Hall of Fame (CHOOSE 3)

Hall of Fame Vote- CHOOSE THREE! (see photos below)

  • 1. Winthrop Building

    Votes: 18 22.5%
  • 2. Wigglesworth Building

    Votes: 10 12.5%
  • 3. West End's Last Tenement

    Votes: 16 20.0%
  • 4. Blackstone Block

    Votes: 17 21.3%
  • 5. Trinity Church

    Votes: 25 31.3%
  • 6. Tremont Temple

    Votes: 2 2.5%
  • 7. South Station

    Votes: 19 23.8%
  • 8. Public Garden Lagoon Bridge

    Votes: 8 10.0%
  • 9. North Square

    Votes: 5 6.3%
  • 10. New England Aquarium

    Votes: 5 6.3%
  • 11. MIT Chapel

    Votes: 9 11.3%
  • 12. Our Lady of Perpetual Hope Basilica , Mission Church

    Votes: 5 6.3%
  • 13. MIT Kresge Auditorium

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 14. Harvard Square Station

    Votes: 2 2.5%
  • 15. Fenway Park

    Votes: 14 17.5%
  • 16. Federal Reserve

    Votes: 6 7.5%
  • 17. Harvard Medical School Quad

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 18. Copley BPL McKim Building

    Votes: 27 33.8%
  • 19. Five Cents Savings Bank

    Votes: 14 17.5%
  • 20. Blackstone Square, South End

    Votes: 1 1.3%
  • 21. Batterymarch Building

    Votes: 10 12.5%
  • 22. Ames Building

    Votes: 16 20.0%
  • 23. MIT Baker House

    Votes: 3 3.8%
  • 24. State Services Center

    Votes: 6 7.5%
  • 25. 360 Newbury Street

    Votes: 3 3.8%

  • Total voters
    80

briv

Senior Member
Joined
May 25, 2006
Messages
2,083
Reaction score
3
REMEMBER TO CHOOSE 3!

Polls close 11:59pm on Feb 28.

A list of all previous winners can be found here: http://www.archboston.org/awards/

In no particular order:


1. Winthrop Building
WinthropBldg.jpg



2. Wigglesworth Building
WigglesworthBoston.jpg



3. West End's Last Tenement
west_end_lone_tenement.jpg



4. Blackstone Block
Union_Oyster_Blackstone_block.jpg



5. Trinity Church
trinity_church_wikimedia.jpg



6. Tremont Temple
Tremont_temple_2.jpg



7. South Station
SouthStationagr.jpg



8. Public Garden Lagoon Bridge
Public_Garden_Lagoon_3.jpg



9. North Square
north_sq_google_sv.jpg



10. New England Aquarium
ne_aquarium.jpg



11. MIT Chapel
MIT_Chapel_Cambridge_Massachusetts_-_interior.jpg



12. Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Hope, Mission Church
mission_church_boston_globe.jpg



13. MIT Kresge Auditorium
Kresge_Auditorium_MIT_view_with_Green_Building.jpg



14. Harvard Square Station
harvard_sq_mbta_int.jpg



15. Fenway Park
Fenway_Park.jpg



16. Federal Reserve
FederalReserveBankBuildingBoston.jpg



17. Harvard Medical School Quad
Harvard_Medical_School_HDR.jpg



18. Copley BPL McKim Building
Boston_Public_Library2.jpg



19. Five Cents Savings Bank
boston_five_cent_savings_kmw.jpg



20. Blackstone Square, South End
blackstone_sq_Southend.jpg



21. Batterymarch Building
batterymarch_building_boston.jpg



22. Ames Building
ames-building.jpg



23. MIT Baker House
aalto-baker-aerial.jpg



24. State Services Center
2009_Government_Center_Boston_3586354507_.jpg



25. 360 Newbury Street
360_newbury_boston.jpg
 
#4/Blackstone Block is a no-brainer, IMO. #5, too. And I didn't find it easy to come up with a 3rd so I fell back on Fenway... meh.
 
Trinity, MIT Chapel, McKim

Gotta get the historical ones in.
 
