BU Data Sciences Center | 665 Commonwealth Avenue | BU Central

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It looks cool now but stacked boxes is also such a Boston gimmick now that I'm like :rolleyes:
 
DAVE said:
It looks cool now but stacked boxes is also such a Boston gimmick now that I'm like :rolleyes:
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I know Back Bay Garage is supposed to look like this when built, but what other stacked box buildings exist in Boston? Are you including the Verizon Tower or the Kendal Square overhangs?
 
Blackbird said:
I know Back Bay Garage is supposed to look like this when built, but what other stacked box buildings exist in Boston? Are you including the Verizon Tower or the Kendal Square overhangs?
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Wassn't even considering the verizon tower but it sort of fits. I was considering the multipe examples in cambridge, the one in Seaport, the proposal for the BB garage. I get the idea of creating a vernacular within a city but why this one 😩
 
Other than the Back Bay Garage, I don't think any of the other in-progress developments or proposals are really of the same aesthetic as BU Data Sciences. Also -- just drove past this thing on the other side of the river (Mem Drive. Didn't snap any shots, as I was the driver) and I think it's gonna be a pretty damn cool addition, when finished.
 
Id argue the amazon building in the seaport and the glass pier 4 building are really the only other “stack of books” buildings in Boston that I can think of. There is an I guess “stack of logs” in kendall I forget its name, but I definitely wouldnt say this style is overplayed in Boston. After the very prominent bu building is built the style will be on front street and could get played out with a few more buildings, but at the moment imo its something new and different. It doesnt always work but this building I think is going to come out phenominal.
 
DAVE said:
It looks cool now but stacked boxes is also such a Boston gimmick now that I'm like :rolleyes:
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I'd say it's a worldwide gimmick, and as usual Boston is jumping in towards the tail end of the trend after all the novelty has worn off.

Boston is sort of like the architectural equivalent of The Hindmost from the sci-fi classic "The Mote in God's Eye".
 
Duh. "Ringworld". Should focus my attention more on what I'm doing and not try to multitask.
 
stick n move said:
Id argue the amazon building in the seaport and the glass pier 4 building are really the only other “stack of books” buildings in Boston that I can think of. There is an I guess “stack of logs” in kendall I forget its name, but I definitely wouldnt say this style is overplayed in Boston. After the very prominent bu building is built the style will be on front street and could get played out with a few more buildings, but at the moment imo its something new and different. It doesnt always work but this building I think is going to come out phenominal.
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I'd say that the proposed Skanska building on Stuart and the recently completed Akamai building in Kendall also fall into the stacked blocks/books genre.
 
stick n move said:
Id argue the amazon building in the seaport and the glass pier 4 building are really the only other “stack of books” buildings in Boston that I can think of. There is an I guess “stack of logs” in kendall I forget its name, but I definitely wouldnt say this style is overplayed in Boston. After the very prominent bu building is built the style will be on front street and could get played out with a few more buildings, but at the moment imo its something new and different. It doesnt always work but this building I think is going to come out phenominal.
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Back Bay air rights is supposed to be a very similar stack of books too if they ever actually break ground on it.
 
HelloBostonHi said:
Back Bay air rights is supposed to be a very similar stack of books too if they ever actually break ground on it.
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By “very similar,” are you referring mainly to that the building has cantilevers? To me, these buildings appear structurally different and the chosen materials do not have a whole lot in common. Maybe you’re referring to something else.

All in all, despite some architectural design choices that have some similarities to other buildings in Boston (a few which have been named) I dont see how the BU building bares resemblance to other Boston building currently built or proposed.
 
100% spot-on ^^^. By far most (certainly WAY too many) Boston high-rises are rectilinear file-cabinets, but nobody says that's a "Boston thing" or that One Federal looks just like One Beacon, which looks like 225 Franklin, which looks like McCormack, which looks like (and on and on...).

The closest proposal or in-progress to BU Data Sciences is Back Bay Garage/Back Bay Air Rights -- and even that is quite different for the reasons you outlned (and more).
 
The pathos of Boston is disrupted by this building. It will be hated and admired for generations.
 
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Wouldn’t use pathos to characterize Boston or its architecture, but I agree this one will be a conversation-starter.
 
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bdurden said:
By “very similar,” are you referring mainly to that the building has cantilevers? To me, these buildings appear structurally different and the chosen materials do not have a whole lot in common. Maybe you’re referring to something else.

All in all, despite some architectural design choices that have some similarities to other buildings in Boston (a few which have been named) I dont see how the BU building bares resemblance to other Boston building currently built or proposed.
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You're telling me you don't see any architectural similarities here?
 
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