Architects Design Mainly for Themselves

[whighlander]

Every set of 4 floors (those giant "windows" on the facade)

If Hyatt was the launch tenant (especially in the 80s), there certainly would have been a 16-floor atrium and not separate atria. The elevators probably would have been glass too. For some reason, Boston never really got many buildings with tall atria.

Ah but Hyatt was not the launch tennant it was a Swiss Hotel and the hotel, new Jordan Marsh and Lafayette Place was all integrated around the bizare concept of an urban mall built as a bunker

The motis was that subuuranites were fleeing the city because of its unrullyness and hence what you wanted was something self contaned where ther subsurbinites could drive in, park, shop and leave without having to set food on anything except mall or hotel with a new bunket-like Jordan Marsh replacing the unrully old maze of urban organic architecture

Of course it didn't work becaue the city was connected though the DTX subway entrances while the city was left out as there were no windows or even obvious entrances from the streets to any shops, etc.

The only good thing to come out of it was the creation of the 2nd most weather proof T-connected complex in Boston -- i.e. you can travel via T, shop at Macy's, go to a restuaurant or function at the Hyatt and return home without having to leave the building or several internal tunnels

as for Chauncy St -- I don't ever remember that in those blocks that it was much of anything except a place for Class B / C offices and support functions -- not much non-purposeful pedestrian traffic (i.e. just people walking to / from the T to work)