Back Bay Garage Tower | Dartmouth and Stuart | Back Bay

As ugly and shite as I think this thing is, I for one cannot wait for the day that going down to the CR platform at Backbay isn't akin to descending through the depths of hell and permanent fog of diesel fumes. Anything here is a win if it means the station being completely redone (and better ventilation!).
 
Absolutely horrible designs. The architecture in this city do not exhibit one iota of creativity. It's unfortunate that we can't import the below two designs to this location.

20171108_143512 by Kent Xie, on Flickr

20171108_143023 by Kent Xie, on Flickr

Instead we get this crap:
BBSEGateway_ViewfromSWcorridorA[1].jpg


Really disappointed in Pelli.
 
vanshnookenraggen said:
They demanded $3 million for shadows. That's why we can't have nice things.
Click to expand...

Maybe a taller, THINNER building would have created less shadows in addition to more pleasing aesthetics? Instead everything has to be shorter, hence wider, and we basically wall off parts of the city with complete crap. We could have done so much better at this location and it drives me nuts. These are the same people who chopped down the North Station residential tower without provocation! Shame on Boston Properties for failing their hometown city.
 
Most buildings in this city get redesigned multiple times before they ever get built. This is the ONE time of all the other times that Im praying this happens. If they follow through with this from beginning to end with no changes it would be a first and also a huge disappointment. This time would be the time to do it of all the other times this has happened. Please, PLEASE Im begging whoever is working on this, redesign this thing, PLEASE. Those white precast residentials are nothing to write home about either.

Every building here is crap but the fat one with the stacked boxes absolutely can not be built like this. They need a redo of the entire site. It blows my mind how although glass boxes are boring they go to even worse and more complicated facades in many cases. Glass boxes get a lot of hate but they pretty much always look good even if they are boring. These towers go out of their way to look horrendous. Those white precast towers would look much better as slim glass boxes and its a win for everyone. They look good and its less complicated for the developer saving some money. If anything make the office a squat glass box, who cares its a background building. But this......this is a tragedy, especially with Copley tower gone. Theres no reason on earth that this can't just be a box. Maybe throw a slanty crown, some set backs, some other little touches, and call it a day. This cannot happen though.
 
The NIMBYs need a fair bit of the blame for most of these blobs.
 
my initial take when they presented these renders, way back when, was that i sort of liked it. at least it wasn't yet another box/filing-cabinet. or boston's super-unique take on that general form: a filing-cabinet WITH A SLANTED ROOF(!!!!!!)

but since everyone here seems to passionately hate this, i'm reassessing -- 50,000,000 elvis fans can't be wrong and all that.

i guess i see how this is not necessarily "playing nice" with the area -- or at least with copley square. but isn't it primarily interacting with copley plaza? and in that context is it so bad?

i truly don't know. most of you here know way more about this stuff than i do, i'm no architect or city planner. what makes this less preferable than an anonymous glass box, as has been suggested? not being snarky -- genuinely want to know.

to be clear: i never LOVED this design, but i did appreciate that it wasn't strictly more of the same.
 
Some of the worst massing I've ever seen. Seriously. It looks like a sophomore's project at midcrit in terms of the clunky unrefined shifted boxes.

I don't know how Pelli can even put their name to this.
 
We do need more angles, thats one thing about this is we have not gotten more than this shot with regards to the office tower. I would be interested to see what this looks like from Cambridge. What I don't like is how it is extremely fat while also being short and the stacked boxed all lean to one side making it look unbalanced and theres no real rhyme or reason to it. The right side is all flat then the left is staggered.

I just think its one of those gimmicky designs that architects make sometimes to not really have to try that hard but still make something different and unique. They could have done much better. It just looks ugly and its right next to the Hancock one of the most timeless buildings of all time and the nicest tower in our city. To throw this next door to that is a sin. You have to respect the surroundings especially when your neighbor its the most important and respected building in the entire city. 40 Trinity they actually made pay homage to the Hancock with the blue glass and the slit up the side, thats how you do it right. Plopping an EXTREMELY fat and ugly as all hell monstrosity next door is bad. NOT next to the Hancock, come on people.

Copley Tower was a great example of how to play nice with the neighbors. All glass with the subtle curves, set backs, and the patented Boston slant roof. We don't have many buildings in Boston with set backs and thats another way that losing that tower was a huge loss to the city. This tower does not make up for the loss of that tower in any way.
 
vanshnookenraggen said:
They demanded $3 million for shadows. That's why we can't have nice things.
Click to expand...

Or they build something like the second design I posted which would let light hit the ground because it narrows on one side. I honestly feel that Boston is where architects dump their rejected first drafts.

Btw the two designs I posted are being built in Vancouver, where almost everything is pretty short, which means you don't have to build tall to have a good design.
 
KentXie said:
Absolutely horrible designs. The architecture in this city do not exhibit one iota of creativity. It's unfortunate that we can't import the below two designs to this location.

20171108_143512 by Kent Xie, on Flickr

20171108_143023 by Kent Xie, on Flickr

Instead we get this crap:
BBSEGateway_ViewfromSWcorridorA[1].jpg


Really disappointed in Pelli.
Click to expand...

Lots of fantastic posts lately.....

So much egregious.....

infuriating.
 
KentXie said:
Absolutely horrible designs. The architecture in this city do not exhibit one iota of creativity. It's unfortunate that we can't import the below two designs to this location.

20171108_143512 by Kent Xie, on Flickr

20171108_143023 by Kent Xie, on Flickr

Instead we get this crap:
BBSEGateway_ViewfromSWcorridorA[1].jpg


Really disappointed in Pelli.
Click to expand...


The bottom pic shows a building that looks like a big stack of ugly boxes! I hope that they don't choose THAT ONE!!! :mad:
 
It distracts you from the fact that the other two towers are sad precast duds too with randomly places balconies that don't work at all with the lines.
 
Better than what's there.

How many of you actually live within walking distance of the existing garage vs. complain anywhere from 30 to 3000 miles away?
 
Im complaining from about 3 miles away Id have to guess. What does that have to do with whether this could be designed much better or not though? Also many people that don't live right here still use this area because its sitting directly on top of a train station. I don't see anything wrong with wanting better for the city, nobody is saying don't build here, were just saying put some actual thought and passion into it vs just half assing it and pushing it through. This is right next door to our most iconic building I don't think its appropriate to plop this enormous pile of shoe boxes right here.
 
I am clearly in a minority here - I actually like it from this angle. It's a pretty cool way to break up a large stocky building imho.
What I am worried about is how it looks from Copley - and have seen no renderings from that angle yet...
 
Pardon my architectural ignorance. What is so bad about the design?
From my uninformed point of view, we should be happy it is not brick precast like it's neighbor or white precast like everything else.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top