Color coding the city by Years

[kz1000ps]

Microsoft Paintbrush strikes again!!

Obviously this is a work in progress, nowhere near being done. It's color coded by the years and general architectural movement it was related to. Now you've probably noticed that there's an awful lot of red in the Financial District, and that's because for this map I decided to focus mainly on development from the 20th century and on, simply because it would take WAY too much time to go and research when every teeny tiny little building on Beacon Hill or wherever was built. In fact, I'll probably skip out on doing the Hill, the Bay, and the Ends altogether.

So the legend is:

Red - anything before the 1920s/art deco period
Orange - art deco/moderne, up to roughly 1950
Yellow - anything international or modern, up to about 1975
Bright green - late '70s into early 80s, anything in the transition between modernism and pomo
light blue - pomo/contextual, up to the early '90s recession
blue - mid '90s to mid '00s
bright purple - recently finished, under construction, or proposed with a good chance of being built


If you see any errors, please speak up!

 

[Bobby Digital]

very cool. nice job. helpful and interesting.....

but i think its time you found yourself a girlfriend, you have waaaay too much time on your hands my friend

 

[briv]

very cool. nice job. helpful and interesting.....

but i think its time you found yourself a girlfriend, you have waaaay too much time on your hands my friend

That's a real asshole remark.

I'd take any given post from kz1000ps over your idiotic babble any day.

 

[Bobby Digital]

Just calling a spade a spade....

I even offered positive reinforcement before i went there. People need to relax.

 

[kz1000ps]

but i think its time you found yourself a girlfriend, you have waaaay too much time on your hands my friend

I'm always looking for one, but trying to find a girl that I'd actually want to be my gf is hard. It's amazing how many girls out there are just complete idiots (if only I were paid a penny for all the girls I've lost interest in the second they opened their mouths..). I find it's best to just sack them and never bring up the relationship issue -- EVER.

And as for too much time on my hands, I wish. This little project took me maybe 4-5 hours over the course of 2 weeks to do, and the photos.. well I take them while working most of the time, and posting them takes up about an hour a week.


----Bobby, you find me a girl that can, among other things, act as an outlet for my architectural interests and I'll stop posting so damn much, ok? Oh wait, no girl gives a damn about this stuff, so I guess this place will just keep on reelin me in

 

[Bobby Digital]

KZ, you dont ever need to defend yourself to me... Do your thing. It wasnt meant to be too critical. I'm no better than you or anybody else on here. This shouldnt even need to said.

Briv is right. You bring some good shit to this board. I was just breakin balls. BTW.. IF you want, they seem to have about 3 plus floors goin up at the new BU dorm... id snap some pics myself, if i had a digital camera.

and i know this is out of place, wrong topic! wrong topic! but IMO BU is sort of ruining their free advertisement off the pike. Because i thought the Boston University lettering on the side of the arena was classy, inviting and persuasive. They did it well and now you probably wont be able to see it on the pike. But hey they need dorms so what are ya gonna do.

Dont take shit too seriously bratha. I say that type of shit to my friends all the time and they know its all in good fun.

 

[JoeGallows]

Nice work with the maps kz1000ps.

Time based maps like this make me think... what sort of buildings existed on the lots of more recent developments? For example, I moved here after Millennium Place was completed, but what was there before hand? Abandoned buildings? Empty lots? And though it's decidedly less recent, what did the area where the Transportation Building now sits look like before it was cleared out? The Tip O'Neill Building? Brooke Courthouse?

It seems that no matter what I read or look up about the history of the built environment of Boston, my questions aren't answered or new ones arise (not that I'm annoyed about having new questions).

 

[kz1000ps]

BU is sort of ruining their free advertisement off the pike. Because i thought the Boston University lettering on the side of the arena was classy, inviting and persuasive.

There's always the photonics building. No building will ever be blocking that signage

 

[JimboJones]

Trulia Hindsight

http://hindsight.trulia.com/map/

Anyone else try this out? It populates a map with new buildings over the years. Watch the South End and Back Bay explode with new construction in the mid-1800's.

Cool. For a minute at least.

 

[czsz]

----Bobby, you find me a girl that can, among other things, act as an outlet for my architectural interests and I'll stop posting so damn much, ok? Oh wait, no girl gives a damn about this stuff

If you're serious, may I suggest some useful activities? Take classes in architecture at a local extension school, hang around such schools (i.e. find out what cafe is frequented by Harvard GSD girls), go to exhibits of architectural photography at places like the ICA. There are bound to be girls with similar interests you can meet - and I would be surprised if at least some were not interesting and intelligent conversationalists.

(edit - I hope that didn't come off patronizingly...it wasn't intended to)

 

[Padre Mike]

Time based maps like this make me think... what sort of buildings existed on the lots of more recent developments? It seems that no matter what I read or look up about the history of the built environment of Boston, my questions aren't answered or new ones arise (not that I'm annoyed about having new questions).

I have found books that show old/new photos of Boston very helpful: Dover Publications has several; Arcadia Publications has many; much can be found in the "local" section of major book stores and in Brattle Book Shop on West St. I personally have collected many such books going back to the late 19th C when photography was coming into its own, including some cool guide books from that era. I would be happy to share these with anyone interested.

Anthony Mitchell Sammarco from Milton is a great local resource and author of over 50 of these "then and now" books.

Another source is memory...ask someone my age (55) or older who has been familiar with the city for a while, especially through "urban renewal" projects going back into the 20th C. The neat thing is that much of the city was in a time warp until the 50's and 60's, when lots of buildings were obliterated.

 

[czsz]

See Jane Holtz Kay's "Lost Boston"...

 

[DudeUrSistersHot]

I'm always looking for one, but trying to find a girl that I'd actually want to be my gf is hard. It's amazing how many girls out there are just complete idiots (if only I were paid a penny for all the girls I've lost interest in the second they opened their mouths..). I find it's best to just sack them and never bring up the relationship issue -- EVER.

i find it's helpful to stop thinking about what's coming out of their mouths and start imagining what could go in them

 

[kz1000ps]

hahaha yeah I tend to think way too much, but luckily there's this stuff called alcohol that does wonders in silencing that noisy brain of mine.

 

[Bobby Digital]

I'm always looking for one, but trying to find a girl that I'd actually want to be my gf is hard. It's amazing how many girls out there are just complete idiots (if only I were paid a penny for all the girls I've lost interest in the second they opened their mouths..). I find it's best to just sack them and never bring up the relationship issue -- EVER.

i find it's helpful to stop thinking about what's coming out of their mouths and start imagining what could go in them

words of wisdom from an 18 year old who has yet to step foot in college. you obviously stole that from somebody else

 

[DudeUrSistersHot]

I'm always looking for one, but trying to find a girl that I'd actually want to be my gf is hard. It's amazing how many girls out there are just complete idiots (if only I were paid a penny for all the girls I've lost interest in the second they opened their mouths..). I find it's best to just sack them and never bring up the relationship issue -- EVER.

i find it's helpful to stop thinking about what's coming out of their mouths and start imagining what could go in them

words of wisdom from an 18 year old who has yet to step foot in college. you obviously stole that from somebody else

^Bobby Digital


.

 

[vanshnookenraggen]

This has what to do with architecture exactly?

 

[DudeUrSistersHot]

i swear im done

 

[BostonSkyGuy]

I'm laughing so fucking hard right now. Dude definitely adds something to this board. What that "something" is, is up for interpretation I guess.

 

[Mike]

^ I interpret it as trolling.