against doing something that is "cutting-edge" for its own sake.

It's been an even longer while since Boston designed anything in the Beaux-Arts style or a true Art Deco building. I'd prefer to see thoughtful updates of Art Deco before some aluminum mess designed by Zaha Hadid in a shape vaguely reminiscent of a cockroach's body. Reviving some of the more-interesting schools of architecture that we haven't seen since pre-1945 would probably actually result in a greater impact on architecture worldwide and in a more pleasant city able to attract the skilled workers and new businesses you want.

Originally Posted by datadyne007

City Hall was one of (if not the most) cutting edge buildings in the world and put Boston on the map in the architecture world. We've severely lost our place on the map since.

If it means pleasing a few dozen stuffed shirts at the GSD (for whom Boston is already "on the map" for obvious reasons), then I'm not really concerned whether Boston is "on the architecture map." Boston is a fabulously successful city because of its long-term strengths in life sciences, academia, financial services/banking, tech, consumer goods (the average Bulgarian is probably a lot more familiar with Reebok or Gillette than with Genzyme), and other industries.

Boston is also a draw because of its architecture ... namely its historic architecture and dense, European-style streets. We aren't architecturally cutting-edge and, frankly, given the trendy crap that constitutes "cutting-edge" today and the success of the city more generally speaking, I'm happy with that. Of course, I'd like to see the sort of innovate, small-plot architecture going up in Amsterdam or Berlin take root in the Seaport. If that's "cutting-edge," great.

But if it means joining the international pissing contest of third-tier cities you've never heard of in China or the Middle East vying to build the latest grasshopper-shaped cultural center by Zaha Hadid, that really isn't going to make the city any more pleasant to be in or tell the rest of the world anything about Boston other than that it must be insecure if it needs to compensate for other shortcomings by having Zaha plop down a few cookie-cutter UFO-inspired office buildings.

[Lurker]

Urban renewal and highways were once cutting edge too. That should be an obvious warning enough that being at the leading edge of a trend for the sake of being "of the times" isn't always such a good idea.

[Equilibria]

The sad part to me is that they designed North Station without a way to knock out that back wall and build a real entrance from Causeway St. I've fantasized about putting the old North Station facade back on that side of the development, but I see your points about cheesiness.

The thing is, though, that this site doesn't necessarily need to be in the same style as the Garden. I feel like what character the Garden has was designed to face the Charles and the Zakim, not the city. This site could almost be an entirely independent organism, facing the other direction with a pedestrian corridor winding between it and the adjacent arena. It would break up the megablock concept infecting that part of the city (Avenir, Victor, Charles River Park...)

In any case, the Bruins execs should hop the next flight to DC (it'd be easy - they were just there for the playoff series) and get a good look at how the Verizon Center interacts with the city - in fact, this project sounds so much like the mall attached to the Verizon Center that I wonder if the announcement right after the Caps series isn't a coincidence...

[Ron Newman]

The back wall can be easily knocked out. While New Garden construction went on above, people walked through the lobby of the Old Garden and into the current North Station lobby to get to their trains.

[AmericanFolkLegend]

Well said Itchy.

[bostonbred]

Originally Posted by whighlander

-- "mental masturbation" --

willMAke yOo go BLIND!!! jUST LOOK aROUNd! SEEport

[Equilibria]

Originally Posted by Ron Newman

The back wall can be easily knocked out. While New Garden construction went on above, people walked through the lobby of the Old Garden and into the current North Station lobby to get to their trains.

Good, then they should certainly do it. The business case is obvious - all that foot traffic past their new shops can't be bad for rents. Many cities have booming shopping centers at commuter rail terminals - including this one.