Millennium Tower (Filene's) | 426 Washington Street | Downtown

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Re: Millennium Tower - Filene's

I am blown away how people can complain about this absolute gem that we are about to get built in Boston after all of these years of being let down and in all reality only having one true icon tower the John Hancock. Our street level is on a different level, but lets be honest our skyline is almost all filler with a couple stand outs. Can you imagine if things like these were proposed and built today how much outrage there would be.


We are about to upgrade from North Korean filler to gems like the Filenes Tower, Copley Tower, South Station Tower, Christian Science Tower. I am extremely thankful that we are actually getting what we have deserved all this time because Boston is a world renowned city and the skyline gets blown out of the water by nobodys all day every day and thats unacceptable.

There are a few of other tower icons:
1) Custom House
2) Old John Hancock Tower
3) I don't much like it but International Place is iconic especially from the Harbor or East Boston
4) R2D2
5) old Bank of Boston with its Pregnant Belly

Finally the Pru itslef -- in an ugly iconic way

None of the above are infill
 
Re: Millennium Tower - Filene's

I'd say we really have more iconic "views" more so than iconic individual towers. As stand-alone buildings, I argue that Boston really only has 2 iconic towers. The Hancock and The Custom House. The rest are just part of clusters surrounding those two buildings.
-We have an iconic cluster of buildings of the Back Bay, led by the Hancock. That cluster includes, as mentioned above, the old HC tower, R2 and the Pru.
-The second iconic view is from the harbor, which includes, also mentioned above, the Custom House Tower, Boston Harbor Hotel, and IP.

Those two views define Boston for outsiders.
 
Re: Millennium Tower - Filene's

Argh. There goes another thread.
 
Re: Millennium Tower - Filene's

Bring it back on track baby!

There has been some talk about the "flat" (actually slanted quite a bit on two axis) roof not being desirable. What would you do to change it?

My thoughts:
-A spire would look awkward. It works well on art deco buildings because of the stepped back facades, which this tower does not have. To make one look integral vs tacked on you would have to redesign the whole thing, which I think would be a loss: I like the body of the tower as it is now.
-You could make the angles of the sloped roof more aggressive, so even from the ground right in front of it it's obvious its not just flat. Sort of like it's lunging forward towards Washington St and the Common. Possible loss of leasable space in this scenario.
-Some sort of aluminum crenelation. The tower already appears a bit like a blade, having the top mechanical floors having pieces of aluminum poking up alternating with the glass could look good, and would reflect light beautifully at night and the sky during the day.

Honestly though, I like it as is. For a tower (which I don't find to be the best form of architectural expression to begin with, but I digress), its pretty damn great. Its sleek, clean, respects its surroundings, is appropriately tall, is not dull or a box, and relates amazingly to the street. W00t
 
Re: Millennium Tower - Filene's

There has been some talk about the "flat" (actually slanted quite a bit on two axis) roof not being desirable. What would you do to change it?

Was thinking something like this. Maybe a bit derivative of Lincoln and Atlantic Wharf... but you get what I'm going for. Light blades/spires of some sort. But not "fins".

 
Re: Millennium Tower - Filene's

...is appropriately tall, is not dull or a box...

I think it does relate well to the street and, yes, it's tall, but I think it is numbingly dull and box-like for a building that is not just supposed to be filler. It looks like an office-park building that didn't know when to call it quits. To really piss people off, I'd say this is a site where a bit of Dubai uber-audacity could come in handy. ;)
 
Re: Millennium Tower - Filene's

This thing is incredible, still in shock this is being built in Boston.

resizedimage600398-MillenniumTower-Past-preview-2.jpg


92ab408d44294c1ab7667a8e8a1af49c.jpg
 
Re: Millennium Tower - Filene's

I'd say we really have more iconic "views" more so than iconic individual towers. As stand-alone buildings, I argue that Boston really only has 2 iconic towers. The Hancock and The Custom House. The rest are just part of clusters surrounding those two buildings.
-We have an iconic cluster of buildings of the Back Bay, led by the Hancock. That cluster includes, as mentioned above, the old HC tower, R2 and the Pru.
-The second iconic view is from the harbor, which includes, also mentioned above, the Custom House Tower, Boston Harbor Hotel, and IP.

Those two views define Boston for outsiders.

