GrandMarc Residence Hall (YMCA) @ Northeastern U | 291 St. Botolph Street | Fenway

Re: YMCA/ Northeastern Dorm (formerly GrandMarc at St. Botolph)

briv said:
Seriously, who but a future NEU student gives a fat rat's ass about where the laundry room is? This building will hang over the surrounding neighborhood like a wide, stumpy curtain of crap.
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My freshman year involved carrying laundry to another county across a large body of moving water. Laundry location is important.
 
Re: YMCA/ Northeastern Dorm (formerly GrandMarc at St. Botolph)

Most laundry rooms are located in the basement. Won't be surprised if this is the case.
 
Re: YMCA/ Northeastern Dorm (formerly GrandMarc at St. Botolph)

erikyow said:
Before long we'll be regarding this in the same light we regard 60s and 70s concrete blocks.
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Before long? I'm already there.
 
Re: YMCA/ Northeastern Dorm (formerly GrandMarc at St. Botolph)

briv said:
Seriously, who but a future NEU student gives a fat rat's ass about where the laundry room is? This building will hang over the surrounding neighborhood like a wide, stumpy curtain of crap.
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I'd say that the utility to the people who are going to use the building is of the utmost importance.
 
Re: YMCA/ Northeastern Dorm (formerly GrandMarc at St. Botolph)

DominusNovus said:
I'd say that the utility to the people who are going to use the building is of the utmost importance.
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How dare you make such a statement! A building's worth is measured by how much it pleases the self appointed and anointed critics, most of whom will never have need to enter the building.
 
Re: YMCA/ Northeastern Dorm (formerly GrandMarc at St. Botolph)

I think you guys are missing the point of this forum.

Most of the people who post here live/work in or around the city. We experience most of the buildings we talk about from the outside only, but on a daily basis. That's mostly what concerns us. The location of a laundry room really isn't that big of deal to the majority of the folks here.
Sorry if that hurts anyone's feelings.
 
Re: YMCA/ Northeastern Dorm (formerly GrandMarc at St. Botolph)

No, I think they get it. Y'all take this site and yourselves way too seriously. Semi-delusional IMO.
 
Re: YMCA/ Northeastern Dorm (formerly GrandMarc at St. Botolph)

You're right. Please, carry on with the fascinating speculation concerning the location of the laundry room.

Hey, where do you guys think they'll they put the snack machines?
 
Re: YMCA/ Northeastern Dorm (formerly GrandMarc at St. Botolph)

briv said:
You're right. Please, carry on with the fascinating speculation concerning the location of the laundry room.

Hey, where do you guys think they'll they put the snack machines?
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^^The vending machines are featured on the first floor next to the secured lounge space (I know that comment was made with tongue-in-cheek, but I couldn't resist).

I'll be at the next NU Task Force meeting on February 9th, when I anticipate NU will be sharing its institutional master plan with the city and community. I'll also be sure to confirm with them that the GrandMarc project includes a laundry room. ;-)
 
Re: YMCA/ Northeastern Dorm (formerly GrandMarc at St. Botolph)

Don't read this week's Boston Courant unless you want to end up shooting yourself in the head.

The complaint is that the gym will be torn down. 500 signatures have already been collected in opposition.

"We think the process and the proposal are deeply flawed."
 
Re: YMCA/ Northeastern Dorm (formerly GrandMarc at St. Botolph)

TomOfBoston said:
How dare you make such a statement! A building's worth is measured by how much it pleases the self appointed and anointed critics, most of whom will never have need to enter the building.
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Tom: This is exactly the point and is exactly what is wrong with many architects.

Briv: The guy is obviously new and is a NU student himself, so yeah, he would have reason to question where the laundry room might be. While, yes, it's ignoring the bigger picture, it is completely rude and extremely unprofessional for an administrator to mock a new member like that. As a forum owner myself, I am disgusted.
 
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Re: YMCA/ Northeastern Dorm (formerly GrandMarc at St. Botolph)

Snack machines in the first floor, maybe the second floor lounge, basement near the laundry, and top floor lounge as well? Can anyone brief me on the typical snack machine density at NEU?
 
Re: YMCA/ Northeastern Dorm (formerly GrandMarc at St. Botolph)

datadyne007 said:
This is exactly the point and is exactly what is wrong with many architects.

The guy is obviously new and is a NU student himself, so yeah, he would have reason to question where the laundry room might be. While, yes, it's ignoring the bigger picture, it is completely rude and extremely unprofessional for an administrator to mock a new member like that. As a forum owner myself, I am disgusted.
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Tom isn't an admin... the only admin is Briv, and we have 2 or 3 mods. Tom is just a [senior] member.
 
