Bulfinch Crossing | Congress Street Garage | West End

Im not saying it was or wasnt a good idea (thats a discussion for another forum or thread).
The points is, we wouldnt have had the Olympics 'with this public transit'
 
real_EthanHunt said:
Are people really unaware that was the whole point of the Olympic bid?!!! Force infrastructure improvements via a defined deadline that would then be used for regional growth.
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Not unaware but the MBTA wouldn't have been competent enough to build it by the deadline. You're kidding yourself if you think they would
 
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This blob lab, combined with its location blocking the money-shot view of the new State Street Tower, is going to be the most hated building in the city. It's probably going to be 10x more hated than the parking garage ever was. We're at a crossroads where approximately 10 of these in "strategic" locations downtown will permanently ruin Boston's skyline/city aesthetic. This plus the lab near South Station means we'll be 20% of the way to visual ruination.
 
I don’t think it’ll be more hated than the garage, but it is still really bad.

If the developers can’t follow their original plan, then the city should eminent domain it into a park.
 
One of the very few times I will say that a new building should actually be shorter. If the top third was cut off and they eliminated the stupid wavy line of the brick-colored portion then it would be a complete background blend and no one would even notice it from the water view. I also think that 3rd shorter tower that will be in front of the Sudbury should be shorter and/or more differentiated because the way it is (at least in the renders) makes the whole complex look way too cluttered and busy. Or if they were going to make it the same color, materials and design as the Sudbury, they should've just made it one complete building that steps up at the top in the front and eliminate the gap between them instead of just sharing a podium.
 
tysmith95 said:
I'll submit, the zinc apartments in Cambridge

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I like the Zinc Apartments except for the flying saucer mech areas on top, but other than that, they are to me a bizarre tip of the hat to the old factory office buildings in the area, a hyper version of those as if on acid. Also it's not sitting in an iconic location, which the proposed Bullfinch Crossing building unfortunately is, smack dab in the middle of the highly significant Haymarket Sq/RKG area.
 
Why create something as spectacular as One Congress if you're going to entirely block more than half of its best side/angle from view?

Is this the kinda 11th-hour design change that the State Street folks could push back on? A la, "We signed a longterm, expensive lease to have our HQ in a noteworthy architectural statement that can be seen and admired. That's a big part of the draw for us, it reflects positively on our organization. You are devaluing our investment and this new proposed design was not on the table when we signed on."
 
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I shared it before, but idk how they first changed the building to look like this.
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Which is nothing spectacular, but is also a pretty acceptable background building, and then changed it again into the final superturd configuration. One congress is pretty clearly the star of the show here, why throw up a jumbled disaster right at its door step at the last minute?

Background and filler buildings get a lot of hate on architectural forums, but theres definitely a lot of skill required to create something that seamlessly blends into the color pallette and architectural fabric of a city, disappearing in plain view to allow the better buildings to stand out. Its why Dubai’s sheikh zayed road supertalls look like a bag of ass, with every tower screaming look at me, and why nyc’s skyline which arguably has 1000 times more “shitty” filler buildings than Dubai is arguably the best skyline on earth.

Those hundreds of crappy 1950’s brick and concrete towers are anonymous, the correct color/shape etc, and dont try too hard to stand out. The net effect is they create a general white noise that is soft and disarming that allows appropriately crafted spikes in the noise to shine through. This building takes all of that and throws it in the trash. Building this thing directly against the greenway is like placing a permanent trash bin directly in the best sight line of the empire state building, blocking it from view. Its ridiculous. I agree that if they cant get it right the city should take it and build a park.
 
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