And Florence only has 3 iconic tall structures [aka towers] the rest are iconic views?: [by age details courtesy of Wikipedia]
1) Palazzo Vecchio (first phase) 1299–1314 Arnolfo di Cambio
2) Giotto's Belltower 1334–1357 Giotto, Francesco Talenti, Andrea Pisano and others
3) Dome of Santa Maria del Fiore 1418–1434 Filippo Brunelleschi

Paris has 3?:
1) Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris
2) Tour D' eifel
3) Montremarte

This is degenerative, revisionist deconstructionism at its worst

Boston in each of its ages has always had a dramatic skyline -- see the Fitz Henry Lane at the MFA Boston from the Harbor mid 19th Century [I've got the repro over my fireplace] -- it was churches from the 18th and early 19th Century:
Christ's aka Old North [175 feet steeple]; Old South Meeting House [183 feet steeple]; Park Street[ ]; + the State House Dome atop Beacon Hill and the Bunker Hill Monument [ ]

Later circa 1870 to 1900 we added several more iconic churches in the Back Bay:
New Old South [designed between 1870 and 1872 by the Boston architectural firm of Cummings and Sears in the Venetian Gothic style. built of Roxbury Conglomerate commonly called puddingstone, The style follows the precepts of the British cultural theorist and architectural critic John Ruskin (1819–1900) as outlined in his treatise The Stones of Venice. Old South Church in Boston remains one of the most significant examples of Ruskin's influence on American architecture. inspired by the Basilica of Saint Mark in Venice, Italy.
A tall tower, or campanile is the trademark feature of Old South and is visible from several Boston neighborhoods. The tower, on the western end of the church, rises to a height of 246' [originally 260] and houses the church's 2020 pound bell. Centered above the Sanctuary on the east side of the church is a copper clad cupola surrounded by twelve ornate Gothic arched windows. This feature is reminiscent of the cupolas of the Basilica of St. Mark in Venice;

HH Richardson's clearly iconic masterpiece of Trinity Church Built 1872 - 1877 "James O'Gorman described Trinity as "a cultural event of the first importance in American history." The building both represents a departure of the Boston's mind from its Puritan past, and emergence of American creativity as a force in architecture";

Church of the Covenant [Built 1867, Designed by Richard M. Upjohn, 240-foot (73 m) high steeple]; H H Richardson's other great church first use of the style now known as Richardson Romanesque, built of Roxbury puddingstone, square tower 176 feet high. At the top of the tower (which a current guidebook describes as "one of the majestic forms on the Boston Skyline") is a frieze of sculpted figures representing baptism, communion, marriage and death. The frieze was designed by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, famous for the Statue of Liberty, and was carved by Italian artists after the stones were set in place. It includes the faces of Sumner, Longfellow, Emerson, Hawthorne, Lincoln, Lafarge, and his comrade Garibaldi, and other prominent Bostonians still being researched.

In the early 20th Century we got the Custom House Tower, the Ames House on Commonwealth in the Back Bay and the Ames Building on State Street -- the churches were still there

Art Deco -- the USM Building

Post WWII the height of the Custom House was matched by the iconic John Hancock with the Weather Beacon -- note no one tore down any of the other earlier icons

Later the previously mentioned towers a couple of others such as JFK + the LP Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge
 
Re: Millennium Tower - Filene's

I think it does relate well to the street and, yes, it's tall, but I think it is numbingly dull and box-like for a building that is not just supposed to be filler. It looks like an office-park building that didn't know when to call it quits. To really piss people off, I'd say this is a site where a bit of Dubai uber-audacity could come in handy. ;)

Tomb -- Dubai doesn't have the Burnham in such proximity

The Burnham is great and provides an almost BPL type of relationship to the street and people -- you can't mess with that

Let the MillTow launch itself quietly until it clear the gantry [aka the Burnham] then it can start showing off

That's why the Top is important

If anyone wanted to do a dramatic tower -- I'd level the circa 1970's Macy's and in the middle of the old Lafayette Place well back from the street let a tall slim tower sprout from a five or six story pedestal fronting the Burnham across Summer St.
 
Re: Millennium Tower - Filene's

And Florence only has 3 iconic tall structures [aka towers] the rest are iconic views?: [by age details courtesy of Wikipedia]
1) Palazzo Vecchio (first phase) 1299–1314 Arnolfo di Cambio
2) Giotto's Belltower 1334–1357 Giotto, Francesco Talenti, Andrea Pisano and others
3) Dome of Santa Maria del Fiore 1418–1434 Filippo Brunelleschi

Paris has 3?:
1) Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris
2) Tour D' eifel
3) Montremarte

This is degenerative, revisionist deconstructionism at its worst

From what I can tell, we are actually in agreement on this. My underlying point is that Boston is more about it's grand views, and shouldn't be judged negatively for the lack of "iconic towers" or tall buildings. The tall buildings, while nice to look at particularly from a distance, are not what makes Boston so great. And while they enhance the skyline... its actually the sum of the parts that makes Boston's skyline what it is. Maybe this is "loser talk" from a guy that realizes Boston just won't do what it takes to build more iconic towers. But I truly believe that Boston has many more iconic buildings at the lower levels, at the human scale, which is what makes Boston so attractive as a city. People seem to think "iconic" only applies to tall structures. So, if tall structures is the only criteria set forth, which is the premise I was going on due to previous posts, then Boston is perhaps limited to two or three "iconic towers". But Boston has far more iconic structures and vistas as a whole than many, many American cities.
 
