Hall of Shame Nominations

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It would seem that this thread has gone somewhat off-topic...
 
^ Been that way since post #69, when I veered it off. Sorry.

If you make a nomination, the thread will be back on-topic. :)
 
^ It certainly projects conflict, combined with authoritarianism. Albert Speer would like it.
 
I added it to the list as the Cambridge Prison.If anyone knows the proper name, let me know.
 
Haha! Beton, he got my office building too!!! Maybe that's why we're both such vociferous proponents of smart real estate - because we both have to schlep into dumb real estate on a daily basis!

In defense of the original developers of this "supidest building in Boston" - you simply cannot build smart in Charlestown, the neighbors will absolutely not allow it.
 
Regarding that previous post... I quickly responded to ablarc's link to the worst buildings in Boston, not realizing there were still 10 pages of comments to go.

(so that is why my comment reads woe-fully out of context)
 
That building in Charlestown can't be the neighbors' fault, because it doesn't have any neighbors.
 
When they induct ballplayers or rockers into their halls of fame, they usually do it in annual batches of more than one. Maybe we should give out multiple awards in this category. Maybe three?
 
Good idea, ablarc. There is truly an embarrassment of riches, if you know where to look.
 
I'm trying to think of an old building to nominate for worst of Boston and am having a hard time...

Could it be that old buildings that suck have already been leveled, leaving us with the good ones? Or just that old buildings are nice just because they are old? Or that old buildings are small, and easy to destroy/demolish?

My picks for worst would be:

East Cambridge jail - I almost bought a house abutting it. Just mind-boggling in it's sheer offensiveness and hatred towards its surroundings.

The Meth Union housing projects along Columbus in the South End.

And for new projects, the worst has to be the Park Lane apartments
 
Does the Midtown motel count as 'old'? I don't know when it was built (or, for that matter, what it replaced and why)
 
I like the idea of inducting three at a time for both this and the Hall of Fame.

I nominate 1-3 Center Plaza on Cambridge St. It's monumentally boring and monotonous. It entombs the beautifully restored Adams Courthouse like the Cask of Amontillado.

I'd also like to nominate the Four Seasons. It's a monolithic, inward-looking, brick landscraper, much like its cousin, the Transportation Building, around the corner. It has a parasitic relationship with the Public Gardens across the street, offering its guests gorgeous views of the park while blighting the vistas of those actually within the park. At street-level, its dining room windows along Boylston are walled off above grade, and separated by planter buffers -- designed to look out, but not in. Its Park Sq. side remains blank and dead, despite the flaccid attempt to spice it up with a recent two-story addition. And to top it all off, its drop-off area on Boylston functions as a parking lot, with as many as a dozen cars parked off the sidewalk at any given time. How they get away with this is a mystery to me. Maybe people are more tolerant of parking lots when they're full of Fiats, Benleys and BMWs.
 
Whereas I would not nominate 1-2-3 Center Plaza, because it at least presents a solid streetwall of retail shops -- something otherwise glaringly missing from the Government Center district.
 
There are two types of nominees in this category, and one type is much worse than the other:

1. Crass and abominably uncaring of urban aesthetics to a point where all people would condemn them:

O'Neill Building
Midtown Hotel
Methunion Manor
The Edward J. Sullivan Middlesex Superior Court building

2. Buildings with some unattractive features, but not enough to cause universal condemnation. These are somewhat matters of personal opinion (least of all, the Congress Street Garage):

Congress Street Garage
1 Beacon
Tremont on the Common
Hotel Commonwealth
One Post Office Square
Park Lane apartments
1-3 Center Plaza
Four Seasons

When do we vote?
 
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