aB Awards General Discussion

[statler]

After a bit of a delay, I present the 1st Annual ArchBoston Awards.

This year will be a bit of an experiment. We will try to see what works and what doesn't. There are still a lot of kinks to work out but hopefully by putting it live we can figure out solutions. Things may even change on the fly. We couldn't reach a consensus on exactly what format to follow so I'm throwing this out to see how it goes.

We will have eight nomination threads for the following categories:

Best New Development of 2008

Best Proposal of 2008

Worst New Development of 2008

Worst New Proposal of 2008

Boston Architecture Hall of Fame

Boston Architecture Hall of Shame

Best Photo of 2008

Best Thread of 2008

The details for each category are in their individual thread.

After the nomination threads are closed we will post seven polls, one for each category.

This, of course, will only work if we get enough participation, so the more you add the better it will be.

Please leave any feedback, comments ideas, commentary or criticism about the awards themselves in this thread. Thanks.

 

[statler]

In the Hall of Fame / Shame thread I recently edited the criteria to read:

Nominate any building, development or infrastructure project currently standing in Boston

I now wonder if even this is too restrictive. Specifically, I'm thinking of the West End. The demolition of the old West End probably deserves mentions in the Hall of Shame and Old Scollay Sq probably deserves the same in the Hall of Fame, but neither fit the current critria.
Yet at the same time, I don't really want to open it up to any and all buildings that have ever existed in Boston because then you can get into some really obscure stuff. I was hoping to keep it to to existing or at least fairly recent samples of good/bad project in Boston so we can hold them up as examples what to do/not to do.
Anyone have suggestions for proper wording?

 

[statler]

Question is: how far should the Hall of Fame stretch back? Trinity Church? State House? Old State House?

Maybe it should be limited to buildings built in the modern era (after 1945).

Aside from my reservations in my previous post, I like the 'still standing' criteria. True, we will never see another Trinity Church built again, but that doesn't mean there are no lessons to be learned from it.

I thought about a 'Modern Era' & 'Classic Era' Hall of Fame, but that sort of defeats the purpose.

 

[statler]

And is (for instance) Memorial Hall at Harvard off the table because it's in Cambridge?

No. It's allowable.

Again, I wasn't clear on this. In all applicable awards categories Boston=Boston/Cambridge.

It was in a first draft, but got left out of the final draft somehow. Apologies.

 

[ablarc]

Aside from my reservations in my previous post, I like the 'still standing' criteria.

In that case, Custom House is the right choice.

But I'm pretty sure a Hall of Fame based on Postwar buildings would have more impact. Why give an award to a universally-acknowledged classic? Like giving a posthumous Oscar for best music to J.S. Bach for his work in The Aviator.

An award to Rowe's Wharf, the Hancock Building or Christian Science Center would help archBoston confirm them as classics in a role they're not yet universally accorded.

Much more meaningful, imo. More projection of archBoston clout.

 

[statler]

Food for thought.

That is most likely the reason the Baseball HOF has a 15 year limitation.

On the other hand, the current system does give us the opportunity to highlight overlooked gems throughout the city like the Winthrop Building and SCL.

In my ideal world, this will go on for years and years so sooner or later (most likely sooner) buildings like Rowes Wharf, City Hall, etc will all be recognized, probably before SCL, etc...

I am however open to changing this around.

Anyone else want to weigh in?

 

[ablarc]

Just as with the Oscars, nominations should be announced to the press to build some buzz.

Then, between say April 15 and May 1, we could all vote.

Five nominations per category.

 

[kennedy]

Seconded. How bout we finish up nominations by the end of February, and vote through the 15th of March?

 

[ablarc]

^ Sounds good to me, but we need a volunteer to be press secretary / liaison.

 

[kennedy]

Who here is friends with Ryan Seacrest?

 

[ablarc]

When do we vote, statler?

If you say our categories deal strictly with the postwar (modern) era, you could regard us as having already voted in the Hall of Fame category. Not a bad outcome; it shows that good urbanism is sometimes hidden right under our noses, but its underlying principles are eternal.