kz's Photos from Various Skyscrapers

[kz1000ps]

I decided that since I have so many of these, I should start up a thread on its own so I don't gunk up the photo-of-the-day page. And please click on them to make 'em bigger -- they're 1600 x 1200 -- so enjoy!

26th floor of 111 Huntington. I don't know why the window glare was so pronounced in this set.. too bad

somewhere around floor 20 at 100 Cambridge

The Federal Reserve

and up on some floor in the mid-20s

This is from the top floor of a nondescript 16-story building known as One Washington Mall, just south of City Hall. I happened upon this incidentally, as I was visiting a client on the 6th floor and got in an elevator I thought was going down, but was instead going up to the very top. Once the doors opened, I could see that the entire floor was vacant and in the process of being remodeled, yet there were no contractors on the floor at all, so I just got off and roamed around the place for a bit, snapping up these

And last one from this week's work, from the 29th floor of One International Place

 

[awood91]

wow kz, what brings you to all these different buildings?

 

[Scott]

That is the best view of the JFK Federal I've ever seen.

Thanks for all your pics I always enjoy them.

 

[kz1000ps]

^ I agree on the JFK.. it looks about as sharp as it ever will in that pic. Too bad the chimney cuts it off to the left, but I suppose I can "accidentally stumble" onto floor 16 again next week and retake the shot.

Oh, and as for what my job is, I'm not telling You'll just have to use your imagination. But I will say it's nothing too glamorous, nor is it anything particularly well paying. However, the thrill of going up into all the skyscrapers, seeing these views and all the swanky offices, lobbies and such makes it much fun.

 

[bowesst]

Great shots. Is this a post grad job or something you're doing while you're still in school?

 

[vanshnookenraggen]

DAMN YOU KZ! I have papers to be writing! I don't have time to be sucked in by your amazing pictures.

These really are awesome, truly a completely different perspective of Boston.

 

[briv]

These are great.

Did security give you any problems about taking photos in the Fed Reserve?

 

[kz1000ps]

^ Briv, I assume that if they saw me, the guards in the lobby would have yelled at me not to take any photos, but they didn't, so that's that. And the pictures I took from up high (the 23rd floor to be exact) was in the office of a non-gov't tenant, so they didn't care at all.

Is this a post grad job or something you're doing while you're still in school?

Neither--this is a post-dropout job. Long story short, I hate Berklee and wanted to (and should have) dropped out a lot time ago.

 

[Lrfox]

Wow, these are fantastic. The view from 1 international is a familiar one for me as my father used to work there (not sure which floor, in the 20's though, i was about 10 when he left), then moved across the street to the Oliver Street tower which is not nearly as impressive of a view (most likely due to the lower floor).

The shots you have of Southie from the fed leave a lot to be desired. it's a giant parking lot. I mean, we all knew this, but those photos really put it into perspective. It's funny to see the ICA in that shot. most of the pictures we see are from the water side, and it looks impressive, but in that shot it's soooo lonely.

 

[DudeUrSistersHot]

Are you some sort of messenger or courier?

 

[Waldorf]

That's exactly it. You are a courier.

 

[kz1000ps]

Haha well that didn't take long for you guys to figure things out.

And yes, I'm a crazy US Ground guy.. next time I'm in 1 I.P. I will stop by!

 

[kz1000ps]

Today's catches..

23rd floor of 160 Federal, aka the Landmark, aka the art deco one with the gold crown

6th floor of One Main in Cambridge's Kendall Square

and the 25th floor of 60 State St.

 

[kz1000ps]

Gorgeous day out today

15th floor of 2 International Place

Top floor (10th I believe) of 30 Winter Street

the view is similar to that from Matt Damon's apartment in The Departed but not quite.. was it filmed at Suffolk's Law building?

there were lines in the glass on this side

15th floor of Two Seaport Lane

Last for today, 10th floor of 265 Franklin Street

 

[Mike]

thread of the year!

 

[vanshnookenraggen]

I don't know what it is about all those High Modern office towers. Alone they are bland and uninspired but grouped together then create this great patchwork. It is like the ultimate teamwork of buildings. You don't see anyone but you see all of them. They give the skyline a jumbled feel but at the same time it isn't chaotic to the eye. Clean lines, similar shapes yet different enough. They also allow the more flamboyant towers to stand out. If every tower was Art-Deco or Neo-Classical then their intricate beauty and details would vanish like a face in a crowd. When I walk down the street in New York I love to look at the details on the buildings but standing back, looking at the streetscape, I am blind to them. All the great Art-Deco office buildings (the squat unknowns) blend together and only when you stop and look do you see what they hide in plain sight. The clean lines of High Modern seem to calm the eye. True, many of these buildings lack any charm or character. Some try gimmicks (the "pregnant" buildings) while others quietly fall back into the crowd. Perhaps the greatest gift of these towers is that they help us better appreciate the details of the city below. As Phillip Johnson said about his AT&T building, you can't see the top of the building from the ground. Not everyone can be special, if everyone was then no one would be.

 

[snarl71]

30 Winter Street

Thanks for those pictures! I worked in that exact top floor office (30 Winter Street) in the late 90's/early 00's and some of those views are drastically different now than they were less than a decade ago. Millennium Place was just under construction at the time (on one side of the building) and the 33 Arch Street hadn't even begun yet. The new State Street building also didn't exist. Despite the slow pace, I guess our downtown has actually grown over recent years.

The best view from this building has always been of Boston Common and State House. Such a perfect view - not too far up - a perfect height.

Thanks for the memories! I'm glad PCi Services needed you that day! The first two photos from that building were even from my very desk location. I miss that view now that I'm working for Harvard in Cambridge.

 

[Waldorf]

I don't know what it is about all those High Modern office towers. Alone they are bland and uninspired but grouped together then create this great patchwork. It is like the ultimate teamwork of buildings. You don't see anyone but you see all of them. They give the skyline a jumbled feel but at the same time it isn't chaotic to the eye. Clean lines, similar shapes yet different enough. They also allow the more flamboyant towers to stand out. If every tower was Art-Deco or Neo-Classical then their intricate beauty and details would vanish like a face in a crowd. When I walk down the street in New York I love to look at the details on the buildings but standing back, looking at the streetscape, I am blind to them. All the great Art-Deco office buildings (the squat unknowns) blend together and only when you stop and look do you see what they hide in plain sight. The clean lines of High Modern seem to calm the eye. True, many of these buildings lack any charm or character. Some try gimmicks (the "pregnant" buildings) while others quietly fall back into the crowd. Perhaps the greatest gift of these towers is that they help us better appreciate the details of the city below. As Phillip Johnson said about his AT&T building, you can't see the top of the building from the ground. Not everyone can be special, if everyone was then no one would be.

"The whole is greater than the sum of its parts."

 

[singbat]

fantastic pictures -- especially the mid level near DTX.

i'm pretty sure Matt D.'s Departed view was from a building at 2 o:clock from where that shot was. i'll have to check, but i thought i remembered seeing the fountain across from Ashburton place.

 

[kz1000ps]

About the Departed apartment, here's a screen shot

note the red brick building with the arched windows, and the line of buildings growing closer to you at the lower left -- these are the structures that frame the Granary to the west and south. Now going to Google Maps, that leaves us with a narrow area this could have been shot from. Add in the fact that the apartment has a balcony and looks to be fairly new construction, and my guess is it's from the top floor of the Suffolk Law building.