Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial | Boston Common | Downtown

tangent said:
This view wrecks it for me. You want it to work in the context. This just blocks the view of the state house with an ugly ramp:

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I actually think there is something quite powerful (and undoubtedly intentional on the part of the designer) to have a monument to MLK--essentially a monument to civil disobedience against government institutions--intruding on the view of the state house.

Imagine a speaker addressing a protest from that balcony, framed by the state house behind her. It's almost too perfect.
 
Yes. The idea that this memorial should be polite and deferential isn't great.
 
I think the integration of the embraced hands within the landscape of the last one with the bridge would be quite powerful.
 
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I like the recommended positioning of The Embrace (clasped hands), over closer to the Parkman Bandstand. Much better than the monuments that mess with the view of the State House.
 
The bridge one looks cool and is a great design. However, count me in as someone who would never support that big chunk of the common swallowed up for a monument to anyone. I wish Boston had more centrally located, large civic spaces. City Hall would be inappropriate, but I can’t think where else…

If it’s going to be a single sculpture, I don’t like the other presentations…
 
I'm a curmudgeon so I really dislike all of these. None of them seem to understand the context at all. In some ways, while I really value the pastoral nature of the Common, having a memorial to MLK Jr. there is automatically addressing history, and issues associated with the development of the US.

That said, I wonder about Parkman Plaza along Tremont Street as a more appropriate location. It's tough because it's right over the Green Line, but it's a plaza, gathering space and the start of the Freedom Trail. To me putting MLK at the Freedom Trail explicitly is very meaningful and challenging.

Even better, put it where it belongs at BU.

statler said:
So apparently this is going to be a lot more than just a simple statue.

If anyone can find some sources aside from this Globe article, it would be much appreciated.

Finalists in MLK memorial design competition unveiled



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The mirrored-bronze interlocking arms, by Hank Willis Thomas, a Brooklyn-based conceptual artist, working with the MASS Design Group.

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The “Empty Pulpit” sculpture by the writer and sculptor Barbara Chase-Riboud.

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The “Avenue of Peace” by Yinka Shonibare, a British artist of Nigerian descent.

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The two “beacon towers” that emit light and sound are part of a sprawling proposal by the Cambridge-based firms Wodiczko + Bonder and Maryann Thompson Architects, working with Walter Hood, the founder of a California designer firm.

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The black stone bridge is a collaboration between several artists and design firms: Adam Pendleton, Adjaye Associates, David Reinfurt, FuturePace, and Gilbane Boston.
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tangent said:
This view wrecks it for me. You want it to work in the context. This just blocks the view of the state house with an ugly ramp:

ADJAYE-PENDLETON-VIEW-NORTH-1000x500.jpg
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The State House is barely obscured in this photo. With the way the bridge cantilevers out from the hill, this angle might even be the worst case. You are making a mountain out of a molehill.
 
statler said:
wSY6Ovw.jpg

The mirrored-bronze interlocking arms, by Hank Willis Thomas, a Brooklyn-based conceptual artist, working with the MASS Design Group.
Click to expand...

I love how the mirrored bronze creates a representation of a skin tone that is entirely fluid. By some angles it's pale, by some angles it's dark, and by other angles it's in-between. The same spot on the statue will change from light yellow to dark brown as the viewer (or the sun moves) around it. That's a great artistic representation of King's message.

The biggest downside to me is that the disembodied arms come across as a bit awkward. The hands look great, but how will the artists handle the proximal end of each arm? It'll be really hard to make that work from all 360 degrees.

Most of the proposals strike me as a bit much, totally out of scale with the rest of the Common.
 
I don't really like any of these but I would echo what others have said and choose one that makes people somewhat uncomfortable.

One of the most relevant dimensions of the King legacy is the way his words and work have been co-opted by...well, just about everyone, to suit their needs whether they aligned with the views of the man himself. A successful memorial would be one that forces people to confront what he stood for beyond the few words they remember from grade school. It would somehow make it impossible for anyone to misconstrue his aims. If part of the deliberative process is moving its site so as to defer to the State House, it has already failed.

That being said, the above only applies because they chose this site in the first place. A civic space like City Hall Plaza or the Greenway would not be inappropriate. Just, don't choose the Common and then half-ass it.
 
The memorial needs to fit into the context if it's going to be in the Common, plain and simple. Goes for anything that gets built here. I stand by thinking the bridge looks nice, but it's not appropriate to what the Common is, and doesn't matter either way because it won't happen. The only one of these that has a good layout and fits into the Common is "The Embrace", which has a nice location and floor plan... I just don't really like the sculpture that much.

I agree with the poster that the Park Place area might be nice — the area that got paved over from where Columbus used to connect to Tremont. But I think the best idea would be to reclaim some area that has nothing right now and landmark it with a statue.

North Point Park and Paul Revere Park could both be really cool spots, but it might just be too out of the way and be perceived as such.

BU as someone said would be great, but they already have one. But Kenmore...

King lived in the South End and spent time at the field near Ruggles. Blackstone or Franklin Sq could be a really great spot for a big monument, and would disperse the monument situation a little bit outward — we basically have every major statue downtown or on Comm Ave as it is currently. Ramsay Park, too, but that would be considered a suspect choice by many.
 
Put this in Copley Square or City Hall Plaza.

Keep the green space Green.

btw, just like JFK, Martin Luther King would be labeled a right wing fascist today.

One of our nation's greatest hero's.... but a word of caution for the young folk; in addition to fighting for real equal rights in this country, he was wicked into right winger stuff like personal responsibility, free speech, civics and the Rule of Law....

He wasn't particularly keen on endless grandstanding, commie hissy fits and rioting everywhere.

and safe spaces? face palm; not exactly the kind of fascist Boston would welcome today.
 
The Globe mentions a reason for proposed location:
"Four would be built on symbolically resonant terrain adjacent to the Robert Gould Shaw and Massachusetts 54th Regiment Memorial on Beacon Street, which commemorates a unit of black soldiers who fought in the Civil War. "

I like the bridge, but I think it would work better with just a grass lawn below. I think all those stone seats/steps distract a little.
 
odurandina said:
Put this in Copley Square or City Hall Plaza.

Keep the green space Green.

btw, just like JFK, Martin Luther King would be labeled a right wing fascist today.

One of our nation's greatest hero's.... but a word of caution for the young folk; in addition to fighting for real equal rights in this country, he was wicked into right winger stuff like personal responsibility, free speech, civics and the Rule of Law....

He wasn't particularly keen on endless grandstanding, commie hissy fits and rioting everywhere.

and safe spaces? face palm; not exactly the kind of fascist Boston would welcome today.
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Ermmm. Ok, but do you like any of the pieces?
 
cadetcarl said:
One of the most relevant dimensions of the King legacy is the way his words and work have been co-opted by...well, just about everyone, to suit their needs whether they aligned with the views of the man himself.
Click to expand...

odurandina said:
Put this in Copley Square or City Hall Plaza.

Keep the green space Green.

btw, just like JFK, Martin Luther King would be labeled a right wing fascist today.

One of our nation's greatest hero's.... but a word of caution for the young folk; in addition to fighting for real equal rights in this country, he was wicked into right winger stuff like personal responsibility, free speech, civics and the Rule of Law....

He wasn't particularly keen on endless grandstanding, commie hissy fits and rioting everywhere.

and safe spaces? face palm; not exactly the kind of fascist Boston would welcome today.
Click to expand...

:rolleyes:
 
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