[ARCHIVED] Harbor Garage Redevelopment | 70 East India Row | Waterfront | Downtown

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Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

bobthebuilder said:
I think the shorter tower needs something reaching skyward to make it seem less squat & fat
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How about the angular lines leading to the rood extend beyond the roof and meet at a point or some shape above the roof. Continue the angular plane thought, but invert it with hard lines and empty space. Light it up at night for sure.
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

fattony said:
How about the angular lines leading to the rood extend beyond the roof and meet at a point or some shape above the roof. Continue the angular plane thought, but invert it with hard lines and empty space. Light it up at night for sure.
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that would be fantastic
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

Here's a shocker...


>>A substantial group of residents of the 400-feet-tall Harbor Towers on the Boston waterfront officially took a stand today against developer Don Chiofaro's proposal to build a pair of roughly 600-feet-tall buildings at the site of the Aquarium parking garage.

http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/r...dents-of-harbor-towers-officially-oppose.html
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

tumblr_n2uskuR4fm1qef0qio10_r1_250.gif
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

What?! Seriously???? This came out of nowhere.
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

Oh God, it was official? We better hear them out.
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

eswwaa said:
Here's a shocker...


>>A substantial group of residents of the 400-feet-tall Harbor Towers on the Boston waterfront officially took a stand today against developer Don Chiofaro's proposal to build a pair of roughly 600-feet-tall buildings at the site of the Aquarium parking garage.

http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/r...dents-of-harbor-towers-officially-oppose.html
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I swear that the vast majority of these residents are smoking something funny that makes them have an adverse reaction that creates more city AND provides them with more activities year round. It just doesn't make sense.
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

Don't people on this forum care about families?

Owners and residents representing 71 percent of the 624 condominium units in the two towers, home to more than 1,100 individuals including many families, have signed a petition supporting a well-documented letter of opposition to the Chiofaro/Prudential proposal that the Boards of Trustees of the two towers sent to the Boston Redevelopment Authority
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http://northendwaterfront.com/2014/11/harbor-towers-residents-overwhelmingly-oppose-chiofaro-plan/

How can anyone raise a child with out a skyline view.
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

A shrewd politician would see how many of those people voted for them and if it's a negligible amount start bulldozing.
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

A substantial group of residents of the 400-feet-tall Harbor Towers on the Boston waterfront officially took a stand today
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MLK took a stand. Gandhi took a stand. These people just stated their (asinine) opinion.
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

Something big is going to built here. Rest assured. The residents in Harbor Towers know it, the BRA is ready for it, and the Mayor seems to be planning on it. What is at stake is, how big? How neighborly? How well designed? Why is that bad? For one of the most significant building sites in the city? We are in the design process. The beginning. For a building, like IP, that will have a lasting - huge - impact on the brand BOSTON. (How many pictures of Boston are taken from the harbor?) Why not take the time and get it right? Or, at least, close to right.

I know some on this forum are happy to build anything as long as it soars. But let's demand better. Shall we? Big is fine. But, please, better than this. I mean, are we so seduced by the mediocre stuff that mostly gets built in this town that we consider this worthy design? This is not architecture. This is real estate development with interesting windows. The priority here is maximum rentable space. We deserve, and should demand, better.

Get Gehry, get Hadid, get Gang, get Nouvel, get anyone who is worthy of such a site in such a fabulous city. Get a design that even the NIMBYs will say, "Wow, interesting. Pretty."

Yes, we can all argue about what we feel is pretty. But I'd be willing to bet that most people, when asked, would say, this is not it. Put aside your needs for towering erections and you may agree.
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

We are in the design process.
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Get Gehry, get Hadid, get Gang, get Nouvel, get anyone who is worthy of such a site in such a fabulous city. Get a design that even the NIMBYs will say, "Wow, interesting. Pretty."
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Except... we already know what we're getting here. It's a fat box of moderate height with a bunch of random jagged edges. Chiofaro doesn't seem to have any interest in bringing one of those architects in and the BRA doesn't have the balls to demand it.

$5 we end up with something very close to what is currently proposed by 2020.
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

^I hope so the proposal is fat but handsome.
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

I maintain my stance on this development. I don't support it in its current form. I firmly believe the design needs to be pushed further in terms of massing. We shouldn't settle this easily. This is like "midcrit" quality that still needs another half a semester to refine. The site deserves better architecture, not a flashy starchitect, but rather meaningful architecture with appropriate massing and ground level interaction.
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

coleslaw said:
^I hope so the proposal is fat but handsome.
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It will be fat, handsome, and cheap looking

I would imagine to cash in on upper floors the buildings need to be a little higher than harbor towers to get full views. Would be a great location and a cash cow for an observation deck.
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

You just checked off most of the AB architecture jargon boxes in one sentence.

but rather meaningful architecture with appropriate massing and ground level interaction.
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Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

I don't think the city has the luxury to stall projects until developers propose buildings that can be considered pretty enough. That would discourage people from trying to build developments in the city and there is a dire need for both shifting development away from the suburbs and into urban settings and housing.

The city will be better off with projects like this, the Congress Street Garage project, and the Garden Towers even if they don't hit their theoretical peak potential because they raise the bar for whats expected when the next stage of development around North Station and Government Center begins. In 60-70 years or however long these buildings last the city can revisit that theoretical peak architectural and urban potential, as cities are always changing and redevelopment opportunities never end.
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

nm88 said:
I know some on this forum are happy to build anything as long as it soars. But let's demand better. Shall we? Big is fine. But, please, better than this. I mean, are we so seduced by the mediocre stuff that mostly gets built in this town that we consider this worthy design? This is not architecture. This is real estate development with interesting windows. The priority here is maximum rentable space. We deserve, and should demand, better.

Get Gehry, get Hadid, get Gang, get Nouvel, get anyone who is worthy of such a site in such a fabulous city. Get a design that even the NIMBYs will say, "Wow, interesting. Pretty."

Yes, we can all argue about what we feel is pretty. But I'd be willing to bet that most people, when asked, would say, this is not it. Put aside your needs for towering erections and you may agree.
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Am I totally missing something or am I just an architecture n00b? What exactly is mediocre about the design given the economics, footprint, 600ft height cap, and opening up a portion of the base to the sea? I believe I asked this a few pages back as well, and I am not trying to be a jerk. I really want to be enlightened here, because I am obviously missing something that a good portion of you seem to share and believe.
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

In the BBJ article, we are presented this gem...

"We are gratified to have confirmed that the great majority of the people of Harbor Towers stand behind our vigorous opposition to this overwhelming project, which the Chifaro Co. and Prudential continue to insist belongs here, only 90 feet away from Boston Harbor"

I don't even know where to begin with this hypocrisy.

If the argument was "let's work together to design something of true architectural significance" while pragmatically acknowledging that substantial height would be required for a developer to seriously embark on such a project, I would actually stand with the HT folks.

Sadly, their statement resembles more of a whining 3rd grader claiming the top spot on the playground jungle gym in demanding that exceptions only be made for them.

Disgusting.
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

Maybe there should be a petition to demolish the HT because it's ugly, old, and ruins the skyline from the harbor, while simultaneously blocking the view to the ocean from any future development behind it.
 
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