Berklee Expansion Plans | Back Bay

BeeLine said:

Berklee 1:27
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Usually I'm not a fan of excessive overhangs or arcades, but part of me wishes this thing hung over the sidewalk a few feet more. Maybe its the airyness of the clear glass, but I'm really loving the first few floors of this building so far.
 
i like how slim the tower is rising from the base (on this angle). really gives it a good vertical on Mass ave.

How do they get the crane out?
 
You won't like it in half a century when it looks like total shit.
 
^ I don't think half this board will be alive by then so why worry?
 
palindrome said:
^ I don't think half this board will be alive by then so why worry?
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I think it's relevant for CZ to comment on a shitty design feature that will age poorly.
I'm pretty sure when they were building the BPL McKim didn't say, "Oh, and I'll be dead soon, so let's go cheapo on the materials."
 
AmericanFolkLegend said:
I think it's relevant for CZ to comment on a shitty design feature that will age poorly.
I'm pretty sure when they were building the BPL McKim didn't say, "Oh, and I'll be dead soon, so let's go cheapo on the materials."
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Did Johnson?
 
I don't recall Johnson using paneling this cheap-looking. And even still, the materials he used all have to be replaced every few decades.
 
I actually agree with you 100% but I never pass up a dig at Johnson for that stinker.

I bet Berklee bit off more than they could chew and have been VE-ing left and right. Which is a shame because the massing and scale are decent in the context of the FCCS and air rights projects. The green panel at the base of the curtain wall is truly awful. I mean was the Pru selling spare parts on ebay?
 
What is cheap looking? Berklee is one of the most expensive schools in Boston. William Rawn is one of the guys you call when you have money to spend.
 
elleipsis said:
What is cheap looking?
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I think most of the current complaints are directed at the thin line of spandrel under the glass. I'm going to wait a few months so I can see the main cladding before I start to judge it.
 
Honestly, I'm not too concerned about it. It seems to be just one layer, and I've seen other buildings with similar features that aren't too bad.

If anything, I'm more concerned for the metallic cladding yet to go up.
 
I don't really like the curtain grid they've established. It seems really sloppy. The smaller the panel, the less expensive it is, but you have to balance design and budget. This looks pretty foolish, as if they just clicked and made random lines. It doesn't appear to be informed by anything.
 
The small opaque panels represent the floor plates in the four-story, curtain-walled base. That is why they have shown up again on just the north corner where the undulating cutaway floor plate for the performance area meets the exterior curtain wall. You can see these in the renderings. I agree though that, while they do look a bit cheap, it is too early to judge without the full palette of materials around it yet.
 
Seems like the tarps they had placed on the tower structure got pretty torn up last night in the wind... from Behrakis Center at NU:

(Apologies for gods-awful quality)
photo_jan_31__1_45_05_pm2.jpg
 
Thanks for that pic, Downburst. That isn't something you see every day!
 
Check the live cam. They were almost completely destroyed on the east side of the building.
 
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