Mandarin Oriental | 776 Boylston St | Back Bay

Skybridges

Let's not forget -- for at least 4 months of the year {until the real Global Warming} -- Boston is often cold, wet and not exactly ?sidewalk-caf?-town? 8)

On the other hand the Pru/Copley-Place/Hynes integrated complex -- is an ideal place to shop, eat and attend a tradeshow or conference even in February
A bit off-topic but I think a similar complex of covered connections will eventually evolve around the BEC-Westin and Waterside Place
And Both Pru/Copley-Place/Hynes and BEC/Westin/Waterside-Place will be positive features of Boston -- a true multi-seasonal city

I just hope that the designers of the "gerbil tubes" also think of how they relate to folks on the street and in the sidewalk cafes in September

Also a bit off-topic -- there is a missing covered connection between NorthStation T and NorthStation Commuter-Rail/Amtrak


The key to making "gerbil tubes" and "rat holes" {i.e. underground passages} successful is to integrate the overall pedestrian passage, structures and street into the overall local fabric -- so that you can have a pleasant open-air summer environment {June-September} a heated open air {perhaps with a retractable fabric roof for precipitation} Autumn environment {October - November even December and some of our pseudo spring} and a place for functional pedestrian access for the rest of the year when the street is not your friend {winter + sometimes our pseudo spring}

Then you will encourage the pedestrian to use the environment year round and to find it if not enjoyable at least not unpleasant.
 
Let's not forget -- for at least 4 months of the year {until the real Global Warming} -- Boston is often cold, wet and not exactly ?sidewalk-caf?-town?
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So is Paris, the original sidewalk cafe city. I wonder why American sidewalk cafes never managed to invest in the outdoor heaters that keep European sidewalk spots open for a good deal more time in the year.

And Both Pru/Copley-Place/Hynes and BEC/Westin/Waterside-Place will be positive features of Boston -- a true multi-seasonal city
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Oh, like the downtowns of Minneapolis and Calgary - what inspiring examples.

Also a bit off-topic -- there is a missing covered connection between NorthStation T and NorthStation Commuter-Rail/Amtrak
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We've been over this - the tunnel under Causeway Street will eventually emerge inside a new concourse when the development in front of the Garden is built.
 
If done correctly, with variety between the buildings, and ample and a very open/inviting street entrances, gerbil tubes and rat holes work. Gerbil tubes dont need to look like the ones at the Pru/Copley. There are plenty of ways to make the area into gerbil tubes AND sidewalk cafes. It doesn't need to be one way or the other.
 
czsz said:
Let's not forget -- for at least 4 months of the year {until the real Global Warming} -- Boston is often cold, wet and not exactly ?sidewalk-caf?-town?
Click to expand...

So is Paris, the original sidewalk cafe city. I wonder why American sidewalk cafes never managed to invest in the outdoor heaters that keep European sidewalk spots open for a good deal more time in the year.
Click to expand...


It rarely ever snows in Paris, and temperatures below 25f are unheard of.

Some do have the heaters. The restaurant outside hotel commonwealth has them on often, its nice to walk by.
 
So what's going on with this? We have practically a daily update of the crappy little apple store and nobody thinks to turn around and get a shot of this?
 
As long as that black netting is up, it isn't much to look at. I snapped a few pictures Friday, but I didn't bother to post them because there's next to nothing new to see.

The day the netting comes down I'll be all over that sucker.
 
The day the netting comes down I'll be all over that sucker.
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Today is that day...

I was in the neighborhood this morning - they're starting to take it down on the "building" next to the arcade entry.
 
as it is

As it is, this morning.

mandarin1.jpg
 
You got the wrong side. About the top third is uncovered.
 
I hope it looks less cheap in real life...
 
More stuff ...

More Mandarin Oriental ... pretty much the same photo, several times!

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And, the Prudential Tower (awww ...)

grp%20010.jpg
 
Two things:

--The balance between glass and brick/stone sucks. It looks like it can't decide which material it wants to predominantly be.

--Why are the three hundred corners on this thing so ungraceful? All those setbacks should inspire some sort of pseudo-romantic notions, and yet all I can think is "how blocky and unhip."

I do however like that color scheme.
 
I for one wasn't expecting it to be orange.
 
The corners are supposed to be balconies. They probably won't look as ungraceful once the railings are in place.
 
Good to hear. Still, I think it's in need of a lot of quoins.
 
Keep in mind that the above rendering and picture are showing opposite corners of the building. If you actually look hard at the rendering you can see that the structure of the other corner is actually pretty similar to the picture (if you can imagine the railings). Other than the darker color, I have a feeling that it's going to end up looking more like the rendering than we think.
 
It's the darker color that irks me. I thought we were going to get some kind of beige or cream...the deeper orange screams Miami, and cheapens the texture of the materials, at least from afar.
 
They're two separate buildings -- at least that's how I assumed the designers meant them to read. If you look at the rendering, the north building appears to be a darker brick than the larger southern one -- which actually looks like it's clad in stone. The material of the north building in the photo does appear to match that in the rendering. Maybe when the veil comes down it will reveal a lighter stone material on the south one.
 
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