BMC Ambulatory Building | East Concord & Albany Streets | South End

Re: BMC Ambulatory Building

You can see the color of the side walls in that last photograph -- I've seen it in person and it looks pretty good so far though I do hope the front facade color is a darker hue than the sides.
 
Re: BMC Ambulatory Building

Terra-Cotta is apparently the in-material of the moment. 45 Province, the Yawkey Center, and now this. They're even re-cladding an old brick warehouse on Webster Place in Brookline Village with it.

The brise soleil makes the facade look too one-dimensional and monochromatic. It'll also have problems after a few winters. Something like the horizontal rods Piano used on the NYT Tower might be better.
 
Re: BMC Ambulatory Building

Sorry, no. There needs to be an ordinance against that look entirely. Why are architects designing us all into prisons? Is this some sick inside joke?
 
Re: BMC Ambulatory Building

^Agreed. I was on an assignment and spent 3 days in the NY Times tower this summer and the sensation I had was of imprisonment. I longed for the outdoors at every moment when looking through the window treatments into the obstructed view of the skyline. It seemed unfair, really. Psychologically, it was not a good experience.
 
Re: BMC Ambulatory Building

Honestly, I don't love these "sun control systems" that have become popular among the eco-expressionist set. The only cool brise soleil I've seen recently is on the south facade of the Carl Icahn Laboratory at Princeton. Rafael Vi?oly has essentially created a giant solar hemicycle, with giant vertical blinds.
 
Re: BMC Ambulatory Building

^ That's pretty cool, at least from a theoretical/technological perspective (aesthetically, it looks like the bottom of the Brasilia design barrel).

The Free University of Berlin's main building, which was constructed in the 70s, has a system that monitors sun levels and lowers/adjusts exterior blinds accordingly. Meanwhile we sit pretty in enviro-prisons and pretend to be enjoying the fruits of the avant-garde.

Here's another interesting example from Berlin. Can't wait for American architects to discover you can reflect the sun as well as block it: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nordische_Botschaften_Berlin_3.JPG
 
Re: BMC Ambulatory Building

czsz said:
Can't wait for American architects to discover you can reflect the sun as well as block it...
Click to expand...

I like that Berlin building. Jean Nouvel was pretty artful with sun control in his Institut du Monde Arabe.

Alvar Aalto was first, I think, with reflecting the sun deep into buildings, something worthwhile to understand in Finland. And John Lautner took a page out of Aalto for the home he designed for the Harpel family in Alaska. Behind the photographer's POV, is a slanted wall, painted gold, that catches the sun for an interior garden and the rest of the living space.
 
Re: BMC Ambulatory Building

The problem with that Jean Nouvel building is that the individual mechanical systems for the dynamic sun shading devices are prone to failure and very difficult to service. An absolutely beautiful solution in every detail, except for the reliability issues.

CZSZ, before Steven Holl got into Lego grid buildings he did several projects which reflected light off various shelves and colored surfaces in a playful manner. You may want to look into those.
 
Last edited:
Re: BMC Ambulatory Building

Is it me or have we basically repeated what went on from the 1950s to the '70s in this decade alone?

Things started out moving away from the stone-based style of po-mo and into the realm of "transparency" and glassy compositions (aka what played out in the '50s). Then for the past couple years we've been getting buildings that make me think of the Mod '60s (Brooklyn's Toren, for instance), while now we're apparently moving into the fortress-like stylings of the 1970s. Joy.

I can't wait for mid-'70s rubbish like this to be rehashed as eDgY and fOrwArD tHiNkiNg.
 
Re: BMC Ambulatory Building

Bring on the Cor-ten and the tank trap style public art!

"Wow, look that brand new building is already rusting apart!"
"That's not a bug, it's a feature!"
"Um, what?"
"It's supposed to look like that, isn't it lovely"
"Huh?!! What?!! Why?!!"
"Oh, I guess you don't 'get it'....."
 
Re: BMC Ambulatory Building

It should fit in perfectly with these buildings
001-6.jpg
 
Re: BMC Ambulatory Building

PDF file of a detailed master plan for BUMC, which is Boston Medical Center + the Med school, graduate school, school of public, and dental school.

Essentially, replacing the Dowling building (corner of Mass Ave and Albany) w/ an inpatient building.

Some interesting facts that > 50% of BMC patients are low income (< $20000 per year).

Good/hope to see that the neighborhood continue to be revitalized.

http://www.bumc.bu.edu/imp.html
 
Re: BMC Ambulatory Building

Can't seem to drive by a construction site with out takeing a pix good or bad! this morning
001-7.jpg
006-6.jpg
007-9.jpg
009-9.jpg
later in the day
025-5.jpg
027-5.jpg
 
Re: BMC Ambulatory Building

All the pictures of this building when it hadnt started going up yet can be found in the south end thread.

Taken today:

IMG_3399-1.jpg


IMG_3400-1.jpg


IMG_3401-1.jpg





Oh shit, this bus doesnt exist! And yet it appears to be popular! (I wonder if a ferry would serve the island better)
IMG_3402.jpg


IMG_3403.jpg


IMG_3404.jpg


IMG_3405.jpg




Dear archboston, we have designed this building with your favorite material.
IMG_3406.jpg

IMG_3407-1.jpg



This is a great use of our sign dollars
IMG_3408-1.jpg



IMG_3409-1.jpg



If any street in the city deserved bus lanes, this would be it (its wide enough too)
IMG_3410-1.jpg


IMG_3411.jpg


IMG_3412.jpg



This is how traffic jams are created. Dear all drivers: Blocking the box is bad. Dear police: Please enforce laws against blocking intersections.
IMG_3413.jpg




Bonus picture:
IMG_3414.jpg
 
Re: BMC Ambulatory Building

It is some variety for the BMC.
 
Re: BMC Ambulatory Building

God this area is so fuck-ugly. It's like the bizarro Longwood Medical Area.
 
Re: BMC Ambulatory Building

czsz said:
It's like the bizarro Longwood Medical Area.
Click to expand...

I think I will be stealing that quote at a community meeting sometime in the future.
 
Re: BMC Ambulatory Building

BMC does not have the philanthropic arm of the institutions in Longwood and it deals with the city's riffraff at a disproportional rate. Give it a break--it's much improved and their master plan focuses much on beautification.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top