Boston & the Skyscraper at the BSA Space (Lecture, 290 Congress Street, Boston): 06-28-2012 01:30 PM - 04:00 PM

[Beton Brut]

Someone should go to this and hold up pictures of the Dainty Dot, and publicly request Shen's resignation.

Fucking jerk-off...

[Lennon McCartney]

Is this free and open to the public?

[DZH22]

Originally Posted by Beton Brut

Someone should go to this and hold up pictures of the Dainty Dot, and publicly request Shen's resignation.

Fucking jerk-off...

It would be more effective with the original proposal too, and maybe the quote about it being too iconic. When you think about it, we are actually losing 2 excellent buildings here.

[datadyne007]

Originally Posted by Lennon McCartney

Is this free and open to the public?

Directly from the abstract above...

"This event ... is free and open to all. RSVP to rsvp@architects.org with “Urban 6/28” in the subject line."

[KentXie]

Originally Posted by DZH22

It would be more effective with the original proposal too, and maybe the quote about it being too iconic. When you think about it, we are actually losing 2 excellent buildings here.

This

[choo]

Went to the session tonight. Pretty interesting presentation, discussion was lacking because people were more interested in rambling on with their own BS rather than asking the panel.

Shen articulation of planning for the city as a whole is I think pretty good from a conceptual level. Really there is the high spine axis running from the Pru down to winthrop sq and another that runs from south station to north station. Winthrop sq. is designed as the peak from weak height will largely descend. So Tommy Tower to Hancock to Pru to Fenway. Then Tommy Tower with South Station tower to the south and going down into the south bay gateway and government center garage, aquarium, and north station towers the other direction. I think this city wide view is actually quite appealing, and would prefer if the actually zoned and incentivized for it rather than the current tit for tat on open space and mitigation blah blah.

The obvious question I wanted to ask before two people went on their own diatribes, is given this plan and the FAA restrictions at Winthrop Sq. will Boston ever see 1000'+? I think the idea of 600-800 foot buildings in many areas that was shown is very good and can literally provide decades of development opportunity, but the desire to really break through the plateau is still there (on my end at least).

On the bright side, it seems like the Copley sq. tower is pretty much a done deal, and SST seemed to be pretty bullish on. And I think when the market is ready, the Winthrop Sq. tower will go ahead at significant height for no reason other than the city and BRA want it to happen. Who knows, maybe it will be the crowning achievement of Menino's 7th term

[datadyne007]

Wait... Winthrop Sq/TransNational Place is still serious?

[Patrick]

Was at BSA last week (on tour with Portland Society of Architects) and asked about whether they had any info on the high spine plans. The woman said she mentions it on her tours of the city, and that's it. For something that shaped the city, I thought more would be on hand. For those and other photos from the trip you can check out here if interested:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/ed...25632.6903714/

Also, where is the news on winthrop/trans national? I keep getting "error" messages on boston.com?? What's up with this project? Thanks.

[JohnAKeith]

Trans National is alive as a ~600' tower, see here:

http://www.boston.com/realestate/new...lfL/story.html

I'm all for a tall tower, but I don't understand how private developers would be pleased that the city's in bed with one of their competitors (since it's being built on city-owned land). Does Belkin get a sweetheart deal? If so, it means no one else can afford to build, nor will there be enough future growth to support other towers.

[Patrick]

Originally Posted by JohnAKeith

Trans National is alive as a ~600' tower, see here:

http://www.boston.com/realestate/new...lfL/story.html

I'm all for a tall tower, but I don't understand how private developers would be pleased that the city's in bed with one of their competitors (since it's being built on city-owned land). Does Belkin get a sweetheart deal? If so, it means no one else can afford to build, nor will there be enough future growth to support other towers.

Thank you John, for some reason I couldn't find a working link online.

So, correct me if I am wrong, but this places it well within the range of "normal" (maybe on the high end, but not unheard of) for Boston? I was really excited to see the first proposal, and remember it was announced--coincidentally--the same week I asked my father (from Boston) if he thought the City would ever see 100 stories. 1000' isn't quite that, but it's pretty close.