Hall of Fame (CHOOSE 3)

[briv]

REMEMBER TO CHOOSE 3!

Polls close 11:59pm on March 1.

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

In no particular order:

1. Columbus Park

2. Castle Island & Pleasure Bay

3. Public Garden

4. Lagoon Bridge

5. Kresge Auditorium

6. Winthrop Building

7. SS Pierce building

8. MIT Building 10

9. MFA

10. Lenox Hotel

11. New Old South Church

12. Faneuil Hall Marketplace

13. Symphony Hall

14. Jordan Hall

15. Ames Building

16. Wigglesworth Building

17. The Esplanade

18. Southwest Corridor Park

19. Back Bay Fens

20. Boston Common

21. Thomas Park

22. Longfellow Bridge

23. Post Office Square

24. Federal Reserve

25. Church of the Advent

26. All Saints Ashmont

27. Boylston Street Firehouse

28. Ether Dome

29. Forest Hills Cemetery

30. Mt Auburn Cemetery

31. Batterymarch Building

32. Five Cents Savings Bank

33. MIT Chapel

34. Blackstone Block

35. West End's Last Tenement

36. State Services Center

 

[Ron Newman]

The photo that you have labelled "MIT 77 Mass. Ave" is actually not the smaller Mass. Ave. dome (Building 7), but rather the larger one facing the Charles River across the Great Court (Building 10).

I suggest leaving the photo as is, but changing the caption (and poll choice) accordingly.

 

[briv]

Thanks, Ron. I was searching around for the name of that building. I'm surprised these buildings have such anonymous names.

 

[Ron Newman]

The oldest part of MIT is one very large building, now arbitrarily divided up into building numbers 1, 3, 10, 4, and 2. Everything else (including the Building 7 entrance at 77 Mass. Ave.) was added on later.

Officially, buildings 3, 10, and 4 are the Maclaurin Buildings, named after the MIT president who oversaw their construction.

Building 7, the grand staircase entrance on Mass. Ave., is officially the Rogers Building, named after MIT's founder. MIT had an earlier Rogers Building, now demolished, in the Back Bay.

 

[DZH22]

New Old South Church, Ames Building, and Federal Reserve (11, 15, 24)

 

[found5dollar]

this year i found it especially hard to pick only 3... there is alot of great buildings nomed.

 

[whighlander]

I agree the mix of parks and buildings made three insufficient

In the future there should be two separate award categories:

1) parks, bridges and infrastructure
2) buildings

 

[Bubbybu]

how can you choose just three here? it's like impossible

 

[czsz]

You can knock out quite a few, I think. Christopher Columbus park - really hall of fame worthy? A couple nondescript churches. The SS Pierce building is nice but does it really deserve induction over, say, the New Old South Church? I would apply that same logic to PO Square...

 

[briv]

So most of the obvious ones have already made it into the Hall of Fame. Maybe this year we can look at the less obvious ones, like the State Services Center (I know I'm dreaming), or the Five Cents Savings Bank, or the Last Tenement, the last true living vestige of the West End--which is in danger of being gobbled up by North Station development. Or how about the MIT Chapel, who's thoughtful, space-age design has influenced so many other buildings.

 

[found5dollar]

I agree the mix of parks and buildings made three insufficient

In the future there should be two separate award categories:

1) parks, bridges and infrastructure
2) buildings

as i stated before in the Best New Development Thread, "Thats what I think makes these awards, and this website, so interesting. The mix of architecture, urban planning, and urban quality of life stuff make a really rich variety of nominees." I too had an exceptionally hard time choosing only 3, but that s good news. Boston has so many great things that, hopefully, the creme de la creme of all of it will be what is inducted.

 

[statler]

Look, there is no polite way to say this so I'll just spit out.

If the Winthrop Building don't win I'm burning this place to the fucking ground.

Choose wisely.

 

[kz1000ps]

Sorry Statler, but no Winthrop for me (not yet at least). As it turns out I voted for two parks and a church in Ashmont.

 

[Pierce]

maybe next year a runoff to get the nominees down to 7-10 finalists? or do it via tournament bracket?

this list is way too long, and there is far too much decent but middling stuff.... it looks like a tourist's vacation photo set. We need to separate the wheat from the chaff here

 

[czsz]

the Last Tenement, the last true living vestige of the West End--which is in danger of being gobbled up by North Station development

The implication here is that the awards can help save / improve Boston's architecture/infrastructure/urbanism?

Why not try to put them to work this year? All we need to really do is send a targeted press release to local publications plus local urbanists like Robert Campbell and Anthony Flint...

 

[Ron Newman]

The Last Tenement is noteworthy for having survived, but deprived of any context whatsoever (old or new) it doesn't do a whole lot for the city. Either it should be built around in a sympathetic manner, or it should be moved somewhere else where it can be better appreciated.

 

[statler]

 

[czsz]

Ames Building over New Old South? WHY?

 

[Justin7]

The Public Garden/Bridge split the vote. Rigged election.

 

[datadyne007]

FHM so deserved it. I'm so glad it has been enshrined. The impact it has on our city is simply outstanding. It is the guaranteed place where any tourist in the world visiting Boston will end up. I also particularly enjoy its siting right in the true history of Boston (Faneuil Hall and the Harbor). It's not some shopping mecca that is removed from the history.