Cambridge Infill and Small Developments

[Boston02124]

It still would benefit from having 2-3 35-40 stories towers added to it's skyline,I,ll have to ck out the MIT dome at nite I don,t recall it being lit up at nite?

 

[Ron Newman]

Lighting the dome is a fairly new thing, within the past year.

 

[Boston02124]

nice I luv lighted buildings at nite,I wish they do more here,but no neon! I'll keep an eye out for the MIT dome when It gets dark(I take the redline over the longfellow everyday!)

 

[czsz]

Harvard will forever be jealous as it has no significant presence on the Cambridge side of the river and there is no important venue to take advantage of the Business School

It has at least 3-4 lighted spires on the Cambridge side, and Baker Library at the business school has the same sort of axial vista toward the river. In fact, that length of the Charles feels like Harvard property.

 

[whighlander]

Hahvahhd has a big open vista

Hahhhvaahhd's problem is that while it does have a Big Open vista for the Business School -- there is no good vantage point to view it

From the other side ? the buildings in the YAAHHD are low and screened by clutter in front of them and so they are mostly invisible from the Boston side of the Chaahhhles

Certainly, MIT has both one of the best vantage points to view Boston -- from Memorial Drive -- and one of the best views from the Esplanade of its campus ? anywhere ? particularly now at night now that the DOME is once again lit {it used to be lit until the Jimmy Carter-Era Energy Conservation Fad} ? however, the new lighting of the DOME is much better and much more dramatic than the old

I was there in June {a took a sequence of pictures} when President Susan Hochfield {a neurobiologist} threw a really old knife switch {ironically -- she seemed somewhat uncomfortable with dealing with electrical technology} and ? voila the DOME came to life

Anyway --The best time to fully appreciate the MIT ?vantage-advantage? is on July 4 when even the fireworks are best seen from MIT?s front yard ? HAAAHVAAAD can?t come close in that depaaaaaahtment

I do agree with an earlier post that Cambridge could benefit from a few taller buildings {probably near Kendal square} -- particularly some nicely sculptural tall thin towers -- no more sawed-off boxes ? PLEASE!

Westy

 

[chris]

A quick read of the Zoning Ordinances seems to indicate 120' as the highest height allowed (in various districts).

 

[Boston02124]

That's why their skyline sucks!

 

[underground]

Cambridge doesn't have a huge skyline because it doesn't have a downtown; it has E. Cambridge, Kendall Sq., Central Sq., Harvard Sq., etc. Also, Cambridge just isn't that big. For comparison's sake, Lowell tops Cambridge in terms of population 103,111 to 101,111.

For Cambridge to have a huge skyline it would have to consolidate all of it's business centers into one area, thereby ruining one of the things that defines Cambridge; that it's "the city of squares".

 

[czsz]

Almost every one of those squares (transit hubs each) could benefit from more high density development. Porter in particular, with a commuter rail stop in addition to the Red Line...and all too many open lots...is begging for increased development.

 

[TheBostonBoy]

^So true

 

[Scott]

Excellent, excellent infill but the landscaping in photo #7 is all wrong. Curves in the grass would offset the stark lines of the buildings and birch is a questionable selection for the trees. Being planted in clumps they will mature and look weedy instead of majestic. I would have went with crab apples with nice deep pink flowers in the spring- more privacy and perhaps energy efficiency for the occupants. I lived in a large townhouse development that had a bunch of them lining an area about that size and the effect was stunning.

 

[kz1000ps]

The performing arts center on Mass Ave at the intersection with Main:

ehhhhh

the backside on Greene Street. So far I'm not digging the orange and green

Infill at Greene and Brookline Streets:

 

[kz1000ps]

Last phase of One First, East Cambridge:

Addition to the public library:

Harvard's graduate housing off of Memorial Drive:

 

[chumbolly]

Re: Harvard's new graduate housing on the old Mahoney's lot, I thought it was illegal to build new triple deckers.... It's a real shame that the neighbors who opposed Piano's museum are likely too small minded to realize what an opportunity they wasted. The architecture almost suggests that Harvard has a sense of humor. Some GSD student should write a thesis on how the Battle of Mahoney Gardens is evocative of the Nietzsche-ian master/slave morality duality.

 

[cden4]

Wow I really love the architecture of all these buildings. It's modern yet has historical elements, and fits in really well with their surroundings. I especially like the creative use of colors without being gaudy.

 

[czsz]

I thought it was illegal to build new triple deckers....

In fact, Harvard thought literal copies of nearby buildings would be the only way to appease the locals. Or maybe they just appreciate the irony of the nation's wealthiest university housing its students in New England's slum vernacular.

 

[Suffolk 83]

wait its illegal to build triple deckers? and I dont see any in those photos... unless your being sarcastic

 

[justin]

^I thought it's illegal now because three-deckers are too dense?

 

[unterbau]

Wow, after all those years, I never realized how goofy the CPL looks...what a strange turret.

 

[chumbolly]

^I believe its illegal to build triple deckers and has been for many decades, because they're a fire hazard. But I'm wrong about a lot things, most days...

And the triple deckers I was sarcastly referring to are the buildings comprising the new graduate housing on the Mahoney's site. They're obviously not real triple deckers, but they sure look inspired by them. And I don't think their terrible looking, but they're no Piano. This site desrved better.