115 Federal St. (Winthrop Square)

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After looking at the historic map again, I realize that the tower will be in the middle of what was once a swampy area of Boston which makes me think of Monty Python and the Holy Grail:

"When I first came here, this was all swamp. Everyone said I was daft to build a castle on a swamp, but I built in all the same, just to show them. It sank into the swamp. So I built a second one. That sank into the swamp. So I built a third. That burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp. But the fourth one stayed up. And that's what you're going to get, Lad, the strongest castle in all of England."
 
I'm sick of getting phoned-in rehashes in Boston: Intercontinental is a rehash of of the Time Warner center, the SST is a phoned in Pelli design, this is a rehash of the NY Times building. It all just screams "second class city." If you wanted "Manhattanization" you got it, but probably not in the way you wanted. It makes me appreciate 45 Province St all the more, one that seems original and Bostonian at once.
 
I like it. Then again, I like tall glass buildings. :)

I don't know if I'd dig any design that is too "fancy" but something more than a basic box would be cool though. I'm sure there will be changes to the design since everything seems to go through many drafts.
 
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If history is any indication, the BRA and the mayor will ask the architect to craft a more creative roofline. The spire looks silly and tacked on, not unlike the original plan for Russia Wharf. If Elkus Manfredi or CBT presented this design they would almost assuredly be asked to reconsider. The question is, will the mayor and the BRA staff be equally bold and demanding with a world reknowned architect? Lastly, there is a huge unknown in this equation: who will occupy the building? I can't imagine that this project could secure financing without at least half the project leased.
 
why are people getting all worked up over the rendering when we don't even know if that is an official rendering or what one of the Globe artist's put together based on the information in the article/press release?
 
^^ Today's paper versions of the newpaper's both give credit to Renzo Piano's Building Workshop under the renderings.
 
Someone mentioned earlier that there are street level renderings in the Globe or Herald or both today. I go to school in South Carolina right now so I don't get either paper and I couldn't find any pics on their websites. Any chance someone could scan on the renderings?
 
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sidewalks said:
If history is any indication, the BRA and the mayor will ask the architect to craft a more creative roofline. The spire looks silly and tacked on, not unlike the original plan for Russia Wharf.
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I agree. While I'm usually not a fan of spires, this one is horrible. If they can do something with the roof and have the spire go from there instead of from the length of the building, I don't think I'd mind the design that much. I'm happy it's glass, and blue but the spire really doesn't help it.

As we've seen with other projects (the SST for example) renderings and designs often change. I assume this won't be the final rendering or what is built.
 
Now that I have had a chance to sleep on this building, I can say without a doubt that I think it is terrible. I've been looking forward to this proposal for 9 months. By no means am I a NIMBY and I really would like Boston to get the height it deserves. However, this building just doesn't do it for me. It is in no way iconic, nor does it scream "Boston" when I look at it. More like "any city, any where."

Just think, 9 months ago we could have had anything. This is nothing less than a major disappointment.
 
I don't want to see a building on a platform high above the street. It would repeat the design errors of the original Prudential Center.

Also, this location is sufficiently close to both Post Office Square and the Greenway that I'm not persuaded another park is needed.
 
Ron Newman said:
Also, this location is sufficiently close to both Post Office Square and the Greenway that I'm not persuaded another park is needed.
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Great point. You could probably hit either with a rock from Winthrop Square.

Why is there such an obsession with open space? What they need is more of this. :)

narrowcity2tl.jpg
 
I think I'm the only person here who likes this design. Is it an icon? No more than the Pru (and no less). I think people here understand good design more than most people and thus have much higher standards. If you look around the world this is the stuff that is cutting edge. It isn't so much the outside but how the building works with the environment (LEED) that will make it an icon.
 
I think I like it more and more each time I look at it. I'm sure it will be modified somewhat for the better before it is built. Also everyone acts like they wish it was like London Bridge Tower. I don't know its a nice building but not all that original to me it looks like a glass version of the transamerica pyramid building, which to me is the central identifying featue in San Francisco's skyline.
 
the more i look at it, the more i like it too, although it is very plain. After trying to figure out why it would be so ordinary, the only reason I can think of is that perhaps they are proposing a tower that isn't very gaudy to maybe have less opposition from nimby's?
 
vanshnookenraggen said:
It isn't so much the outside but how the building works with the environment (LEED) that will make it an icon.
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How can the building "work with the environment" if it has no street frontage? Maybe I'm misunderstanding something fundamental about it.
 
Ron Newman said:
vanshnookenraggen said:
It isn't so much the outside but how the building works with the environment (LEED) that will make it an icon.
Click to expand...

How can the building "work with the environment" if it has no street frontage? Maybe I'm misunderstanding something fundamental about it.
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I don't mean the built environment, I mean the natural environment. Cutting down on CO2, using ways to heat and cool the building that don't require AC/conventional heating sources that just pump heat into the air.

There is so much more to a design of a building then what it looks like.
 
Article in the Herald by our good friend

Garden in the sky: Plan for Tommy?s Tower features greenery
By Scott Van Voorhis
Boston Herald Business Reporter
Tuesday, November 14, 2006 - Updated: 04:56 PM EST

Bostonians would get a new garden - 1,000 feet in the sky above the Financial District - as part of a stunning plan unveiled yesterday for the Hub?s tallest tower.
Boston business magnate Steve Belkin yesterday pulled the wraps off Trans National Place, a 75-story office and retail tower that would become the new centerpiece of Boston?s skyline.
At 1.6 million square feet, the new tower would hold roughly the same amount of space as the Hancock Tower, while also looking down 15 stories at what is now New England?s tallest building.

But the new tower, designed by internationally renowned architect Renzo Piano, may stand out even more for its unusual design, including garden areas on both the roof and the ground floor.
Belkin heads the Trans National credit card and travel empire and holds stakes in two pro sports teams. His tower would take shape on a downtown site bounded by a city-owned parking garage and a mid-rise Federal Street office building he now owns.
Mayor Thomas M. Menino earlier this year put that Winthrop Square garage out to bid, calling upon developers to submit bold plans for the city?s tallest tower.
?We commend (Menino) for his forward-thinking vision, and have answered his call,? Belkin said in a statement.
Protected by windscreens, the rooftop Lookout Garden - named after an historic Natick farm Belkin recently bought - offers a bucolic setting high above downtown Boston.
Meanwhile, the ground floor of the tower itself would feature a park called the Town Green. The park would be built underneath the skyscraper?s main lobby, which will be raised up three stories to make room for the greenery below.
Nor do the surprises end there. The tower?s first few floors would feature a mix of retail and restaurants, including a grocery store.
No other developers submitted proposals, leaving Belkin the sole contender and stifling City Hall?s hopes for a bidding war.
 
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