Photos of Borders DTX, interior & exterior

Hehehe, it's certainly a photo embedded in time. No bulletproof glass around the desks and that groovy Frank Stella hanging on the wall too!

(For anyone interested, the MFA has a Stella hanging in the center of the gallery on Level 3 of the Art of the Americas Wing)

^Lol, I think he was joking. I'm sure he knows what a typewriter is.

Frank Stella's works are like a really drunk girl at a bar. From far away they look beautiful, but when you get up close you get to see just how much of a mess they really are.
 
Received this sad e-mail last night around 11PM:

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I've never felt sadder about a store closing than Borders.
 
Filene's & Filene's Basement hit me much harder, but this still sucks.
 
No that 2 story atrium as you enter is one of the best modern entries in Boston -- it has to be associated with some use which benefits from a lot of light coming in -- not a supermarket or a theatre -- perhaps some kind of theme restaurant...

Westy, I hope by "theme" restaurant, you don't mean TGI Fridays.

I could totally see Gordan Ramsey setting up shop in this space. Something like Maze at the London Hotel in NYC (with an appropriately hard-modern decor) would rock.
 
I wonder if a clever enough architect could carve up the space to house both a restrurant (the front) and a small food market (the rear).

I can't picture how it would work, but I'm not very clever.
 
I wonder if a clever enough architect could carve up the space to house both a restrurant (the front) and a small food market (the rear).

I can't picture how it would work, but I'm not very clever.

It could definitely work. The space of the building is naturally divided into two. They have detailed plans posted next to the elevators. I'll try to snap a pic and maybe draft a concept.
 
My only concern would be the egress for the rear. If I recall, there is only the two lovely revolving doors. So they would need to either remove those (!!), punch a new hole in the wall (!) or create a clever pass-thru though the front of the building.
 
Went to Borders DTX again after work today. 10% to 40% off sales have indeed begun; and I bought myself Harry Potters 1 through 6 on blu-ray for just $73! They normally cost about $180 at Best Buy!
 
Westy, I hope by "theme" restaurant, you don't mean TGI Fridays.

I could totally see Gordan Ramsey setting up shop in this space. Something like Maze at the London Hotel in NYC (with an appropriately hard-modern decor) would rock.

No NO A Million Billion -- well maybe even Trillion times NO

By theme I mean something locally inspired with a range of dining options:
1) start outside on a broad plaza -- perfect for a late spring, summer, fall foliage cafe experience -- perhaps with alfresco cooking on a grill
2) perhaps a summer tent for a beer garden type environment
2a) perhaps a heated tent for some Holiday Cheer
3) Big Glass windows -- perfect for seeing and being seen the entire year
4) indoors some more colonial theme -- big Brick fire place for those winter afternoon / evenings when a mug of hot mulled cider is just the ticket
5) further indoors some more intimate fancier place with the 19th Century Brahmin feel of the old banks and trading houses -- wine bar and perhaps cognac and scotch
6) Upstairs some state of the art media rooms, sports? and private dining -- modern late 20 / early 21st century
7) Heck while we are at it -- perhaps a secluded small bookshop where you could curl up with your late or wine and browse some books
8) throw in some meeting rooms for lectures
9) lots of graphics how the Summer, Winter, Washington School St. area has evolved over 4 centuries
10) a place for tourists, suburbanites, downtown workers, and locals to have fun with good food and drink

Something to that effect
 
My only concern would be the egress for the rear. If I recall, there is only the two lovely revolving doors. So they would need to either remove those (!!), punch a new hole in the wall (!) or create a clever pass-thru though the front of the building.

You would need to punch an automatic door out anyway for ADA. Those revolving doors are gorgeous, I'd never dream of getting rid of them.
 
Would it be possible to open a library here? I know it's probably very hard to fill up a space as large as this location.
 
The BPL recently closed a library that was a short distance from here -- the Kirstein Business Branch. Borders would make a great Main Library if we didn't already have one in Copley Square.
 
Question for the real estate folks on the board.

What kind of prices do you think the owners of this building will be looking for?

I imagine even with the downturn, this will still be a desirable location and the prices will reflect that?
 
No that 2 story atrium as you enter is one of the best modern entrries in Boston -- it has to be associated with some use which benefis from a lot of light coming in

This is a good point. Most retailers want as few windows as possible, whereas this is the exact opposite. What's Design Research up to??
 
A big florist shop with urban garden supplies for your roofdeck. :confused:

And have a small market with stuff grown on the roof and allow people to sell stuff out front. :confused:
 
Why?

Do merchants not want customers to see their products....?

I wrote a paper on this last year, so I volunteer to answer why retailers want as few windows as possible.


America has mastered the art of using consumer culture and a free enterprise model to add enchantment to people's lives. In essence, people during the industrial revolution felt very disenchanted because of a number of factors (too many hours at work, all the problems of their world, pollution, crowding in cities, etc.). So as a means to add enchantment to people's lives (but also obviously to turn a profit), businesses learned to create an enchanting world of their own.

Disney World.
Wal-Mart Super Center.
IKEA.
The Shopping Mall.
Las Vegas casinos.
The McDonalds Play Place.

These places all have the same thing in common: by walling themselves in from the outside world, they've created a place where consumers want to spend more of their time, forgetting their worries of the world. And of course to enjoy these environments, people will shell out money. They're paying for this enjoyment--this fulfillment.

This is on a very broad scale, of course, but obviously the same principle exists for a number of retail establishments. YES--it's important for people walking down Washington Street to see into the store through the window (or at the very least see what the merchandise is inside), but once you're inside the store it becomes all about said store's unique experience.

Think about that next time you go into a GAP, Abercrombie and Fitch, Banana Republic, or any major department store. You have to navigate your way through them for a reason--it takes time to see everything in there, and time equals money. ;)
 
That concept reminds me a bit of the (no longer existing) Marche Movenpick that used to be in the Prudential.
 

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