La CASA | 85 West Newton Street | South End

[stick n move]

-Wasnt an existing thread:

85 West Newton Street​

“The Project is the redevelopment of the site of the Villa Victoria Center for the Arts which was located in the former All Saints Lutheran Church at 85 West Newton Street. IBA had to demolish the structure in 2020 due to severe structural conditions. The site is 9,301 square feet with frontage on West Newton Street. The site is adjacent to City of Boston O’Day Park and the proposed project is designed to have a relationship to West Newton Street, the park, and its neighbors. The proposed new approximately 26,000 square foot four (4)-story building will create a new multi-purpose community arts center. Uses will include a performance and events multipurpose space, art exhibition space, practice rooms and classrooms, meeting and community rooms, and offices for IBA administration, resident services, youth programming and other arts and services, as well as the property management office for the IBA housing properties. The Project will be constructed in one phase.”

https://www.bostonplans.org/projects/development-projects/85-west-newton-street

 

[stick n move]

Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción hosts beam raising at $33 million La CASA​

“Boston, MA Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción (IBA) marked a historic milestone with the beam signing and raising for La CASA: The Center for Arts, Self-determination and Activism. Accompanying the ceremony was the announcement of a $1 million matching gift from Barbara and Amos Hostetter.

Anticipated to open in 2026, La CASA is a 26,000 s/f, $33 million project set to become a hub for Latino cultural preservation and community empowerment. Community leaders, philanthropists, financial partners, staff and artists, and residents and neighbors attended the ceremony to celebrate the progression of the project that will soon serve as a focal point for community engagement, arts education, and cultural expression…..”

https://nerej.com/inquilinos-boricuas-en-accion-hosts-beam-raising-at-33-million-la-casa

 

[Java King]

It will be interesting to see if that cool Garage Door in the first rendering makes it into the final project.

 

[Jeremi]

These dimwits should have had the land seized after they let the church rot and collapse.

 

[Jeremi]

What a joke. Another offset windows bore.

 

[HenryAlan]

It's a shame the All Saints building couldn't have been preserved, but that sort of stewardship would require resources nobody was interested in committing. Villa Victoria did what they could, but most of their funding is donor restricted to other purposes. The good news is that some great programming will be able to continue in this new facility.

 

[shmessy]

It's a shame the All Saints building couldn't have been preserved, but that sort of stewardship would require resources nobody was interested in committing. Villa Victoria did what they could, but most of their funding is donor restricted to other purposes. The good news is that some great programming will be able to continue in this new facility.

+1. And I really like the renders of this - - let’s see if it comes to fruition when built. This is not some blob with few or no windows (i.e. new MIT Music building or new Boston Holocaust Museum). There are varied materials (in particular, on the West Newton St side, the nod to the Mass College of Art “Treehouse” dorm tower on Huntington) and the building is well broken up geometrically, giving it the look of multiple buildings instead of one blob. The plaza for outdoor community events, with its curved seating, will be effective there.

Will wait to see how close to the render the final result is, though the render is promising.

 

[stick n move]

I like that even though it isnt brick they made the effort to make it brick colored to look like it belongs in the neighborhood. I think its important for buildings to take their context into consideration. It looks like it belongs here and thats appreciated.

 

[HenryAlan]

I think its important for buildings to take their context into consideration. It looks like it belongs here and thats appreciated.

And I really like the way they did it, too. They used the color palette to achieve some contextual balance, but also managed a structure that is new and bold in many of the design elements. This will look fantastic if built as rendered.