Public Food Market | 136 Blackstone Street | Haymarket | Downtown

We get the Taza Chocolate at Berman's Wine and Liquors in Lexington -- the chocolate is excellent

I agree delicious, they sell it at WF. But it's like $8 for a small bar...
 
Over all, it looks like a promising line-up. The confection shop might be a bit on the schmaltzy/tourist crap side, but I can imagine being a regular customer of the market if the quality is genuinely there (and the prices aren't absurd). I think the commitment to New England products is a double-edged sword: nice to have a showplace for the region, but places that sell cheese, meats/charcuterie, wines/ciders would be SO MUCH BETTER if they could source from the whole world and maybe only emphasize New England. I hope it does well and I hope it attracts high-caliber provisions vendors.
 
No more and more food needs to be sourced locally. The reliance on food from all around the world is only possible with the usage of tremendous amounts off cheep energy (only possible with fossil fuels). We need to make drastic cuts in fossil fuel usage to have any chance of not wiping ourselves and virtually all life on earth out. So good on them for making this commitment. Sure you wont get all you want but it is surely what we need.
 
Over all, it looks like a promising line-up. The confection shop might be a bit on the schmaltzy/tourist crap side, but I can imagine being a regular customer of the market if the quality is genuinely there (and the prices aren't absurd). I think the commitment to New England products is a double-edged sword: nice to have a showplace for the region, but places that sell cheese, meats/charcuterie, wines/ciders would be SO MUCH BETTER if they could source from the whole world and maybe only emphasize New England. I hope it does well and I hope it attracts high-caliber provisions vendors.

I believe the Parcel 9 proposal with the 2 story "International market" is viewed as a compliment to this proposal. Once that is up and running you will have an entire market district that covers the entire globe. Also included is the new dedicated space for the Haymarket Push cart vendors.

No more and more food needs to be sourced locally. The reliance on food from all around the world is only possible with the usage of tremendous amounts off cheep energy (only possible with fossil fuels). We need to make drastic cuts in fossil fuel usage to have any chance of not wiping ourselves and virtually all life on earth out. So good on them for making this commitment. Sure you wont get all you want but it is surely what we need.

Plus I think that New England is underrated as a food destination. The amount of great cheeses, meats and produce that are available throughout the region is incredible. There just needed to be a central meeting place like this to showcase all of them. Within a couple years you will most likely see this vendor list double (or more?) This is only the tip of the iceberg.
 
Plus I think that New England is underrated as a food destination. The amount of great cheeses, meats and produce that are available throughout the region is incredible. There just needed to be a central meeting place like this to showcase all of them. Within a couple years you will most likely see this vendor list double (or more?) This is only the tip of the iceberg.

Oh I totally agree. I was just saying even if that weren't the case we need more places like this.
 
Plus I think that New England is underrated as a food destination. The amount of great cheeses, meats and produce that are available throughout the region is incredible. There just needed to be a central meeting place like this to showcase all of them. Within a couple years you will most likely see this vendor list double (or more?) This is only the tip of the iceberg.

Agreed. When I visit my sister in San Francisco, I LOVE heading to the Ferry Building on Farmers Market days. Between the local produce and the food trucks, it's a local food Mecca. This, combined with the International Market (and hopefully more food trucks), could be even better than that. I'm more excited for this than I am for most other projects in town now.
 
Still can't understand why it takes over two years to build out a vacant never occupied space that's been sitting dormant since it was built 15 years ago.
 
so what will this actually look like to pedestrians out on the street? I have to imagine it will different than what we've seen, which is the structure and a giant public market sign above it.

Would be a travesty to have such an uninviting facade.
 
The upper floor "windows" are awful. Looks like it's been bombed out.
 

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What are you guys freaking out about? It's ...not really all that different that what is there now and has been there for about a decade?

I don't like it but it's not like it is some new monstrosity that's been foisted upon us.
 
What are you guys freaking out about? It's ...not really all that different that what is there now and has been there for about a decade?

I don't like it but it's not like it is some new monstrosity that's been foisted upon us.

I think the lack of ambition here is the most disappointing. I don't mind the building as just the empty ground floor with garage, but as a public market, I find it akin to having a Chuck-e-Cheese in Count Dracula's castle.
 
What are you guys freaking out about? It's ...not really all that different that what is there now and has been there for about a decade?

I don't like it but it's not like it is some new monstrosity that's been foisted upon us.

Yeah its already there and I doubt they had enough funding to really focus on the exterior all that much.

Add a nice sign and some cool lighting and most off all fill the inside up with good shit to eat and I think its a major win.

One of my favorite markets anywhere is Jean Talon Market in Montreal. That place is nothing to look at from the outside, but what they have available inside is leaps and bounds better than most "pretty" markets throughout the continent.
 
What are you guys freaking out about? It's ...not really all that different that what is there now and has been there for about a decade?

I don't like it but it's not like it is some new monstrosity that's been foisted upon us.

The facade really needs some improvements. Something like a kinetic facade or even just some stationary fins would be cool. The main issue is that the facade of the garage needs to remain open (and have a certain clear area to the exterior - otherwise you need special fire protection & fume mitigation), so you'll always get the "bombed out" look no matter what faux windows you put in there. You really just have to cleverly hide the garage. It can be done: http://www.archdaily.com/530512/cit...ucture-6-behnisch-architekten-studio-jantzen/

City of Santa Monica Parking Structure #6 / Behnisch Architekten + Studio Jantzen

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Imagine what a statement that would make and really make the Public Market building special.
 
I really can't complain about the exterior of this building (and believe me, I love to complain about ugly buildings).

I don't think there was ever any expectation communicated by the market's owners (the state?) that the exterior would be altered much, was there?

Frankly, this building - functional as it was created to be - is still much more attractive than 99% of the buildings going up in NYC (which are largely dreck built by a menace to society named Gene Kaufman who has the architectural fertility of a rabbit).

Or, for that matter, much more attractive than the crappy Emerson dorms for which Boylston Place - which offers one of the greatest moments of old-European-style "serendipity" in Boston - is being demolished.
 
Does the Public Market project even have the power to alter anything about the structure besides the space they are occupying? Seems a reach to complain about the parking garage windows when they are likely well outside of the scope of the project.
 
This is an architecture forum. There is nothing wrong with discussing improvements that could be made to a project. Those doing so, myself included, should not be misinterpreted as not liking or approving of the project itself. Seeing this building from afar, you would never know it is housing a special public amenity. It looks like a bombed out parking garage. Why not have a facade feature that draws attention to the building and makes it an icon from afar?

Also, I believe a facade feature could have definitely been in the scope if it had been negotiated during design. They're sticking a large sign on the building. They can just as easily design some fins and stick them on too. This building isn't about being a parking garage. It's about being a public food market. It should present itself as one.
 

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