One Kenmore Square | 560 Commonwealth Avenue | Kenmore Square

Re: Crossroads at Kenmore | 560 Commonwealth Ave | Kenmore Square

Please make the upward taper much less dramatic (or eliminate it) and add a few more floors to recoup the square footage.

Otherwise: yes, yes, yes to the fresh, imaginative aesthetic.
 
Re: Crossroads at Kenmore | 560 Commonwealth Ave | Kenmore Square

^I was coming to post the same sentiments. More people should be appreciating something so bold, especially on this forum. This is a huge win in terms of architecture and what it will do for Kenmore Square.

EDIT: I was replying to Shmessy.
 
Re: Crossroads at Kenmore | 560 Commonwealth Ave | Kenmore Square

rF4cfWv.png
 
Re: Crossroads at Kenmore | 560 Commonwealth Ave | Kenmore Square

stefalarchitect said:
I really appreciate the design, but about every other time I look at the head-on view, I have to agree with Data. They shouldn't have gone wider at the top. Isn't that a design principle you learn 1st year?
Click to expand...

Did someone forget to tell you to forget all the design principles you learned 1st year?

Though this does run against my tastes, I'd welcome something so interesting and unique.

My problem is how far this sticks out onto Comm Ave, which I've always imagined -- as I'd assume many do -- as a river winding its way uninterrupted from the public garden out into the suburbs.

JViW78H.jpg


I'd be much more comfortable if they eliminted the parking on the south side of this new block and shifted the tower in that direction.

One more thing that I don't think has been mentioned. It looks like this new street would align with the new pedestrian corridor planned from Beacon onto Brookline.
 
Re: Crossroads at Kenmore | 560 Commonwealth Ave | Kenmore Square

statler said:
rF4cfWv.png
Click to expand...

Not to get too theoretical, but is it really architecture if it doesn't fit into the circle on the right? The left circle should read "Drawings that I like" and the right circle should read simply "Architecture."
 
Re: Crossroads at Kenmore | 560 Commonwealth Ave | Kenmore Square

reverend_paco said:
1mHdJ0Mh.jpg

DIEVkL1h.jpg


This vertical slat-like facade will only be a block away from the BU building with its own (diagonal,vertical,etc) slat face.

Both will be roughly 300' so it could be quite the view corridor.
Click to expand...

I love this comparison because it continues to show how impoverished the design of the Data Sciences tower is. Sigh.
 
Re: Crossroads at Kenmore | 560 Commonwealth Ave | Kenmore Square

I am a bit confused. The aerial shot makes it look more slender and the Kenmore Square street level facing west shot makes it look like a giant wedge, i.e., 2 different buildings.
 
Re: Crossroads at Kenmore | 560 Commonwealth Ave | Kenmore Square

AmericanFolkLegend said:
I don't understand why we should expect this traffic pattern to succeed where Sullivan Square fails. It's basically the same design, right? And in Sullivan Square there are far fewer pedestrians to contend with.
Click to expand...

I don't see anywhere in or near Sullivan Square that utilizes the traffic pattern they are using here and in general the streets near Sullivan Square have narrow sidewalks and infrequent crosswalks which is the exact opposite of this plan. This plan actually seems to improve the ability of Kenmore Square to handle large numbers of people because of an increased number of pedestrian path options as well as maintaining the wide sidewalks that currently exist and the addition of new very wide sidewalks. The crosswalks in the new plan are also on average shorter in length than the current ones which makes them easier and safer to cross.
 
Re: Crossroads at Kenmore | 560 Commonwealth Ave | Kenmore Square

I think this is a brilliant reconstruction of Kenmore. By pulling this building closer into the center of the square, it tightens up all the edges jutting off in different directions, and creates a more intimate space. There has been no “there” there with regard to Kenmore for decades, pedestrians use it as a means to get somewhere else. This could change all that.
 
Re: Crossroads at Kenmore | 560 Commonwealth Ave | Kenmore Square

Now that the new traffic pattern has been explained I do like the idea. The building itself will most likely get NIMBYized but I hope this portion of the project survives.
 
Re: Crossroads at Kenmore | 560 Commonwealth Ave | Kenmore Square

bdurden said:
I think this is a brilliant reconstruction of Kenmore. By pulling this building closer into the center of the square, it tightens up all the edges jutting off in different directions, and creates a more intimate space. There has been no “there” there with regard to Kenmore for decades, pedestrians use it as a means to get somewhere else. This could change all that.
Click to expand...

This is true, and maybe (just maybe) Boston's North Star for Kenmore Square and Fenway will eventually not be a gasoline company's sign.
 
Re: Crossroads at Kenmore | 560 Commonwealth Ave | Kenmore Square

Yeah, I'll agree and say it again just because its such an exciting prospect - the idea of Kenmore as a place to be rather than a place to pass through is irresistible.

(It's like turning Porter Sq. into Harvard Sq., for those of us with a left-bank orientation...)
 
Re: Crossroads at Kenmore | 560 Commonwealth Ave | Kenmore Square

Kenmore Square has always sucked. The Rat was its only positive feature. i enjoyed it way back when. But i stopped going at some point, and it had completely faded from memory until somebody mentioned it in the Globe. ...Kenmore Square deserves better ideas than these 3 major proposals. They share commonality: Each of them sucks.
 
Re: Crossroads at Kenmore | 560 Commonwealth Ave | Kenmore Square

odurandina said:
Kenmore Square has always sucked. The Rat was its only positive feature. i enjoyed it way back when. But i stopped going at some point, and it had completely faded from memory until somebody mentioned it in the Globe. ...Kenmore Square deserves better ideas than these 3 major proposals. They share commonality: Each of them sucks.
Click to expand...

You're an odd duck. This building is quite tall for the area, and probably the boldest statement since Mass Art's Tree House... and you hate it???
 
Re: Crossroads at Kenmore | 560 Commonwealth Ave | Kenmore Square

I think it's quite beautiful (don't know about at the ice/rain sheeting issues, but being from Chicago, I suspect Gang has some experience with that).
 
Re: Crossroads at Kenmore | 560 Commonwealth Ave | Kenmore Square

I wonder if the sheets/panels/etc. that appear to be hanging off the edge in an inward direction actually aren't. It could be an optical illusion, in which case it would be easy enough to draw water and ice inward, rather than outward toward the plaza. But as Tombstoner suggests, I'm sure they've thought about this issue and included a solution.
 
Re: Crossroads at Kenmore | 560 Commonwealth Ave | Kenmore Square

CSTH said:
(It's like turning Porter Sq. into Harvard Sq., for those of us with a left-bank orientation...)
Click to expand...

This is a spot-on analogy.

Kenmore Square : Boston :: Porter Square : Cambridge. 100%.
 
Re: Crossroads at Kenmore | 560 Commonwealth Ave | Kenmore Square

DZH22 said:
I'm surprised nobody ripped the rest of these pictures. I don't know the right way to do it so I use snipping tool and save the pictures to flickr.

Capture by David Z, on Flickr
Click to expand...

this is interesting. Atrium?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top