Re: YMCA/ Northeastern Dorm (formerly GrandMarc at St. Botolph)

BostonUrbEx said:
Tom isn't an admin... the only admin is Briv, and we have 2 or 3 mods. Tom is just a [senior] member.
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I was talking about Briv. I know Tom isnt. I put the line break in after I responded to his comment (which was spot on).
 
Re: YMCA/ Northeastern Dorm (formerly GrandMarc at St. Botolph)

datadyne007 said:
Briv: The guy is obviously new and is a NU student himself, so yeah, he would have reason to question where the laundry room might be. While, yes, it's ignoring the bigger picture, it is completely rude and extremely unprofessional for an administrator to mock a new member like that. As a forum owner myself, I am disgusted.
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I wouldnt go as far as saying it's disgusting, but I also don't get the criticism.

If someone wants to talk about the tiny details in the building, than why the hell not? Anybody who only wants to discuss the exterior can skip that post and move on.

I mean, we don't want to turn into railroad.net where any side conversation results in a lockdown.

Personally, I feel that the interior design is as important, if not more important than the exterior. If the building is designed without laundry, it's a major screw up, especially if it means students with giant bags of dirty clothes crossing the street to do their laundry.
 
Re: YMCA/ Northeastern Dorm (formerly GrandMarc at St. Botolph)

jass said:
Personally, I feel that the interior design is as important, if not more important than the exterior.
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Exactly. It's something that a lot of architects and this board in general completely ignores. No one thinks about how the spaces interact or what feelings/actions they invoke. In my experience of taking to architects trained in the 50s-80s, this is the case. They only care what architects might think of the building, what the theory says and not how the actual occupants will think or use it. It's only when you get to people trained in the 90s through today where there is a nice focus on interior quality and how occupants might actually use it, instead of designing based on theory only.

I had a professor sophomore year who insisted I put a gigantic Corbusian ramp right in the middle of my building just "because." When I asked him who would use it, his response was "... I would." That's a major problem. There's a blatant lack of architect-occupant connection here. No one in their right mind would use that ramp to circulate through the building besides an architect that would think it's "cool."

/end rant - sorry this is just something that sits in me.
 
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Re: YMCA/ Northeastern Dorm (formerly GrandMarc at St. Botolph)

datadyne007 said:
Exactly. It's something that a lot of architects and this board in general completely ignores. No one thinks about how the spaces interact or what feelings/actions they invoke. In my experience of taking to architects trained in the 50s-80s, this is the case. They only care what architects might think of the building, what the theory says and not how the actual occupants will think or use it. It's only when you get to people trained in the 90s through today where there is a nice focus on interior quality and how occupants might actually use it, instead of designing based on theory only.
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This is only a problem for the small minority of architects who can actually get away with imposing their own ideas about architecture.

The rest more or less design for clients' needs from the inside out, and most clients set out their needs in a pretty utilitarian fashion - among the most prominently listed is always cost. (Outside) form follows (inside) function. It's how we wind up with so many wide buildings, designed around cheap but spatially efficient hallway layouts. Most architecture is ugly because use IS the primary factor considered or involved.
 
Re: YMCA/ Northeastern Dorm (formerly GrandMarc at St. Botolph)

grandmarc_fascinating_floorplan.jpg


I think interiors are important too, and, believe it or not, more notable interiors are occasionally discussed here--like the recent MFA addition for example. However, looking at the floor plans of this building, it appears to be your standard, utterly unremarkable, boilerplate, rooms-flanking-long-corridors, bottom-line-driven interior. I'm sure its inhabitants will be quite comfortable, but does anyone believe it's worthy of in-depth analysis or something?

This building will be the largest, most visible building in its immediate neighborhood and will play a substantial role on how that neighborhood is defined and experienced. Because of this, I think the exterior of this building warrants more thorough scrutiny.

datadyne007 said:
Briv: The guy is obviously new and is a NU student himself, so yeah, he would have reason to question where the laundry room might be. While, yes, it's ignoring the bigger picture, it is completely rude and extremely unprofessional for an administrator to mock a new member like that. As a forum owner myself, I am disgusted.
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Let's not get carried away.
 
Re: YMCA/ Northeastern Dorm (formerly GrandMarc at St. Botolph)

TomOfBoston said:
How dare you make such a statement! A building's worth is measured by how much it pleases the self appointed and anointed critics, most of whom will never have need to enter the building.
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I assumed everyone would see the sarcasm in this comment.
 
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