Lyrik Back Bay | 1001 Boylston Street (Parcel 12) | Back Bay

[tocoto]

The pillars remind me of Gaudi's catrnary arch pillars inside la Salgrada Familia in Barcelona. Not as grand or subtle but interesting and a hell of a lot better that what is there now.

 

[Boston02124]

I’m hopeful that the park will turn out nice. It makes me think of the park next to north station with the Bobby Orr statue. People use that little park all the time and there’s an 8 lane highway right there.

I got off the train at north station recently with my dog and was told it was a poop and pic up park didn’t notice the noise too much though u could feel vibrations the view was cool and other people were there with their dogs

 

[Beton Brut]

The pillars remind me of Gaudi's catrnary arch pillars inside la Salgrada Familia in Barcelona.

Good call! I imagine that’s the origin of the gesture.

 

[Shepard]

Good call! I imagine that’s the origin of the gesture.

I’ve been seeing an inverted Zakim reference in those pillars. Boston02124’s post right on this thread page coincidentally makes the point better than any other photo I’ve seen.

 

[Charlie_mta]

The V columns will probably look better in the real-life product than in the rendering. These CAD generated renders often make proposed elements look more plastic and harsh than the finished reality. Natural weathering will soften the stark whiteness of the ones supporting the building.

 

[JumboBuc]

Capture by David Z, on Flickr

I love how the tower massings from the west clearly read: "there's a road between these buildings" -- which, obviously, there is -- and invite the (driver) in. From this render, you won't feel like you're traveling below a building as much as you're travelling between two. Along with the undulating glass on the plaza, this creates an almost "city gate" like those of yore. It'd be easy to put a building here that just "backs up" to the highway; this design does not do that.

I also love how the project reads: "what road? There's no road here..." from the east.

The way that this project is able to both:
1) Completely hide the highway from Newbury, Boylston, and Mass Ave; AND
2) Acknowledge the highway when approaching on the Pike
is impressive.

 

[shmessy]

They should follow the "plaza over pike" formula with buildings on either side all the way to Kenmore Square, at least.

I could turn into Boston's version of the High Line!!!!!!!

I like it.

 

[shmessy]

What was the catalyst for such a dramatic change from the previous version? Don't recall a rabid mob storming the last community presentation screaming and throwing chairs around.

Answer: Steve Samuels' greatness.

.

 

[lapradetom]

Answer: Steve Samuels' greatness.

.

^All the more impressive considering the higher costs involved with an air-rights development. Instead of skimping on details to save on costs, he gives us a well-designed project that will be pleasing to the eye, among it's other attributes.

 

[Equilibria]

^All the more impressive considering the higher costs involved with an air-rights development. Instead of skimping on details to save on costs, he gives us a well-designed project that will be pleasing to the eye, among it's other attributes.

In a way... this redesign also takes weight off of the deck and probably saves Samuels money.

 

[rjacobs]

Sorry if the answer is obvious, but...: when is this project expected to come up for official approval?

I suspect there's a byzantine labyrinth of approvals/committees -- when would this likely receive the 'green light' to begin construction?


ps) Apologies for the sub-par pun.

 

[lapradetom]

In a way... this redesign also takes weight off of the deck and probably saves Samuels money.

^Good point. I just saw Odu's earlier post about this being somewhere around 94% over terra-ferma, so it would seem that costs would not be as high as with a different scenario. (Such as the currently shelved Copley Place Tower)

 

[odurandina]

^^The north wall of the mid-rise over columns, leaves just a short span over the tracks.

 

[vanshnookenraggen]

What I find interesting is that they aren't building anything substantial directly above the highway. This suggests that doing so becomes far more complicated and expensive which doesn't bode well for future air rights development. Still this will be a fantastic addition to the city (and I dig their solution of the park).

 

[JeffDowntown]

What I find interesting is that they aren't building anything substantial directly above the highway. This suggests that doing so becomes far more complicated and expensive which doesn't bode well for future air rights development. Still this will be a fantastic addition to the city (and I dig their solution of the park).

Or it means we need to get creative about how we deck over the Pike. For example, where there are roads parallel to the Pike on one or both sides, perhaps move those roads out onto the deck and use the terra firma opened up as the base for larger buildings. Example in Chinatown/South End consider moving Marginal and Herald out over the Pike, as a boulevard, and use development of the opened up land as the economic engine to pay for the decking.

 

[Equilibria]

Or it means we need to get creative about how we deck over the Pike. For example, where there are roads parallel to the Pike on one or both sides, perhaps move those roads out onto the deck and use the terra firma opened up as the base for larger buildings. Example in Chinatown/South End consider moving Marginal and Herald out over the Pike, as a boulevard, and use development of the opened up land as the economic engine to pay for the decking.

I think we're headed that way. Hello Washington Street in Newton is proposing city and developer-founded park and boulevard decking as a way to catalyze development along both sides of the Pike.

 

[Justin7]

What I find interesting is that they aren't building anything substantial directly above the highway. This suggests that doing so becomes far more complicated and expensive which doesn't bode well for future air rights development. Still this will be a fantastic addition to the city (and I dig their solution of the park).

I think you may be reading too much into this. We already know how difficult it has been for these air rights parcels to get built. In this case, however, it makes sense for the developer to take the path of least resistance / most profit so I'm not sure that speaks to the viability of the other projects.

 

[curcuas]

Or it means we need to get creative about how we deck over the Pike. For example, where there are roads parallel to the Pike on one or both sides, perhaps move those roads out onto the deck and use the terra firma opened up as the base for larger buildings. Example in Chinatown/South End consider moving Marginal and Herald out over the Pike, as a boulevard, and use development of the opened up land as the economic engine to pay for the decking.

This is a fantastic idea. Road + Park over the highway and then build on the new land.

 

[cadetcarl]

This is a fantastic idea. Road + Park over the highway and then build on the new land.

I'm into this idea, provided we don't repeat the mistakes of the greenway: we don't need continuous roads on both sides of the park, and we don't need the surface streets to directly track the turnpike below (this would undermine the 'knitting together' of decking).

Herald OR Marginal, flatten the Bowker, connect Newbury St. across a new Charlesgate, probably one more crossing and some re-work at BU where those long low buildings are on Cummington Mall and boom you're done.

If we undertook something like this, Boston would have among the most beautiful connected park systems of any city in the world.

 

[stick n move]

Ive thought about this and I think its a great chance to extend the (a) greenway to the back bay. Having a 2 way surface road that allows people to finally head towards the back bay from downtown would actually be substantial, since no main roads lead out of downtown to Copley square, only from Copley to downtown via Stuart and Boylston.

Id keep Herald st as is since it has the new South End developments facing the street. You could either keep it as is or try to extend it up to Clarendon. Then if you decked a greenway over the pike and Moved Marginal over a little bit over the westbound pike lane you have multiple terra forma lots to build on. The couple lots with only the old Marginal st you could just build townhouses. This would be huge and youd want to make Albany st 2 way that way you can take this road left to downtown or right to the South end or Southie. This would actually be huge and help traffic with a direct road from downtown to Copley and also bring the greenway all the way to Copley also giving a protected walking path that could also be built with protected bike lanes.