Re: Millennium Tower - Filene's

From what I can tell, we are actually in agreement on this. My underlying point is that Boston is more about it's grand views, and shouldn't be judged negatively for the lack of "iconic towers" or tall buildings. The tall buildings, while nice to look at particularly from a distance, are not what makes Boston so great. And while they enhance the skyline... its actually the sum of the parts that makes Boston's skyline what it is. Maybe this is "loser talk" from a guy that realizes Boston just won't do what it takes to build more iconic towers. But I truly believe that Boston has many more iconic buildings at the lower levels, at the human scale, which is what makes Boston so attractive as a city. People seem to think "iconic" only applies to tall structures. So, if tall structures is the only criteria set forth, which is the premise I was going on due to previous posts, then Boston is perhaps limited to two or three "iconic towers". But Boston has far more iconic structures and vistas as a whole than many, many American cities.

Hear Hear ... By the way how many cities have buildings which are visible from more than 150 miles [top of Mt Washington] and vise versa -- Note requires extraordinary atmospheric conditions as the line of sight distance to a Pru height building from Mt Washington is 130 miles
 
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Re: Millennium Tower - Filene's

Hear Hear ... By the way how many cities have buildings which are visible from nearly 200 miles [top of Mt Washington] and vise versa

Good point. Living in NH, there is nothing cooler than driving down 93 on a clear day and actually glimpsing the Pru FROM EXIT 42!!! Love coming around the bend (around Medford/Malden) as the city reveals itself from behind the hills. Always loved that as a kid, and still love it to this day. For that reason, the Pru has always been one of the most iconic Boston buildings in my mind, and a nostalgic, sentimental favorite. But... back on track...

I don't think this tower will be iconic in the sense that people from around the country or around the world will look at it and say "Oh, hey... that's Boston". It's just not that kind of building. That probably won't happen unless we get something that soars through the plateau of the financial district or is a significant addition to BackBay(CSC perhaps?). But this is a far superior building to the previous designs and will hopefully be worth the extended wait. DTX deserves/needs a quality building with significant height, and I think Boston struck gold with this development as a whole, and I'm very anxious to see it rise.
 
Re: Millennium Tower - Filene's

Good point. Living in NH, there is nothing cooler than driving down 93 on a clear day and actually glimpsing the Pru FROM EXIT 42!!! Love coming around the bend (around Medford/Malden) as the city reveals itself from behind the hills. Always loved that as a kid, and still love it to this day. For that reason, the Pru has always been one of the most iconic Boston buildings in my mind, and a nostalgic, sentimental favorite. But... back on track...

NH-er -- the same effect happens on the Pike as you approach RT-128 -- suddenly both the Pru and Hancock appear above the eastern horizon
 
Re: Millennium Tower - Filene's

resizedimage600398-MillenniumTower-Past-preview-2.jpg


I'm trying to figure out what is going on with the area where the 'awning' is now. It looks like they may be putting up a new band of cast iron?
 
Re: Millennium Tower - Filene's

Tomb -- Dubai doesn't have the Burnham in such proximity

The Burnham is great and provides an almost BPL type of relationship to the street and people -- you can't mess with that

Let the MillTow launch itself quietly until it clear the gantry [aka the Burnham] then it can start showing off

That's why the Top is important

If anyone wanted to do a dramatic tower -- I'd level the circa 1970's Macy's and in the middle of the old Lafayette Place well back from the street let a tall slim tower sprout from a five or six story pedestal fronting the Burnham across Summer St.

Please let this be the first and last time that 'MillTow' is used as a name for this building.
 
Re: Millennium Tower - Filene's

Tomb -- Dubai doesn't have the Burnham in such proximity

The Burnham is great and provides an almost BPL type of relationship to the street and people -- you can't mess with that

Yeah, the Burnham piece it great--it's just the unfortunate slab that they stuck to the back of it that looks uninspired. It isn't an eyesore, but it will never be "significant architecture."
 
Re: Millennium Tower - Filene's

Good point. Living in NH, there is nothing cooler than driving down 93 on a clear day and actually glimpsing the Pru FROM EXIT 42!!! Love coming around the bend (around Medford/Malden) as the city reveals itself from behind the hills. Always loved that as a kid, and still love it to this day. For that reason, the Pru has always been one of the most iconic Boston buildings in my mind, and a nostalgic, sentimental favorite. But... back on track...

Let's stay off track for another moment as I finally have an excuse to share this picture. It isn't quite exit 42 but...

10215000234_b952992769_b.jpg
 
Re: Millennium Tower - Filene's

I'll never understand how the Pru and Hancock look so far apart from so far away from so many angles.
 
Re: Millennium Tower - Filene's

I'll never understand how the Pru and Hancock look so far apart from so far away from so many angles.

Well they aren't really that close together in spite of being in the back bay, they are almost as far apart as two high rises on opposite ends of the financial district. The fact that the buildings between them are often too short to be seen creates empty space which adds to the perception of distance.
 
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