Redesign Government Center

bigeman312 said:
So she wants a Boston version of Chicago's Bean?
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Ideally, it won't be a 'version of' anything else. It will be wholly unique. Unfortunately, that's a really difficult thing to pull off.
 
statler said:
Ideally, it won't be a 'version of' anything else. It will be wholly unique. Unfortunately, that's a really difficult thing to pull off.
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^True. Very poorly articulated by me. It sounds like they are trying to accomplish what was accomplished with The Bean in Chicago.
 
This is the same type of guy who buys a huge truck to compensate for his small dick.

Boston has TONS of icons, just one would be the envy of most American cities. All the city has to do is utilize them as best as they can. The Greenway and City Hall Plaza are great starting points for redevelopment but it's not like Boston needs to build the Spacetower or Statue of Liberty. Focus on better urban design for the people who live here and attracting people to move here.
 
I disagree. The city doesn't need a giant look-at-me! type icon, but it I don't think it hurts either.

You are right that we have plenty of smaller, human-scaled icons, (all of which I'm grateful for) but we are still missing that One Thing. I think it would be a nice touch.

vanshnookenraggen said:
Focus on better urban design for the people who live here and attracting people to move here.
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These aren't mutually exclusive goals.
 
statler said:
Ideally, it won't be a 'version of' anything else. It will be wholly unique. Unfortunately, that's a really difficult thing to pull off.
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Pretty sure the current city hall accomplishes that objective.
 
datadyne007 said:
We're missing that "it" factor for a singular landmark. They want to create something that you can only get in Boston.
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...and my initial point, which I realize I may not have made clearly, was that that's an entirely meaningless statement. I can get the Eiffel Tower in Chicago if you consider all observation decks to be created equal. I can get the Sydney Opera House in any city with a pretty harbor promenade and nice weather (like Singapore, for instance).

Having one of these things does not mean anything either. To the best of my knowledge, Dublin is the only city with a 300' metal spike in the middle of the city, but how many Americans have ever heard of it? (Also, how many have heard of Dublin?)

You have the city you have. Build the best stuff you can for it. BTW, if CBT believed that, their recent portfolio would look a lot different than it does.
 
statler said:
I disagree. The city doesn't need a giant look-at-me! type icon, but it I don't think it hurts either.

You are right that we have plenty of smaller, human-scaled icons, (all of which I'm grateful for) but we are still missing that One Thing. I think it would be a nice touch.



These aren't mutually exclusive goals.
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Thematically government should be all about the public, liberty and democracy. Boston is the cradle of Liberty, the center of education, the hub of the universe. Make it so.
 
Equilibria said:
To the best of my knowledge, Dublin is the only city with a 300' metal spike in the middle of the city, but how many Americans have ever heard of it? (Also, how many have heard of Dublin?)
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These things can be hit or miss in the popular imagination. For my money, there is no reason the Hancock shouldn't be the international icon of Boston, but for some reason, it's not. The closest thing we honestly have is the fucking CITGO sign. Fuck that.

Meanwhile, how many Dubliner's only know about St Louis because of the Arch?
 
What about the lack of an actual "hall" at city hall? I think I've seen some notional plans of gutting the lower levels of Boston city hall... How about a ~5000 seat meeting hall space?
 
tangent said:
What about the lack of an actual "hall" at city hall? I think I've seen some notional plans of gutting the lower levels of Boston city hall... How about a ~5000 seat meeting hall space?
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tangent, you are not thinking iconic enough.

We need to take the entire City Hall site, building, plaza, and create a 100,000 plus amphitheatre -- get ride of city government and establish the world's largest town meeting government. A spectical for the world to behold. We could also create a companion reality tv series.

Any yes, I jest.
 
JeffDowntown said:
tangent, you are not thinking iconic enough.

We need to take the entire City Hall site, building, plaza, and create a 100,000 plus amphitheatre -- get ride of city government and establish the world's largest town meeting government. A spectical for the world to behold. We could also create a companion reality tv series.

