Dorm Tower @ Berklee College of Music | 168 Mass Ave | Back Bay

Re: Berklee Dorm Tower | 168 Mass Ave | Back Bay

Perhaps the zig-zag represents a stage curtain for the Berklee performers?
 
Re: Berklee Dorm Tower | 168 Mass Ave | Back Bay

pixelsand8 said:
Though I still dislike the "zig zag" at the bottom. Is there any function to this other than aesthetics? Between this and Kensington I hope this isn't some new trend.
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The undulating wall actually isn't a new concept at all. It was originally championed by Baroque architect Francesco Borromini who used it in the San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane who wanted instill a sense of in-flux motion to the church with the architecture that worked with the very tight site. I suspect the intent of this undulating wall is in the same spirit. It is an attempt to make the building "playful" (a buzz word in architecture) and feel fluid. Of course, I'm not saying this particular undulating wall at Berklee is at par with Borromini's, but it's the architectural theory behind it which is the same.
 
Re: Berklee Dorm Tower | 168 Mass Ave | Back Bay

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Re: Berklee Dorm Tower | 168 Mass Ave | Back Bay

datadyne007 said:
The undulating wall actually isn't a new concept at all. It was originally championed by Baroque architect Francesco Borromini who used it in the San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane who wanted instill a sense of in-flux motion to the church with the architecture that worked with the very tight site. I suspect the intent of this undulating wall is in the same spirit. It is an attempt to make the building "playful" (a buzz word in architecture) and feel fluid. Of course, I'm not saying this particular undulating wall at Berklee is at par with Borromini's, but it's the architectural theory behind it which is the same.
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Data -- you want an undulating wall -- the quintessential example is Baker House at MIT -- designed and constructed in a true design-build as Prof. Aalto was still finishing the exterior design as the construction of the foundation was being completed -- he was finishing the exterior as the steel was being erected

from the January 08, 2007 Technology Review
Of Coffins, Pies, and Armadillos

Baker House was never your average dorm

By Elizabeth Durant
At the formal opening of Senior House on June 11, 1949, the building soon to be renamed Baker House (in honor of dean of students Everett Moore Baker) was touted as more than a residence: it was a "new concept in community living." In addition to accommodating 353 students, the dormitory offered a plethora of gathering spots: a large dining room with "moon garden" skylights, lounges on each floor, a game room with a fireplace, and a music-listening area.
By today's standards, that may not sound like anything special, but MIT was then largely a commuter school. As World War II veterans returned, enrollment skyrocketed; by 1949 more than 400 students lived in temporary barracks. Baker House, commissioned in 1946 from renowned Finnish architect and visiting professor Alvar Aalto, was meant to ease the housing crunch.
Aalto departed from the "International Style" of architecture then in vogue--rectilinear structures of steel, reinforced concrete, and glass. Instead, he created a wave-shaped building that used natural materials like brick, wood, and terra-cotta tiles. Thanks to the building's sinuous form, there are 22 different room shapes on a typical, 43-room floor. Students dubbed the smallest rooms "coffins," and wedge-shaped rooms along the building's curves became known as "pies." The interior wood furnishings designed by Aalto and his wife Aino have nicknames too: elephants, armadillos, and giraffes are Baker lingo for armoires, cabinets, and bookshelves.
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and a couple of comments from the first students to inhabit the structure in the fall of 1949
http://tech.mit.edu/V69/PDF/N35.pdf
TUESDAY, OCT. 4, 1949
Residents Find New Dormitory
Clean, Bright And Liveable

By FRED VANDERSCHMIDT
The New Dormitory, even in the process of construction, raised a singular interest in the world of architecture as well as among Technology undergraduates, and the question now is, naturally enough, "How has it turned out?" Of course, there are as many specific answers to this question as there are people living in the building, but nevertheless, there is a certain amount of agreement.
The general opinion is good. In fact, one might almost say ecstatic. As one resident, who had lived for two years in the barracks before coming to the new house, said, "I can hardly believe I'm living here." Others, whose previous two or three years had been spent in the "old" dormitories had pointed comparisons to make.
Red Tile Walls

One ex-old dorm man, for instance, was particularly. taken with the brick-red tile used as an interior finish. The gist of his remarks was that there was considerable difference in waking up in a room where warm red tile diffused a pleasant, textured light through the room to seeing that "ghastly green paint, hundreds of coats thick, and bisected by that hideous band of warped wood." We rather think his comparison exaggerated, but the pleasantness of the tile, particularly in its contrast with the white painted cement portions of the wall, cannot be denied.
Others were impressed by the clean, bright linoleum covered floors, still others by that marvelous staircase which makes climbing to the sixth floor almost as easy as taking the elevator. Practically a universal comment was that although the physical dimensions of the new rooms are smaller than those in the old dormitories, the careful planning of the new rooms has. made them far more liveable.
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View from Mem Dr. Median

aalto002.jpg
aalto001.jpg


PS: The cost in 1949 to inhabit a Baker room for a semester $180.00!
 
