Redesign Government Center

Re: Government Center

meddlepal said:
Buildings don't last forever, it will happen sooner rather than later. Also how structurally sound is the building? Didn't one of the floors buckle last year?

Assuming we don't do something stupid like slap a Historic Preservation tag on that monstrosity I'd say it's a good bet the current City Hall is gone by 2030.
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i heard that it was leaking and frigid in winter back in the early 90s from someone who worked there - this was offered during an argument where i defended the architectural merit but it was pointed out that functionally the thing sucks to work in

tangent
Re: Government Center
Then there is the question about why have one big city hall in the first place. Do more business online and you could have city offices in each neighborhood closer to the residents and businesses they serve.

Then the only thing you need city hall for is for various size meeting spaces, auditorium and offices for the mayor. Which is why I think you could largely gut the lower levels of the existing building and just have those offices elsewhere.
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interesting point... in the world of internet, do we actually need huge headquarters?

Arlington
Re: Government Center Redesign
I understand that people hate the City Hall building itself. Some hate the building and plaza, some just hate the plaza but would give the building a second chance (me).

The problem, as I see it, is that the pavers have total run of the place. Either box them in Piazza Navona style (or small scale Zocalo) or turn them to grass, O'Neill library style.
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exactly. open greenspace or something fucking intimate, dammit! why why why has this taken so long for boston to figure out?

JohnAKeith
Re: Government Center Redesign
Twitter guy did his masters' (master's?) thesis on Government Center Plaza. It hasn't been published online but will be on BAC site eventually.

@ArtscapeLab

Four images:
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those look pretty good.
 
JumboBuc said:
Your Hanover st extension runs straight through the new Government Center head house in both plans...
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I realize that. It is just a pedestrian way and would clearly allow for people to walk around the head house I was just to lazy to bother editing it to go around.
 
JohnAKeith said:
nKIzCwI.jpg


S84fNFX.jpg
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Nothing says "don't walk here" like a patch of grass surrounded by pavement. No one will walk on any of that grass, except maybe the bit in the top picture where the pool and steps invite you to walk over the strip of grass.

Greenspace is pretty much mutually exclusive with Humanspace. The planter with the big tree will get people sitting on the edge, but the people laying on the grass under the tree... not gonna happen. You need large expanses of grass - i.e. a real park - for people to walk on the grass and even then 95% of people will stick to the walkways.

Cambridge City Hall lawn is a miraculous counterexample. I don't know how the tradition of sitting on that lawn got started, but you don't see the same behavior on similar sized parcels elsewhere.
 
fattony said:
Nothing says "don't walk here" like a patch of grass surrounded by pavement.
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"Don't Walk on Grass" signs are the saddest things that property owners have ever inflicted on people.

Folks: we spent untold sums of money on a resource hungry plant chosen because it could withstand foot traffic, an irrigation system, a gardener, then insured that there was no barrier between it and the road. Fucking walk on it.
 
Grass space is good for playing on, picnics and sunbathing.... Decorative grass is okay sometimes, but there are better options for plantings. Using grass merely to fill up space is lazy and usually wasteful.

In this layout https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=zls-af_Fcv3Q.kdu_UfdkkM0A

I put the grassy common to the North side of the plaza so it would get more sunlight from the Southern exposure. Also, positioned the buildings and main paths so the grass common hopefully wouldn't be worn down just by people walking through the plaza.
 
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Could a gondola save Government Center?

A Proposal For New Orleans: Save a Skyscraper, Get a Gondola Roller Coaster
By Mark Byrnes, CityLab

The property at 2 Canal Street has been languishing along the New Orleans Skyline since the late 1990s. Still vacant after a few failed attempts by the city to redevelop it, the old tower may soon get a facelift, just in time for the city's 300th birthday in 2018. And it would come with a new gondola roller coaster next door.

One the finalists in the city's latest request for proposals for 2 Canal Street announced late last week that it's teaming up with US Thrill Rides to build a "Tricentennial Tower" next door if its redevelopment proposal is chosen...

...The latest proposal, by Two Canal Street Investors, includes a luxury hotel and revolving rooftop jazz club for $228 million. In addition, and on top of those costs, would come a new development next door, the Tricentennial Tower, which would look a lot like its half-century-old neighbor. Renderings depict a tower base with four wings and a circular observation deck that goes out of its way to reference Stone's design.
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underground said:
Especially in a town that can't afford anymore white elephants. I mean, they couldn't get that monorail to North Ogdenville?
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White elephants... Now that's riding in style. Who needs monorails?
 
fattony said:
Nothing says "don't walk here" like a patch of grass surrounded by pavement. No one will walk on any of that grass, except maybe the bit in the top picture where the pool and steps invite you to walk over the strip of grass.

