Hall of Shame (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. Mass Eye and Ear

2. Harbor Towers

3. 1-2-3 Center Plaza

4. Melnea Cass Blvd

5. Symphony Towers

6. Quincy Market Garage

7. City Hall

8. State Services Center

9. B Line (Green Line)

10. Copley Place

11. Storrow Drive

12. South Bay Center

13. Rutherford Ave.

14. Lafayette Corporate Center

15. BUMC Ambulatory Center

16. One Exeter Plaza

17. The Prudential

18. Four Seasons Hotel

19. McGrath Highway

 

[czsz]

Without a doubt the worst things here are the roads, garages, and South Bay.

 

[armpitsOFmight]

nope, symphony towers is the worst.

 

[czsz]

They're fugly, but at least they bring some higher-density residential life to the neighborhood, and do so without any tower-in-the-park setback nonsense.

 

[Shepard]

The B Line picture features the C line

 

[found5dollar]

Poor Mrs Storrow. AfterIi read that thing that was recently posted about the esplinade, every time I read about Storrow Drive I get sad for her.

 

[TheRifleman]

God I love the Pru. Darth Vader stands alone........

 

[HenryAlan]

It's too late to do anything about it, but we have to nominate the Westin Hotel for this at some point, if for no other reason than what it does to pedestrians.

 

[CSTH]

Pru should be in hall of fame (at least post-plaza renovations)

My vote is for 1-2-3 center plaza. I didnt really appreciate how awful it was until the first time i saw how egregiously it hides the Adams courthouse.

 

[czsz]

^ I'd rather have a building there tracing the street than an empty plaza leading up to the courthouse. There's a nice element of surprise upon finding the courthouse after ascending the elevator under 1-2-3. A lot of people who know Boston don't even know about it...

That said, it would be nice if the building achieving all of this weren't as ugly as 1-2-3...

 

[BostonUrbEx]

What if 1-2-3 was lower so that the courthouse rose up above it and the Pemberton Plaza extended onto the roof of 1-2-3? I think that would cap it at a meesely 2 floors, but, eh...

 

[czsz]

I say instead we would want to carve some sort of larger arch in 1-2-3 (or a better version thereof) with a view toward the courthouse for anyone looking head-on...though it'd remain hidden to all others...

 

[DZH22]

If I could only pick one, I really hate the Symphony Towers. How about a paint job to liven them up a little? They are so plain it's disgusting.

The other 2 I picked were 1-2-3 Center Plaza for essentially walling off the area with the courthouse and Garden of Peace, and the Southbay Center for... whatever reason. Were the original proposed skyscrapers for here really that far away from the rest of the downtown skyline? Would an 800' tower out here really look good with the rest of the city?

It's tough to pick the roads, because every area needs some sort of road. Storrow is actually one of my favorite drives in the city, along with Memorial Drive across the river. All you need to do is understand which lanes you need to be in and the drive becomes exponentially easier. Also, Storrow is a pretty nice scenic route and offers great views of the JHT.

 

[Commuting Boston Student]

No option for the Rose Kennedy Greenway?

 

[Beton Brut]

2011 Nominator's Remorse:

I regret not nominating Boston's piss-poor September 11th Memorial.

Regardless of politics, nothing about this site conveys the shock and sadness of that fateful, era-defining day. I'd rather have nothing than something that looks (and is) so ill-conceived and cheaply made. Truly an embarrassment.

 

[vanshnookenraggen]

Or what about the Vietnam memorial out on Fox Point? Everytime I've driven past I sigh. Who the hell goes out there? I bet people living on Savin Hill don't even know about it.

 

[Commuting Boston Student]

2011 Nominator's Remorse:

I regret not nominating Boston's piss-poor September 11th Memorial.

Regardless of politics, nothing about this site conveys the shock and sadness of that fateful, era-defining day. I'd rather have nothing than something that looks (and is) so ill-conceived and cheaply made. Truly an embarrassment.

Ergh.

Is it too late to swap votes to that, the Rose Kennedy Greenway, and South Bay Center?

 

[Ron Newman]

1-2-3 lines the street with commercial storefronts, nearly all of which are constantly occupied. (Compare to one block away on Washington Street.) There are many worse places in Boston than this.

 

[BostonUrbEx]

2011 Nominator's Remorse:

I regret not nominating Boston's piss-poor September 11th Memorial.

Regardless of politics, nothing about this site conveys the shock and sadness of that fateful, era-defining day. I'd rather have nothing than something that looks (and is) so ill-conceived and cheaply made. Truly an embarrassment.

It could be better, but I don't think it's that bad. I'm not sure what would be better really, except maybe black stone, to be more solemn/dark/"sinister". I think the Holocaust Memorial is a true example of cutting corners. All of the glass panels repeat the same thing, WTF.

 

[czsz]

Luckily the Hall of Shame isn't date restricted and there's room for many more entries in the future. I'd maybe add the overdramatic Socialist Realist Irish famine memorials that now grace public spaces in both Boston and Cambridge...

(as for the Sept. 11th Memorial...there are corporate tax loophole-incentivized plazas that came out better than that...)