Harvard Enterprise Research Campus | 100 Western Avenue | Allston

[Javier]

 

[sean99090900]

 

[DZH22]

5/14 From Mount Auburn

IMG_0053 by David Z, on Flickr

IMG_0121 by David Z, on Flickr

 

[mssrro]

5/25:

 

[#bancars]

5/25:

I do appreciate how the buildings are spaced fairly close together instead of with massive dead spaces of grass and bushes between them. This part of Allston already feels so spread out that I'm hopeful the full build out of this project may make it feel less so.

 

[#bancars]

June 15, 2025 from my helmet cam:

 

[Suffolk 83]

Except for maybe the low rise these are all really ugly

 

[Equilibria]

Except for maybe the low rise these are all really ugly

The red one is a reasonable background building, but that hotel is the worst thing built in the City in years.

 

[SteelyTom]

Altogether it looks like an aesthetic fail, but time will tell.

 

[Auditorium]

Just add some skyways and this could be Winnipeg, 1973.

 

[TC_zoid]

If someone had sent me a picture of this building before I knew what it was, I would have asked, are they taking it down? Where is it? Flint, MI? Toledo? Jackson, Mississippi? But really, Cambridge at Harvard? How does this happen?

 

[stefal]

By a world renowned firm, nonetheless. Says something about the weight of winning an AIA Gold Medal these days...

 

[Longfellow]

The project is indicative of the institutional rot and lack of ideas at all american institutions. The entire machinery moves automously without vision or oversight--the university has a goal to expand its footprint so they can hire more people, so they purchase land, they pay for buildings, the buildings are built. At no point does anyone ask why or how. The only restraints being the international mechanical code and the institutional masterplan. Neither the architects or the university cares about this project since the check is already in the mail. When this was financed Harvard was still the king of the world--they could have built Hogwarts but instead they built Winnepeg.

 

[stick n move]

Architects in general have been out of touch with the general public for a while. Designing buildings to impress other architects instead of building things people think look nice or actually want to live/work in. So many buildings are built in order to stand out instead of blend in to the local character and actually enhance it. Now local character has nearly died in new architecture where everything is the same everywhere. There is momentum slowly building in the other direction, but its just getting started.

Where do people go on vacation and where are the most expensive parts of cities? People go on vacation to cities with beautiful vernacular architecture that is enjoyable to walk around and explore. The areas with the most authentic architecture to that city are the areas that are the most expensive. Theres no reason that more of this stuff cant be built today. Paris is knocking down its old commie block suburbs and replacing them with neo-hausmann buildings that expand what is great about the parisian core way beyond what is there today. In 50 years or 100 years these will be just as authentic as any other areas, and in the meantime these are beautiful, walkable, lovely, enjoyable, relaxing areas to live.

Ive said it before but if youre an architect and youre asking “how can I make this stand out as much as possible” youre asking the 100% wrong question.

They should always ask “what should go here that would make this the most enjoyable place for humans to live/work and would improve the area around it by being built”.

-Edit to add, thats not to say all commie blocks are bad or all modern architecture that is designed to be flashy is bad. Just that when thats 95% of what is being built to the point its making all cities look exactly the same then its bad imo. Too much of anything isnt good. Great cities have all different kinds of architecture mixed together imo. Great cities can also have their own style where most buildings look a similar way. The problem (in my opinion) is when one style is being built in every city across the entire world.

 

[mssrro]

Maybe you all are just unable to appreciate the artful symbolism of the building? It may look ugly, but the massing speaks to the campus's role in bringing Allston closer to Boston and Cambridge! Also, it has covered walkways!

"Located within the Allston Landing North neighborhood of west Boston, the Enterprise Research Campus (ERC) revitalizes a former industrial rail yard into a green, pedestrian-friendly hub for creativity, exploration, and research. Anchoring the northwest corner of the campus is the ERC Hotel, a 240 key lifestyle hotel and mixed-use tower. The ground floor features restaurants, shops, and cafes that outline the edge of the campus and frame the entrance to the Allston-Cambridge Greenway.

A series of pedestrian focused “urban rooms” define the ground floor and act as moments of refuge in the bustle of the city, beneath the mass of the building. Enhancing the streetscape further, porches on the east and west and covered walks along the north create opportunities for the building program to spill out into the streets while inviting the public in. The tower rises 16 floors above the street with the penthouse levels extending out in a gesture towards the Charles River and the city of Boston beyond. As the massing of the hotel gestures towards the city it signals the ambitions of the Enterprise Research Center to connect simultaneously to Allston, Cambridge, and Boston.

https://www.marlonblackwell.com/project/harvard-erc-hotel/

 

[stick n move]

I like the C (L?) shaped building and tree house the best out of this project, its the other ones I’m not crazy about.

It looks like theres still a lot of wood to come on the exterior of the tree house.

Img: mssrro