Greenspace is pretty much mutually exclusive with Humanspace. The planter with the big tree will get people sitting on the edge, but the people laying on the grass under the tree... not gonna happen. You need large expanses of grass - i.e. a real park - for people to walk on the grass and even then 95% of people will stick to the walkways.

Cambridge City Hall lawn is a miraculous counterexample. I don't know how the tradition of sitting on that lawn got started, but you don't see the same behavior on similar sized parcels elsewhere.
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People use the small lawn in front of the Christian Science Mother Church (Mass Ave frontage) extensively.
 
Re: Government Center

stefalarchitect said:
If Walsh doesn't sell it (which there's still a chance he won't), Tangent's ideas work well; they're cost effective and it gets the job done.
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Thank you. Though even if Walsh sold City Hall and the Plaza outright, then I think it does still make sense to have a large public space there so I think that would have to be part of the deal.

Like I said though I think the City could make do with less office space centrally located. Anyone know if the City still owns the old City Hall? I see it is managed by a leasing company and leased out for office space. Moving the mayor and City Council back into the old City Hall, at least for the duration of a renovation, would honor the history.


As for the Plaza and (new) City Hall, the more I think of it, you could probably even put a tower here (depending on exactly where the tunnel is and where footings would need to go) : https://www.google.com/maps/@42.361621,-71.057436,3a,75y,219.75h,95.69t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sLzUwemeiDylpmFZg5eOMfA!2e0!6m1!1e1


A sufficiently tall tower in that gap along Congress St would generate enough lease revenue to afford a significant overhaul of City Hall Plaza. And being more on the Northeast side of the plaza it would not generate significant shadow over the public space during most times of the day. Maybe just a bit in the early morning. Can't beat that location for access to transit and amenities so it would certainly generate quite a bit of lease and/or tax income for the city.
 
I was in a rush but wanted to finish this. (Its still not complete) I've made a concept idea for government center. The city hall monstrosity is torn down and 6 buildings take it's and the plaza's space. I don't know much about where/how the utilities and subway tunnels underneath are placed, so some of these buildings may be impossible to build. Also, it would probably be a disaster in Boston if this was to be built, due to the size and scale, but I just thought I'd try designing something. The plan includes a new entrance to Government Center Station, and a new performing arts center, placed underground, with an above ground entrance.

Since I was in a rush, so some of the details are simple, such as the detail of the windows. If more work was done, these buildings would resemble less and less of what we see in the Seaport District. One of the buildings still has no windows on it, and another is taken right off the Sketchup Warehouse (2 WTC, but I scaled it down)
Regardless, let me know what you think, whether I should remove buildings entirely, change the style/aspects of (a) building(s), etc. [I'm sort of new at designing buildings.]

Specs:
The "plaza" or "main walkway" is 30' below street level in spots, 12' below at others, and at street level around the edges of the property.
This model is to scale, and fits in the government center plaza, without disrupting any adjacent streets or buildings, including the JFK Federal Building
Building heights:
801', 762', 641', 600', 520'
uKaFqCi.png

^top view of the proposed site
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^proposed new entrance to government center. Note: the entrance is 30' below street level
Ats7s3Z.png

^Looking down the "main walkway" of the site. Retail would take up the first few floors of each building, making the ground floors more active.
XsW8ONR.png

^birds eye view of the site. The building with the curved white roof is the entrance to the new performing arts center
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^a different birds eye view of the site
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^closeup of the performing arts center entrance and suspended walkways that can be found around the site
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^Looking down the "main walkway" of the site from the opposite side.
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view of the site, from Congress St.
 
Looks like a poor man's La Defense. I don't mean that as a compliment either.
 
It's just too many tall buildings massed tightly together. I'd prefer some variability in the heights and massing, and normal streets instead of pathways.

Aaah, I long for some normal city streets in that area.
 
How about something like an earlier design for the Freedom Tower in NY built at Government Center to a height of about 800 feet. Here is the Mashup:

cFFnSOX.jpg
 
You don't even need to knock down city hall. Reconstruct Hannover and Cornhill Street, along with 2-3 other roads.

Sell off the parcels for redevelopment.

Profit.





Concerts, etc, can be held in front of the Adams courthouse, where there is a large, underutilized plaza. Or alternatively, the greenway.
 
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