Bleh. Boston's historic architecture gets enough praise. I went with Harvard Station and the State Services Center.

Couldn't resist voting for the West End Tenement as well, though.
 
Trinity, South Station, Five Cents Savings Bank. Though if Borders closes and is replaced by something boring (like another bank), I may regret that choice.
 
Bleh. Boston's historic architecture gets enough praise. I went with Harvard Station and the State Services Center.

Bah. Maybe I'm taking this too seriously but I don't think age should be considered at all when making the selection. The buildings should stand on their own merit. And as much as I like SSC & Harvard station and think they deserve to be chosen (elected?, enshrined?) someday, they are not 1st ballot choices in this class.
 
1, 8, 24, because while some of the greatest well known architecture is nominated this year, i think this award should include buildings and structures that are amazing, but are usually overlooked.
 
Bah. Maybe I'm taking this too seriously but I don't think age should be considered at all when making the selection. The buildings should stand on their own merit. And as much as I like SSC & Harvard station and think they deserve to be chosen (elected?, enshrined?) someday, they are not 1st ballot choices in this class.
That was my kind of thinking too. A lot the other buildings deserve it too (like the SSC, and the Boston Five [which I nominated, but didn't end up picking]), but there are Boston treasures that are on this list that have stood the test of time and are amazing pieces of architecture, like the BPL.

It's hard to even pit Trinity Church against the SSC...
 
For the record, I don't think Trinity or BPL are necessarily "amazing pieces of architecture". They're both extremely beautiful, but they're not very original or thought provoking. Standard 19th century historicism referencing previous styles.
 
For the record, I don't think Trinity or BPL are necessarily "amazing pieces of architecture". They're both extremely beautiful, but they're not very original or thought provoking. Standard 19th century historicism referencing previous styles.

This board confuses me. One thread, everyone is raving about the past and the next thread people are calling it overrated.

The BPL courtyard is one of my favorite outdoor spaces in Boston and for that reason among others, I had to give it my vote. I love taking a break there in the spring/summer and using my laptop at a table (never at night, especially now, so I don't get stabbed). The reading room is pretty spectacular too and the facade is like a palazzo... the list goes on. I think the McKim building has withstood the test of time and is a valuable asset to the City of Boston.
 
If you love it for the above reasons, that's great. My point was only that there are different ways of thinking about what sort of architecture is worthy of praise / enshrinement.
 
This board confuses me. One thread, everyone is raving about the past and the next thread people are calling it overrated.

Well, "the board' is actually a collection of autonomous individuals, each with our own thoughts, feeling and opinions on matters.

There are only a few case where the majority of members agree with each other (Columbus Center, Filene's, etc). Most of the time we are bickering about something. :)
 
The Last Tenement almost made it.

Now that most of the obvious choices are out of the way I think the future inductees will become more interesting.
 
For the record, I don't think Trinity or BPL are necessarily "amazing pieces of architecture". They're both extremely beautiful, but they're not very original or thought provoking. Standard 19th century historicism referencing previous styles.

By your standards, what work of "19th century historicism" could possibly warrant your consideration? These are two of the most beautiful buildings of the 19th century anywhere in America.

Actually, when you look back at architectural history, both buildings were very innovative, but in a 19th century context. They were ahead of their time and they greatly influenced the following generations of American architects. At Copley Square, you have the origins of both the Richardsonian Romanesque and the City Beautiful.
 
Richardsonian Romanesque - can any style that apes even the title of a medieval one be that original? Sure, Richardson put his own spin on it, but it's essentially the 7th century, recycled for the technical needs of the 19th.

City Beautiful - same as Richardsonian Romanesque, only aping classical Greco-Roman architecture instead.

The 19th century was actually a pretty terrible time for truly original thought in architecture. By contrast, 18th century Georgian architecture was extremely bold in its rejection of the baroque and rococo flourishes of the 17th.

Again, I think Trinity Church and the BPL are gorgeous. But if originalism is the standard, maybe we should be taking a second look at the Georgian-Puritan hybrid mold birthed by the Old State House and Faneuil Hall.
 

Back
Top