Portside at Pier One | 29 Marginal Street (Pier 1, Pier 5) | East Boston

You may recall, I put the boots to it in this thread some time ago.

To answer your question, design-wise, it's reading-the-phone-book boring, and urbanistically, it's lazy and unimaginative...

I had this to say in the broader sense:

Beton Brut said:
This place, and others like it, are symptomatic of a culture lacking in an awareness of its own catastrophic superficiality.
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and...

Beton Brut said:
We've built a spit-shined, auto-centric, lily-white simulacrum of an urban experience within sight of an actual city. Maybe this is something to celebrate, but count me the fuck out.
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I was extraordinarily happy that I'd pissed a few folks off; I'm glad to know that people are awake and willing to engage in a mindful disagreement. I hate being right -- it means that my opportunity to learn is in the rear-view.

When pressed for an alternative to the current build-out, I made this back-of-the-matchbook list:

Beton Brut said:
  • A larger residential component with a higher percentage of affordable units;
  • Condominiums targeted for bicyclists and public transportation advocates, with covenants that restrict (or curtail, or at least disincentivize) car ownership;
  • Significantly reduced parking counts for both residents and visitors;
  • A fleet of sharable vehicles, serviced by students of an on-site vocational training program;
  • In the same mode as affordable housing requirements, affordable commercial leasing for local retailers and restaurants (likely part of a public-private partnership).
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Really, it's the beginnings of some things I'd like to see closer to home, at Suffolk Downs.
 
i said Austin TX, but it looks much more exactly like S. California's endless condo hell: Oxnard, or Rancho "Guacamole" (Cucamonga), or like anywhere along the "15" from San Diego to the Inland Empire....
 
Why are there giant condom-looking things hanging out of the windows? What are those things for?
 
I actually dont think the architecture is bad just the non road layouts and lack of retail sucks. Id say public space too but clippership wharf is going to have a lot.
 
jl326 said:
Why are there giant condom-looking things hanging out of the windows? What are those things for?
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They are likely doing an air infiltration blower test. Either that or they are trying to keep buildings like this from reproducing ... which I am in favor of.

cca
 
stick n move said:
I actually dont think the architecture is bad just the non road layouts and lack of retail sucks. Id say public space too but clippership wharf is going to have a lot.
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Any designer worth their salt can make good architecture out of not great criteria.

cca
 
cca said:
They are likely doing an air infiltration blower test. Either that or they are trying to keep buildings like this from reproducing ... which I am in favor of.

cca
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Good one! If only you could upvote posts. :)

For a minute, I was honestly wondering if there were plans to install those old nasty window A/C units there. That would have made absolutely no sense, I know, but considering that this project in general doesn't look so great quality-wise..
 
cca said:
Any designer worth their salt can make good architecture out of not great criteria.

cca
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Yes, but can the designer win the battle against the developer who wants the cheapest build possible?
 
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