Our Lady of Good Voyage | Seaport Sq Parcel H | 55 - 57 Seaport Blvd | Seaport

[datadyne007]

Re: Our Lady of Good Voyage/SpSq Parcel H/55 - 57 Seaport Blvd/Seaport

Argh, paging Steven Holl. Steven Holl, please pick up the white courtesy telephone.

 

[CSTH]

Re: Our Lady of Good Voyage/SpSq Parcel H/55 - 57 Seaport Blvd/Seaport

Argh, paging Steven Holl. Steven Holl, please pick up the ....

...player 2 controller for the n64 that produced this rendering

 

[underground]

Re: Our Lady of Good Voyage/SpSq Parcel H/55 - 57 Seaport Blvd/Seaport

Don't they know there's a newer version of Sim City?

 

[mdd]

Re: Our Lady of Good Voyage/SpSq Parcel H/55 - 57 Seaport Blvd/Seaport

Don't they know there's a newer version of Sim City?

They chose the wrong year setting.

 

[Arlington]

Honest question: when was the last time you/we saw a new church sanctuary being built on a new foundation in metro Boston? (Not just a fire-replacement) I can't think of any in the 20 years I have lived here. Mostly churches got turned into condos.

It is still common in places that are gaining population, but that means, for me, the exurbs and US South. And maybe evangelical churches on farmland halfway to Nashua.

Catholic building projects generally show all the conflicts that the institutional church is feeling: modernism vs reactionary, secure & rich vs immigrant & poor. For almost any design direction you would want to push it, there is an equally strong counter argument in the other direction. It shows ing the 1950s workers chapels (St Anthony's Shrine and ones at Kenmore and (I can't remember)) and it shows here.

This one is modest because it is part of a negotiated trade and being funded as a deal provision and "on-the-come", not having had a real residential parish ever nor regular congregation since the New Haven Railroads train-to-steamship biz collapsed in the 1960s under pressure from the interstates and container freight.

 

[cca]

Church of Later Day Saints has built two in the last 10 years.

cca

 

[Arlington]

^ True:Temple in Belmont c.2003? is rare-ceremonial (and formula-driven and Romney/Marriott budgeted), though,rather than weekly/daily. What is the other one?

 

[cca]

Cambridge ... Binney Street. (not a pritzker prize winner candidate though)

cca

 

[statler]

That's the weird building that looks like it should really have a center entrance, but for some inexplicable reason does not?

 

[dirtywater]

Do major additions count? The Korean Church of Boston in Brookline.

 

[Arlington]

I've asked the moderators to create a new Developments topic:

Good Voyage Chapel | Parcel H@Seaport Sq | Seaport

And to include in it some of the earlier discussion such as that we had at around the time of groundbreaking (Starting at Post 2001 in this thread) and running until post 2038

Today I learned that the architect is Stantec (via its purchase of ADD Inc)

There's also an article from the Boston Pilot (a church publication) that gave more details, including that the current chapel won't be torn down until the new one is open

Mods: any chance our previous discussion could be moved/cloned here?

 

[Arlington]

And for the record, the whole swap-and-move-and-regrid deal (which included the Chapel(s) and Yotel) was held up between the Nov 2014 ceremonial "ground breaking" and now due to a lawsuit that was active until dismissed in June 2015

 

[statler]

Mods: any chance our previous discussion could be moved/cloned here?

Done. Let me know if I missed any.

 

[Brad Plaid]

A lost golden opportunity, this could have been a possible Ronchamp or at least something with a degree of spiritual ambition. Instead it is the Our Lady of Treacly Traditional.

 

[kmp1284]

Worst new project of 2015 anyone? Poor Boston.

 

[Max Power]

Without a doubt. They don't build them like they used to..

 

[JumboBuc]

Without a doubt. They don't build them like they used to..

While I totally agree that this is a huge missed opportunity, BeeLine's photo from last night shows exactly how they "used to" build them. It wasn't any better:

Remember that this is just a small workers' chapel, not a grand cathedral. It was never going to be an architectural masterpiece. That being said, I would have loved to see something more creative and inspired here.

 

[Reznor]

What sort of attendance does this chapel even have? Does it have weddings or something? Is there actual demand for this at all?

 

[JumboBuc]

What sort of attendance does this chapel even have? Does it have weddings or something? Is there actual demand for this at all?

Article from last year:

MassLive: Our Lady of Good Voyage Chapel, a fixture of tranquility on the South Boston Waterfront for half a century, is moving

While the church still attracts its original blue-collar parishioners from the docks, a newer blue collar worker has started to arrive: service workers. The new buildings have brought with them an array of cleaning crews, security guards, maids, and more, and many have started to attend Mass at the chapel.

At the same time, white-collar workers from the courthouse, labs, and businesses in the area have flocked to the chapel during the day for prayer and on weekends for Mass.

"We're seeing the shift to people attending worship from cruise ships from the cruise port of Boston and from office buildings or businesses in addition to the main core parishioners throughout the year," said White.

A recent Sunday Mass was nearly three-quarters full with parishioners that appeared to come from all walks of life.

Going off of this, the chapel has decent attendance. I bet most Boston churches rarely see Sunday Mass "three-quarters full". And with the Seaport's residential and employment population rapidly growing, I'm sure there will only be more demand going forward.

However, even if the chapel had no "actual demand", it wouldn't matter. The Archdiocese of Boston owns the existing chapel and the (private) land it sits on. They can do with that building and that land whatever they see fit. They've entered into an agreement to have the chapel rebuilt in a less in-the-way location across the street so that the current spot can be redeveloped. Great: that's a win-win, a pareto improvement. This should be celebrated, not second-guessed.

 

[stellarfun]

This is a photo of a German bishop in his recently built residence. The Pope was very unhappy with his profligate ways, and sacked him. The archbishop of Boston is a close confidante of the Pope. Do not expect architectural statement churches to be built in the Boston archdiocese by the archdiocese anytime soon. Now if someone like McCourt wanted to donate the money for a 'statement' chapel, one might be built. Otherwise not.