30 Leo | 30 Birmingham Parkway | Brighton

It was only a matter of time, another mid-century gem goes down. It would be contextual and appropriate if a folded plate canopy was in some way designed into the front elevation.
 
Brad Plaid said:
It was only a matter of time, another mid-century gem goes down. It would be contextual and appropriate if a folded plate canopy was in some way designed into the front elevation.
Click to expand...

I didn't really mean the bank, I meant the new design. But losing something with character makes it worse.
 
Equilibria said:
I didn't really mean the bank, I meant the new design. But losing something with character makes it worse.
Click to expand...
I'm confused... are you being sarcastic? Losing a Santander Bank with a big parking lot? Is that the something with character?? And you're complaining about the design of a housing project (which is generic but certainly not unattractive) that also contains a very needed little market on the ground level? I'm just checking what's going on with these comments. It's hard to read sarcasm sometimes coupled with the fact that some people on here complain about every proposal.
 
gac108 said:
I'm confused... are you being sarcastic? Losing a Santander Bank with a big parking lot? Is that the something with character?? And you're complaining about the design of a housing project (which is generic but certainly not unattractive) that also contains a very needed little market on the ground level? I'm just checking what's going on with these comments. It's hard to read sarcasm sometimes coupled with the fact that some people on here complain about every proposal.
Click to expand...

I'm not being sarcastic. I support replacing a bank with housing, and I care more about that than aesthetics. But this bank is architecturally notable, and this proposal is aesthetically awful.
 
gac108 said:
...Losing a Santander Bank with a big parking lot? Is that the something with character?? ....
Click to expand...
I love mid-century design and this, a classic with a very rare in this area folded plate roof, will soon disappear. I understand that those who don't care for MCM will just shrug and I'm not going to chain myself to it and dare the bulldozer. The proposed housing is certainly the greater good. What the sweetest, never gonna happen, win-win would be though is this being relocated and repurposed as a small Googie coffee shop or cafe or some such.
 
It's a real shame that the current building is cute, and the replacement is so bland and ugly (at the same time!). But a parking crater is a parking crater, and there doesn't really seem to be a clear way to integrate the current structure into something new/denser.

Equilibria said:
I'm not being sarcastic. I support replacing a bank with housing, and I care more about that than aesthetics. But this bank is architecturally notable, and this proposal is aesthetically awful.
Click to expand...
Aside from its aesthetics, how is the building architecturally notable? Is the architect/firm a name worth preserving?
 
The proposal is really disappointing. PCA did the Radius building next door, which turned out pretty well. This is just over designed and fussy. The other recently approved projects on Leo Burmingham (50 and 70) are pretty straightforward contemporaryish buildings. This one should be the same kind of building: good front on the Boulevard
 
If I squint, I can see the riff on a mid-century shoebox apartment building.
 
  • Like
Reactions: W-4
Equilibria said:
I'm not being sarcastic. I support replacing a bank with housing, and I care more about that than aesthetics. But this bank is architecturally notable, and this proposal is aesthetically awful.
Click to expand...
Ok, style is subjective. My friends used to live right around the corner from here and I walked by this hundreds of times and always thought it was super ugly and extremely dated, like out of the '50s or something. For me it just hasn't aged well and doesn't look "timeless". But as others have said, if it could be moved to another location (presumably suburban, maybe Watertown or Newton if there's space) I could see it getting cleaned up and being a retro-styled cafe or gourmet donut shop or something.
 
gac108 said:
I walked by this hundreds of times and always thought it was super ugly and extremely dated, like out of the '50s or something. For me it just hasn't aged well and doesn't look "timeless".
Click to expand...

I think even those espousing the virtues of the existing structure (myself included), would not characterize its design as "timeless". But it's exactly because it does look dated, because it's so "of an era", that some of us are drawn to it. Whether someone likes this particular Googie aesthetic or not, yea, that's purely subjective.
 
Googie, and this bank is a modest example of it, was America at it's most exuberant and optimistic, it seemed almost nothing was impossible. The horror of WW2 was left behind and Americans got busy reinventing everything: cars, buildings, airplanes, furniture, interior design, graphic design, clothing, electronics. Space exploration and atomic energy plants became realities. The largest, best educated, most successful middle class in human history exploded into the suburbs.

Unfortunately, enthusiasm for the future led to too much devaluing of the historical past. Serious social inequities and environmental wrongs only slowly starting being addressed but these issues are a different conversation. The future isn't what it used to be sadly and today America is an angry, divided place far from all of the post-war euphoria but this too is a different conversation.

But in celebration of the very American Googie aesthetic and all the incredible things this country has given the world (to me America is the best invention ever!) I just recently added these two shirts to my growing collection of Hawaiian, Tiki, and Googie wear.
Screen Shot 2021-07-15 at 1.24.21 PM.png
Screen Shot 2021-07-15 at 1.28.16 PM.png
 
To my taste, the bank structure is actually the interloper. It was dropped into this neighborhood at a time when there was no respect for urban context. It is a decidedly suburban structure in an urban neighborhood.

It reminds me of the totally out of context, similar era fire stations in the South End.
 
JeffDowntown said:
To my taste, the bank structure is actually the interloper. It was dropped into this neighborhood at a time when there was no respect for urban context. It is a decidedly suburban structure in an urban neighborhood.

It reminds me of the totally out of context, similar era fire stations in the South End.
Click to expand...
I agree about it being out of context. But there is less and less mid-century architecture remaining. The ones of some merit, such as this one, that are still standing should be moved to another site and reused instead of just demolished. Of course the funding question comes up but maybe the city or some foundation could pay the cost.
 
Charlie_mta said:
I agree about it being out of context. But there is less and less mid-century architecture remaining. The ones of some merit, such as this one, that are still standing should be moved to another site and reused instead of just demolished. Of course the funding question comes up but maybe the city or some foundation could pay the cost.
Click to expand...
That solution I agree with. Maybe one of the architectural preservation foundations could be coaxed into action.
 
The real missed opportunity here is that MSP Brighton isn't going anywhere. Granted it's not a big lot, but you could certainly tuck something useful onto the site.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top