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Re: Berklee Dorm Tower | 168 Mass Ave | Back Bay

As a '90s kid, it never ceases to amaze me how ancient '90s pictures and cars already look.
 
Re: Berklee Dorm Tower | 168 Mass Ave | Back Bay

Shocker, this post isn't another photo. LOL

New dorm will be done "in a few weeks" according to this article. Not sure if they're going to be able to put students in for spring semester.

Pretty good job - I seem to remember this was announced at first with a September 2013 completion date. Given their troubles, they made up a lot of time.

From Real Estate BISNOW

In a few weeks, Berklee College of Music will open its nearly $100M building for teaching, housing, and feeding students. (It will be the most in tune building on Earth.) We'll learn more about how the world's leading contemporary music school finally built itself world-class digs during Bisnow's third annual Boston Student Housing Summit on Dec. 17, but we've got a sneak peek.

Before Santa boards his sleigh, Berklee VP of real estate and facilities Bill Whitney (an event panelist) expects to file for the C of O of the school's first-ever new build-to-suit facility--a glam addition to this once scruffy stretch of Mass Ave where Back Bay meets Fenway. The elegant 16-story, glass- and metal-clad tower, which was designed by William Rawn Associates includes a student residence with 370 beds, a 400-seat cafe, 4,200 SF of ground-floor retail, and two levels of below-ground, "Hollywood-quality" space for recording, technology classes, critical listening, and film dubbing. Berklee attracts students from 98 countries around the world and now it has a state-of-the-art venue where they can live and learn, Bill says.

In recent years, Berklee's enrollment has been growing faster than its sprawling urban campus of 20 buildings scattered over several blocks, Bill says. It has 4,000 full-time students and until now, only 800 beds on campus. Over the long term, it aspires to accommodate 2,000 students. That would make the city happy, because The Hub's huge student contingent can push apartment rents.
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Re: Berklee Dorm Tower | 168 Mass Ave | Back Bay

I need to get this out... I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS BUILDING'S STREET PRESENCE AT NIGHT. That red wall and ceiling. OMG. I knew it was gonna be good, but not this good. With people inhabiting the space it will be even better. I was so enamored by the podium of this building that I bumped into a street sign walking and staring at this thing. These blurry quick cell phone pix don't do it too much justice. You need to see it in person.

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Re: Berklee Dorm Tower | 168 Mass Ave | Back Bay

Agreed that it's really something. The street level windows, doors, and sidewalk are very nearly done as well- the sidewalk shed should be down any day now.
 
Re: Berklee Dorm Tower | 168 Mass Ave | Back Bay

Berklee or the city ought to repave Mass Ave out front of this dorm after all the wear and tear the asphalt has gone through during the construction of this project. Anyone that's biked northbound here up Mass Ave in the last year knows exactly what I'm talking about.
 
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Re: Berklee Dorm Tower | 168 Mass Ave | Back Bay

I'm assuming that full bike lanes will be restored on both sides of the street when this is finished.
 
Re: Berklee Dorm Tower | 168 Mass Ave | Back Bay

I've seen many times that part of the mitigation by contractors is the repaving of the street. Check out the just-finished Millennium Condo building on Washington St....Total repaving of all contiguous streets.
 
Re: Berklee Dorm Tower | 168 Mass Ave | Back Bay

Wow! I haven't been by there at night recently to see it. Thanks for the pic.
 
Re: Berklee Dorm Tower | 168 Mass Ave | Back Bay

Ok I like that but the tower is still too silly for me.
 
Re: Berklee Dorm Tower | 168 Mass Ave | Back Bay

http://www.boston.com/yourcampus/ne...l_flashmob_at_bostons_museum_of_fine_art.html

Since the MFA expansion thread is closed, I guess this is the second best place to post. Berklee has some great talent, for sure and the Shapiro Courtyard at the MFA is perfect for such performances.

Happy Holidays/Merry Christmas to y'all and best wishes for a healthy, happy 2014! Looks like it's gonna be a banner year for new construction in Boston.

Den
 
Re: Berklee Dorm Tower | 168 Mass Ave | Back Bay

atlantaden said:
http://www.boston.com/yourcampus/ne...l_flashmob_at_bostons_museum_of_fine_art.html

Since the MFA expansion thread is closed, I guess this is the second best place to post. Berklee has some great talent, for sure and the Shapiro Courtyard at the MFA is perfect for such performances.
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God, I wish I had been there for that. Just a beautiful moment in a beautiful space.

Now THAT is what a city is all about.

Thank you for that!
 
Re: Berklee Dorm Tower | 168 Mass Ave | Back Bay

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