Bulfinch Crossing | Congress Street Garage | West End

Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

I agree that the aquarium garage is a better place for something like the Cooke & Fox or even Gensler proposal. There really is no expectations for that site, and an awkward streel level presence would be par for their course in that strip.

To czsz....I assume from your posts that you believe Asian designs are something to be emulated. Perhaps that's where our differences begin. To reference your post, the 1960's brutalism was a bold step forward, and the last 4 decades have been architectural apologies. Do we really want to do that again? In other words, if C+F or Gensler was selected for the site, do you really want to pay the price for the next 40 years to in the form of brick-box reparations? Feel free to reference London in your rebuttal. :)

EDIT....I see you already referenced London before I finished my post. ;)
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

I'm not an advocate of turning Boston into Hong Kong but yeah, London is a good model.

Anyway, our choice is Foster's pseudo-mediocrity for the near future or a sprinkle of boldness followed by some hyper-mediocrity?

Call me Kurt Vonnegut, but I don't think we should handicap ourselves for such small gain.

Sprinkle of boldness it is. No self-censorship, or the NIMBYs have already won!
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

Considering my post from earlier and the probability of a phased build-out, which of these proposals could be combined? I realize this isn't a "fair" question without a full disclosure of the site plans, with an eye to circulation, street-level usage, public amenities, integration with the T, etc.

czsz said:
Still don't get the enthusiasm for the Foster...

Doing something truly bold here would finally catapult the city over the notion that it still can't get over the traditionalist reactionism against 60s brutalism.
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I like the Foster proposal because it has the stamp of an updated, high-tech version of Brutalism, in close proximity to two Brutalist monuments (City Hall and the Hurley).

With that said, Cook + Fox and Gensler are also really attractive. If the Gensler proposal isn't chosen, I think Don Chiofaro should consider it for his little garage project on the waterfront.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

SOM= 1 Financial Center x 1.65
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

The taller Gensler tower would be perfect for the Aquarium Garage

and not every building constructed in London is iconic....

hell look at their Olympic Stadium for 2012...one of the most boring designs in memory for such a grand event.

it's nice to scream 'be bold' when it is not our money or our vested interest beyond being a citizen but not everything that is built has to be an nth wonder of the world.

I agree that I would like to see a 21st century iconic piece or two built in the city but in this location and for what are 3 very good potential designs...I'm not gonna complain
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

London's public architecture has kinda lagged behind its private stuff. Luckily, this isn't a public project. Like you said, it isn't our money. But I'm pretty sure the developer wanted something at least relatively flashy, otherwise they wouldn't have invited these firms.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

I think I'm the only one who actually likes the Aquarium garage. I don't know what it is, but something about it fits with the greenway and surrounding buildings. I can't put my finger on it, but there's a sensation when seeing it. I can't describe it, but I like it.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

Koolhaas is my favorite, though needs a little improvement for the city hall view; I also like Cook + Fox and wouldn't have a problem with any of the other designs except for SOM. Seriously, the first render for the Koolhaas design looks great, but it seems like they cheaped out with the 2nd render; if they improve that, it would look fantastic and will be a great contrast that also fits in with the surrounding architecture in some respects.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

Beton Brut said:
First-off, it was more of a display than a meeting or presentation; there were about a hundred people, and the crowd turned over (I arrived at 6:30).

The renderings were up on stands and there were models. I chatted up a few of the project people and some of the locals. People are interested in seeing this go forward. Only one person (of maybe twenty I spoke with) was opposed to the idea of replacing the garage with something in line with these proposals.

They didn't want folks taking pictures so I had to be a bit surreptitious. I took a ton of pix, but not all are winners. I was unable to shoot the models, only the renderings.

So here goes:

Cook & Fox
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In interesting design, strongly influenced by Norman Foster's design for WTC2. The street-level (not visible in the photo) seems to need work. I don't hate it, but it needs some work.

Gensler
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Not too shabby. Reminds me both of the proposed tower for Copley Square, as well as Zaha Hadid's unbuilt proposal for the NYC 2012 Olympic Village in Queens. Another Alvar Aalto vase, inside a fishnet stocking.

Office of Metropolitan Architecture (Rem Koolhaas)
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Koolhaas and his team are always hit or miss with me. This is a miss.

S.O.M.
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Another disapointment. SOM's proposal for Transbay in San Francisco was breathtaking. This looks like they didn't even try.

It's a design in four gestures:
  • Two Modernist towers that look disturbingly similar to the JFK Building (contextualism?);
  • A boot-shaped geode (Koolhaas) with random windows (Machado + Silvetti);
  • A hokey ground-plane running up the facades of the low-rises;
  • Gausey space-frame atria
Rubbish. Dismissed.

Foster & Partners
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Well thought out (not the best rendering). Circulation and the public realm look pretty good. Boston could have its own Barad-dur and Isengard. My pick.
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just wanted to move these up so we did't have to go back and forth to see what ones people are refering to.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

I go with Foster's though the base of the taller one reminds me of the Freedom Tower which I don't particularly like. I like it because of the angles which makes the tower look sharp. I think the shorter one needs to be more slimmer.

Gensler's design look very European, which is a plus though it will look very different and slightly out of place in Boston. This is my second choice.

I think I saw Cook and Fox's design somewhere in another tower or something similar to it. Reminds me a bit of the Dancing Towers in Dubai. Also reminds me of one of Gehry design. This my third choice.

As I chide earlier before, S.O.M.s and Koolhaas have the worse designs. Stripes and Boxes=Dull, Bland, and Ugly.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

Unfortunately all too often in Boston: bland boxes + stripes + BRA = Proposal wins!
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

yea I see what you mean


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Exchange Place has to be the most underappreciated building in Boston....for being over 20 years old it has aged amazingly well

It is also similar to Tour Total in Paris...designed by the same firm

OMA's proposal for One Congress Street is also somewhat of a rip-off
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

Although none of them impress me, I like Gensler's the most, then Fosters. The rest...what?
Maybe SOM and Koolhaas know that this project will be cut down, chopped up and spit out into a shell of what they propose, so the effort and creativity was not there.
Gensler's would be cool if the Copley Place tower gets built.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

I feel like this has dragged on for so long - does anyone remember or know what the criteria is for deciding the winner???
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

Bubbybu said:
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vs.

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Why must we have second rate architecture?

This is why I want the Cook & Fox design because it is by far the mast contemporary of the lot. I feel like all the other designs (maybe not so much the Gensler) just give in right off the bat and don't even try because this is "Boston".
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

Jane Jetson said:
I feel like this has dragged on for so long
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You think this has dragged? This project is a baby. We've just started. Remember we have been talking about Columbus Center since at least Feb '03.

And SST goes back father that that!
 
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