Any yes, I jest.
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And then turn it all upside down with upside down seats and everything as a big F-You to democracy. I like it...(not really) Oh ya we already sent the big F-you to freedom and racial harmony with an upside down Lincoln Memorial themed city hall. I don't think it was a coincidence that the architect chose an upside down Lincoln Memorial profile during a time of racial strife in the city.

But seriously, Boston has a city hall without an actual city hall that can have anything more than token meetings. An 5000 seat auditorium space could be used as a venue for multiple events. And they can and should spread out the City Hall offices around the city.
 
In line with the plan to make 1-2-3 Center Plaza a more active street frontage, I'd argue to actually extend the plaza INTO Cambridge Street right up to the sidewalk t of 1-2-3. Yes, you heard that right. Brick-like pavers over Cambridge Street at the same grade as the Plaza and sidewalk, narrowed and dieted. That way, 1-2-3 actually becomes the edge of the square, rather than the amorphous fizzled space where the Cambridge Street mini-expressway tears through.
 
Shepard said:
In line with the plan to make 1-2-3 Center Plaza a more active street frontage, I'd argue to actually extend the plaza INTO Cambridge Street right up to the sidewalk t of 1-2-3. Yes, you heard that right. Brick-like pavers over Cambridge Street at the same grade as the Plaza and sidewalk, narrowed and dieted. That way, 1-2-3 actually becomes the edge of the square, rather than the amorphous fizzled space where the Cambridge Street mini-expressway tears through.
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Interesting. I like it.
 
Yeah, I do think it would help. The problem still is that 1-2-3 is convex relative to the plaza, so it doesn't at all help in enclosing the space - in fact it helps to UNdefine it. But bringing the plaza out to it as I've described may nonetheless integrate it more as a true active edge to the extent that it can.

Anyway a Cambridge street road diet is more than warranted here.

Edit: I don't see this as the only solution for the plaza but as one of many changes - e.g reopening Cornhill and Hanover and opening parts of it to development.
 
This building needs to die. Even if nothing replaced it, simply exposing the courthouse would be a huge improvement.
 
Justin7 said:
This building needs to die. Even if nothing replaced it, simply exposing the courthouse would be a huge improvement.
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In Massachusetts not only is justice blind, but they blocked its view.
 
tangent said:
In Massachusetts not only is justice blind, but they blocked its view.
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+1000000 LOL!

Yes as a juror often at that courthouse for reasons unknown, I've often wondered why they took a grand courthouse like that and built gawd-awful center plaza there. You'd think they would want to showcase it like the statehouse is.

On a different note, Metro CU moved out and now is at City Hall Ave. So I think *something* may be going on with Center Plaza. As the teller told me that that bank takes up most of 1 center plaza even though their retail space is TINY, as that location used to be the MA State Employeee's CU and that was their main office so they occupied a ton of space in CP.

And didn't I read somewhere they were going to re-do the plaza there anyways to make it more inviting. (yes I Know almost off thread but its across the street from GC!)
 
I like Charlie_MTA’s idea about adding more buildings to the plaza, but I also like the idea of having at least SOME plaza, albeit a more “defined” one, still capable of hosting public events. City Hall, for better or worse, was designed to be experienced “in the round”, and if it is to be retained and revitalized it deserves a little breathing room. A smaller, more intimate plaza could provide this room, with City Hall becoming the focal point and organizer of this more integral space. (I realize that the sketch bears a faint resemblance to Piazza Del Campo in Sienna. But even though people LOVE the Piazza in Sienna, I would propose a flat plaza for City Hall. Because aside from watching horse races, the sloping Piazza isn’t good for much. Just TRY to find a picture of someone using the plaza for more than sitting on the ground. I would use Piazza San Marco, or Piazza Navona as more of a model) Maintain and enhance views and connections into and out of the plaza, reconnect Hanover St to Cambridge St (let the feds cry about how they won’t be able to secure the Kennedy complex), renovate and lease the base of City Hall along Congress St for retail, and provide indoor public meeting space in City Hall at the plaza level.
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