City Hall Discussion - Redevelopment - Preservation - Relocation

Re: Menino Proposes Selling City Hall

briv said:
Ron, my point is, the problem with City Hall Plaza isn't necessarily the Plaza, but the wasteland that lines and surrounds it. Peppering the Plaza with trees does not address this.
Click to expand...

I don't disagree with this, yet I do very much like the CS plaza, trees and all, and who can say that there is anything significantly different about the surrounding buildings there than what you'll find at City Hall plaza?
 
Re: Menino Proposes Selling City Hall

I think what makes the Christian Science Center appealing as a space is the monumental architectural melange that lines it and of course the that audacious reflecting pool. Also add to this the way it incorporates the Back Bay skyline creating one of the most iconic vistas in Boston. I think the CSC's biggest weakness is the Huntington Ave grove of trees which seems completely at odds with the rest of the space. Here the space falls apart.
 
Re: Menino Proposes Selling City Hall

I thought this one was kind of neat.

Steingiser2__1269002317_9149.jpg
 
Re: Menino Proposes Selling City Hall

briv said:
I think what makes the Christian Science Center appealing as a space is the monumental architectural melange that lines it and of course the that audacious reflecting pool. Also add to this the way it incorporates the Back Bay skyline creating one of the most iconic vistas in Boston. I think the CSC's biggest weakness is the Huntington Ave grove of trees which seems completely at odds with the rest of the space. Here the space falls apart.
Click to expand...

I have to agree with what you said here, and in regards to City Hall I feel like the surrounding area around the plaza (other than Quincy Market) is just so bland and commercial....by commercial I just mean that it has a strong "business" feel and not so much the welcoming, tourist feel. With CSC too, like Briv said the Back Bay skyline further accentuates the Plaza but around City Hall their aren't any distinct looking buildings plus even though it is a large open space, when you're there it still feels like the surrounding area is too closed.
I definitely think their plan of creating smaller gathering spaces within the plaza is smart. Some added trees would be helpful too, but really won't solve the overall problems of the plaza. I think the space would become much more used if some street vendors were in/around the plaza plus some more street performers.
 
Re: Menino Proposes Selling City Hall

Woah, wait up on the trees. The T Station is beginning construction sometime in the next year? Yes, please!
 
Re: Menino Proposes Selling City Hall

the new t-station kinda looks like a poorly designed apple store...

539w.jpg
 
Re: Menino Proposes Selling City Hall

That station going to look great once it's filthy and leaking like a sieve.
 
Re: Menino Proposes Selling City Hall

It's going to look gorgeous when it's covered in pigeon shit and looks like the glass at Porter Square.
 
Re: Menino Proposes Selling City Hall

Somebody on the MBTA board has to have a brother who owns a glass window company or something. It's the only plausible explanation for the last decade's headhouse overdesign fetish.
 
Re: Menino Proposes Selling City Hall

When is that rendering from? The T released renders in 2005, but they've been expunged from the website.
 
Re: Menino Proposes Selling City Hall

I hope so. It looks like some small, striver city's overpriced municipal airport terminal.
 
Re: Menino Proposes Selling City Hall

Wasn't there a prior rendering from a few years ago that featured a circular headhouse for the new government center T stop?
 
Re: Menino Proposes Selling City Hall

I believe the earlier plan - with huge metal "sails" - was shelved for being too expensive.

This follows the new design scheme begun with the Silver Line headhouses. It's refreshingly contemporary and functional, and avoids the stale PoMo direction they so easily could have pursued.
 
Re: Menino Proposes Selling City Hall

jass said:
When is that rendering from?
Click to expand...

First time I ever saw it was in the slide show for the public meeting about "greening" Government Center.
 
Re: Menino Proposes Selling City Hall

i got the rendering from the boaston.com article.

I am still realy torn over weather i like it or not.

This whole discussion should probably be moved to the transit and infrastructure board.
 
Re: Menino Proposes Selling City Hall

How the hell are they going to clean it! Use materials that age well and require little maintenance. Why do architects default to glass for "modern" design? We don't want another Kenmore Sq bus station please!
 
Re: Menino Proposes Selling City Hall

They should just crib the original Scollay Square headhouse with accessibility, more modern materials, ornament, and LED signage. Why can't anything in this city honor the rich history of the city without resorting to a poor tacky Po-Mo Disney tourist trap copy OR some sort of architect's ego fellatiating omage to some other architect's work, which 99% of the public doesn't know?
 
Re: Menino Proposes Selling City Hall

BRA director John Palmieri announces resignation
By Thomas Grillo
Friday, March 25, 2011 - Added 58 seconds ago

John Palmieri, director of the Boston Redevelopment Authority, has submitted his resignation.

Palmieri, who held the post for three and a half years, will leave on May 1. He insists the decision was his own and that he was not asked to leave by Mayor Thomas M. Menino.

?I thought long and hard about this decision after consulting with my wife and friends and the mayor,? he told the Herald. ?I?m satisfied that I?ve made the right decision and hope that I made a contribution to the city, but it?s time for me to examine new opportunities.?

http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view.bg?articleid=1326071&pos=breaking
 
Re: Menino Proposes Selling City Hall

Ha, insists the decision was his own. If he has to, something is clearly amiss. Menino is the BRA's Prime Mover. Note that he "consulted" with the mayor before departing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top