Novartis Campus | 181-211 Mass Ave, 22 Windsor Street | Kendall Square | Cambridge

Agree. This building is garbage. One of the worst we've gotten recently.
 
fattony said:
This thing is a real piece of shit. That overhang is massive, dark, and downright threatening. The courtyard is the definition of wasted space and a massive fuck you to our housing problem. If you haven't seen it in person, it is worth a special trip to experience this level of architectural failure firsthand.
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+1
 
fattony said:
This thing is a real piece of shit. That overhang is massive, dark, and downright threatening. The courtyard is the definition of wasted space and a massive fuck you to our housing problem. If you haven't seen it in person, it is worth a special trip to experience this level of architectural failure firsthand.
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-1

Come on guys, the negative overreaction on this board lately is really getting annoying. Is this complex perfectly conceived? No. Is it more original and distinctive than 99% of what's gone up in this city recently? Absolutely.

I'll take this over the generic boxes we get in Kendall Sq. and the Seaport any day of the week and twice on Sundays.
 
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they really should paint that big pillar or do something creative with it, as well as perhaps consider lightening the ceiling of the overhang. But I think overall this looks pretty damned good.
 
lexicon506 said:
-1

Come on guys, the negative overreaction on this board lately is really getting annoying. Is this complex perfectly conceived? No. Is it more original and distinctive than 99% of what's gone up in this city recently? Absolutely.

I'll take this over the generic boxes we get in Kendall Sq. and the Seaport any day of the week and twice on Sundays.
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I don't think I'm overreacting. I'm the one who is always being generous and finding the bright side of things when the AB hive mind thinks the world is coming to an end. Come see this building. Yes, it has some fancy shit stapled to the side, but no, it is NOT better than a Seaport box.

This is very institutional, very academic. It is distinctly anti-urban. If MIT built this on an interior parcel I think I could forgive a lot, but this is a prominent intersection on a major urban thoroughfare. It is lacking in almost any context whatsoever and is hostile to pedestrians. There is some chance that the retail storefronts could soften that.

I would trade this for a dozen boxes, which there is nearly enough wasted space on this site to accommodate.
 
I like the buildings, they're interesting, and the retail will definitely soften things. But the courtyard really is oversized to the point of absurdity. Thank the Cambridge Open Space Mafia for this kind of false environmentalism and the same mistake is surely going to happen at the Volpe site. Guess there's no such thing as too many parks for one to do one's magical purple unicorn riding in.
 
Tell them about the gate and how it's not really the kind of public-private open space that we need!

This park will be nice for people in the labs to look out at and to go eat lunch, but it's not a particularly nice open space, especially compared to some other outdoor rooms in the area.
 
Brad Plaid said:
I like the buildings, they're interesting, and the retail will definitely soften things. But the courtyard really is oversized to the point of absurdity. Thank the Cambridge Open Space Mafia for this kind of false environmentalism and the same mistake is surely going to happen at the Volpe site. Guess there's no such thing as too many parks for one to do one's magical purple unicorn riding in.
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Brad & Tonty -- remember this is really an extension of MIT's campus and it incorporates the historic Barta Building once the site of the revolutionary Whirlwind Computer

MIT required the courtyard just all of the MIT academic buildings surround courtyards

The comments about housing Cambridge and Boston and the Cambridge mania for open spaces are utterly irrelevant to the discussion of this project -- this was never going to be housing

Finally the courtyard is s public space not much different than all of the MIT green spaces interleaved between MIT academic buildings

Viewed in the above context -- its way more than a qualified success
 
whighlander said:
Brad & Tonty -- remember this is really an extension of MIT's campus and it incorporates the historic Barta Building once the site of the revolutionary Whirlwind Computer

MIT required the courtyard just all of the MIT academic buildings surround courtyards

The comments about housing Cambridge and Boston and the Cambridge mania for open spaces are utterly irrelevant to the discussion of this project -- this was never going to be housing

Finally the courtyard is s public space not much different than all of the MIT green spaces interleaved between MIT academic buildings

Viewed in the above context -- its way more than a qualified success
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But take a look at the actual courtyard being discussed. It's all just mounds of dirt and trees and mulch and walkway. Nobody is going to use that space. It's only going to sit empty, taking up square footage and maintenance dollars. How can you seriously say that the Novartis courtyard is "[a] public space not much different than all of the MIT green spaces interleaved between MIT academic buildings"? Killian Court this space is not. And how can you frequent a forum dedicated to design in "Boston's Built Environment" and not understand that all open spaces are not created equal?

If this courtyard incorporated green space along with benches and shade and maybe a fountain or two (think Post Office Square), you could have a point. But in its current form it is nothing but wasted space.
 
lexicon506 said:
Is it more original and distinctive than 99% of what's gone up in this city recently? Absolutely. I'll take this over the generic boxes we get in Kendall Sq. and the Seaport any day
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Agreed

fattony said:
It is distinctly anti-urban. If MIT built this on an interior parcel I think I could forgive a lot, but this is a prominent intersection on a major urban thoroughfare. It is lacking in almost any context whatsoever and is hostile to pedestrians.
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Agreed
 
With respect to open space, and whether it is a nice park, a mediocre park, a public park, or a private park, that's likely to be a function of Cambridge zoning requirements. I expect that for new construction, there is probably a specification as to how much of the lot must be a yard or open space.
 
fattony said:
This thing is a real piece of shit. That overhang is massive, dark, and downright threatening. The courtyard is the definition of wasted space and a massive fuck you to our housing problem. If you haven't seen it in person, it is worth a special trip to experience this level of architectural failure firsthand.
Click to expand...

Brutalism 2.0

This monstrosity is not going to age well.
 
Instagram friend must work inside or something to that effect; he posted a picture of the brise-soleil from within:

12822311_483522415175904_1261448340_n.jpg

http://websta.me/n/bmeeee
 
JumboBuc said:
But take a look at the actual courtyard being discussed. It's all just mounds of dirt and trees and mulch and walkway. Nobody is going to use that space. It's only going to sit empty, taking up square footage and maintenance dollars. How can you seriously say that the Novartis courtyard is "[a] public space not much different than all of the MIT green spaces interleaved between MIT academic buildings"? Killian Court this space is not. And how can you frequent a forum dedicated to design in "Boston's Built Environment" and not understand that all open spaces are not created equal?

If this courtyard incorporated green space along with benches and shade and maybe a fountain or two (think Post Office Square), you could have a point. But in its current form it is nothing but wasted space.
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JumboBuc -- no one ever said that it was equal or even comparable to Killen Court which is one of the iconic spaces and reciprocal views on the planet.

Standing in Killen Court from up-close you can see the unity of the academics the cornerstone of Wells Bosworth's design. Turn around and look across the Charles and you see one of the best views of Boston. From Across the River its the front lawn for the Dome. And on top of that you can use if for things such as Inaugurating a New President of MIT or celebrating the 150th Anniversary, or just playing frisbee

But there are plenty of other smaller green-ish spaces embedded between building on the MIT Campus - -some work well, some are ignorable and some just didn't work at all

In the midst of that spectrum, what I've seen so far of the Novartis Campus is more than adequate
 
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