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I know it's fashionable to mindlessly disparage the greenway, but have any of the comments that followed kz's picture added anything meaningful to a discussion of architecture or the greenway? Here's a start: Are the pavilions appropriate for the site? Will they bring any new life to the...

Re: Novartis Expansion I'm intrigued to know why Maya Lin will 'surely deliver'. In her 30 year career she's never built a new urban project (non-private residence, non-renovation), and hasn't come close to anything approaching this scale. Clearly past architectural experience is not...

Re: Novartis Expansion There's nothing wrong with mid-block open space per se, but the bigger issue here is that the plan seems to eliminate an existing road (Smart St) for no apparent reason in order to create a single larger block. Not good.

Re: Boston Herald property sold It would be impossible to draw such different conclusions from the same map! Actually I was looking at the 1883 map from the South End Historical Society, which showed a single parcel from Dover to Castle. It's hard to imagine that the neighborhood could have...

Re: Boston Herald property sold Absolutely agreed that establishing a finely scaled street grid is one of the keys to the success of development here, and creating a sense of urbanity where one doesn't exist. The Herald property itself though, didn't erase a pre-existing finer street pattern...

Re: Boston Herald property sold I'm not sure if you've been to the South End in the last decade, but the Washington Street corridor is the one area of town that has been developed with a much finer grain of solid infill development that has generally avoided the scale of the superblock. I...

Re: Liberty Wharf (Jimmy's Harborside) Non sailboats can definitely pass through Craigie, but it's not worth it for the water taxi to run the route since it is really a long ride; just going to Charlestown from Logan is 2x the time than to go to the North End/Downtown (and if I recall, 2x the...

The BRA and the mayor rebranding this an 'innovation district' is all well and good, but without any real investment and infrastructure upgrade from the city, it is a frankly just another pathetic misdirection. More studies, more press releases, and no actual progress. As usual, we have...

Re: South Boston Seaport Agreed that boston has a long urban history, but it has been coasting on that history for so long that it is now in a state of inertia and has completely run out of ideas. If you visit other cities in Europe, or even South America or China, new districts are created...

Re: South Boston Seaport I would argue that success over time is most-closely related to having a population that actively embraces urbanity and uses the city's public spaces intensively. Unfortunately Boston does not seem to have that.

First time I've read this board in months and have had to think... bravo! If we can generate a serious discussion, perhaps we will become a better informed citizenry, and go on to demand a stimulating and well built environment from architects and the hacks at the BRA.

Re: South Boston Seaport ^^ Well, Jimmy's actually tries to be urban, creates a mix of uses and engages with the street, so it is bound to be more interesting in many ways. Perhaps there is some hope yet for Boston. Does anyone know the specifics of the developer: is it just Jimmy upgrading...

Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.) ^^ Neighborhoods become lively because of the people that live in them and diverse uses that exist in them, not because of the style of the buildings. Having said that, adding more people and more buildings will help...

Re: Liberty Wharf (Jimmy's Harborside) It's a bit early to tell, but this looks like a great project. Finally something with the right design scale, 3 smaller elements with some interesting gestures and a decent attention to materials. It clearly beats the typical mega-block, all precast boxes...

Once again, has anyone been in the building before we crucify it? It is more urban than what was there before (nothing) and the glazing wraps around to Harvard St to actually add some life to the street. It also helps to hide the disastrously banal church behind it. It is- gasp- two-stories...

If this offends your sensibilities, one presumes you're not walking all that much in Dorchester, Mission Hill or parts of Southie. Unless it's an aural critique on the music played on that stretch of Boylston... viva la Berklee!

Any addition to the MFA should be, by definition, polyglot, as mimicry of Lowell would have been a farce, no? I haven't visited the new addition yet, but would hope that it excels in the sense of space and the details. I've been to Foster's British Museum many times, and that positively sings...

Re: 120 Kingston, 29 Story Tower in Chinatown Does the Zakim bridge count? That's about your only winner after the Hancock tower. In terms of architecture, I'd be happy with a few decent, well-designed buildings that improve the city fabric and promote real urbanity. Let's wait until the...

Just a question: to those who object to the Park Square building, have you been inside of the building? It has a long public arcade cutting through the building with tiny shops (15' deep) on either side for the entire length, and a nice ornate turn of the century interior. And the...

A good discussion indeed. I agree that the best way to get the fine grained texture of a livable urban neighborhood is to have small footprints. Unfortunately, in the current developer-driven world, that really isn't going to happen, hence we get single-block mega projects. The only real way...