Cambridge skyline photos

tocoto said:
While there are some nice buildings in Kendal, the place is overthought and over-compromised by control freaks, inflexible academics, and political extremists. The result is a rigid, anemic realm with a failed skyline and boring, largely lifeless streetscape. Not a bad place but certainly one that has failed it's potential on so many levels. It does achieve being a great life sciences and R&D cluster. That should be enough, but this area could have been so much more aesthetically, creatively, and for human habitation and enjoyment.
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I think how this process ends up panning out (see, in particular, Workshops #3-4) will be quite telling. We're talking about redevelopment of a 14-acre swath central to stefal's image; this could make a huge impact in either direction. What gives me hope is that this particular developer is in it for the long game, not short-term profiting. Their success at the ground level of 292-310 Mass Ave. suggests there is hope, if it can be done at a larger scale.
 
tocoto said:
While there are some nice buildings in Kendal, the place is overthought and over-compromised by control freaks, inflexible academics, and political extremists. The result is a rigid, anemic realm with a failed skyline and boring, largely lifeless streetscape. Not a bad place but certainly one that has failed it's potential on so many levels. It does achieve being a great life sciences and R&D cluster. That should be enough, but this area could have been so much more aesthetically, creatively, and for human habitation and enjoyment.
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Both Alewife and Kendal are the product of the do-nothing Cambridge City government. Because NIMBYs, pressure groups, and extreme politics run the city, few visionary things happen, and the usual outcome is the lowest common denominator. I grew up in Cambridge and it's always been very much a small town mentality, which has its good and bad sides. The government is very participatory, but things get picked to death and stalled in that process.
 
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kz1000ps said:
To paraphrase Gertrude Stein: there's no skyline there.
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No problem, Gertrude could care less about length. ;)

When did they start building 50 story tall labs.........

In the meantime, I'll take Cambridge over Jersey City any day.
 
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Ok so I've been largely absent from here for over six years... when exactly did Cambridge versus Jersey City become a thing?
 
kz1000ps said:
Ok so I've been largely absent from here for over six years... when exactly did Cambridge versus Jersey City become a thing?
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I think they were referring to growth in skyline, perhaps. In general JC cannot hold a torch to Cambridge and I live near JC. So I'm not sure why the two were compared. Assuming skyline growth?
 
Massachoicetts said:
I think they were referring to growth in skyline, perhaps. In general JC cannot hold a torch to Cambridge and I live near JC. So I'm not sure why the two were compared. Assuming skyline growth?
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Pretty much it. I was responding to the observation post #43. Gertrude Stein made the famous quote "There is no there there" about Oakland being empty of the meaning she saw in her youth. So, it was really in the use of Gertrude Stein's context more than anything.

Regarding skylines - they are nice, but are they meaningful? See Baltimore vs. Washington DC.

It's like saying about Tom Brady - - "Yeah, but does he have Cam Newton's cool hat collection?"

IMHO a low-rise, beehive/futuristic economy is not really as much of a target of derision as Gertrude Stein's view about Oakland, CA. There is FAR more "there" in Cambridge, than in Jersey City, Detroit or ........Tulsa

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But, yes, I do agree with KZ that Cambridge doesn't have much of a skyline. Just not in the same context of Gertrude Stein's quote.
 
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To be fair, Tulsa does have one of the more impressive collections of Art Deco towers in the country. Pre-Great Depression, Tulsa was THE booming southern oil town. Tulsa is like Detroit South in that regard: a surprisingly large legacy collection of fantastic architecture from the Roaring 20s that is unfortunately now not well-maintained and surrounded by the scars of urban renewal / urban blight.
 
More than ever, I think we can proudly say Cambridge (and Boston) are cities of the future.
 
Interesting point about Tulsa is that the building to the far left is essentially a half-size version of the original WTC towers in NYC. It's actually more like 48.8% of the old buildings, as it's 667' and the towers were 1362' and 1368' respectively. Still, same architect and one impressive monolith.

The old school looking tower in the middle left with the green roof is a 1980's addition on top of an original 16 story building from 1918.

One of the main streets through downtown is Boston Avenue, so I often see Tulsa pics when I do my regular Boston searches! The view down that road is pretty amazing. It's just that there's no depth beyond that main thoroughfare!
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shmessy said:
But, yes, I do agree with KZ that Cambridge doesn't have much of a skyline. Just not in the same context of Gertrude Stein's quote.
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Yep I totally get everything you're saying, including Gertrude's original context. In my head I was using that quote to criticize not so much Cambridge's lack of a skyline but more the idea that's there's even a Cambridge Skyline Photo thread to begin with... aesthetically I just don't see anything there. I know that's kind of an asshole-ish thing to say out loud, but that's the subtext to what I wrote ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
kz1000ps said:
Yep I totally get everything you're saying, including Gertrude's original context. In my head I was using that quote to criticize not so much Cambridge's lack of a skyline but more the idea that's there's even a Cambridge Skyline Photo thread to begin with... aesthetically I just don't see anything there. I know that's kind of an asshole-ish thing to say out loud, but that's the subtext to what I wrote ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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Hey, Kz, no worries at all. You're one of my favorite contributors and appreciate what you always bring to the table!
 
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