Renovations to BPL's Johnson Wing | Back Bay

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Whoa.....did not see this one coming!

Mayor Thomas M. Menino promises new look for main library in Copley Square
05/01/2013 1:03 PM
By Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff

Mayor Thomas M. Menino vowed Wednesday to begin the transformation of the main library in Copley Square before he leaves City Hall, saying the granite facade of the Johnson Building will be replaced with glass to open it to Boylston Street.

Menino also said in a speech to the Boston College Chief Executives’ Club of Boston that there would be a vote on a proposed casino at Suffolk Downs in East Boston before the end of 2012. And he pledged to begin the search to replace School Superintendent Carol R. Johnson, who announced last week that she is retiring.

The mayor outlined several other issues he wants to address before leaving office, from solving the dispute between state and city police regarding which agency has jurisdiction over the waterfront to a new plan to curb homelessness.

“There are 250 days remaining in my final term,” Menino planned to say, according to a copy of his prepared remarks. “And I will use every single one of them to rally people to these causes. In 20 years, we have transformed our city step by step, and we won’t stop now.”

The plan for the main branch of the Boston Public Library involves the newer portion of that Back Bay landmark, which has a prominent entrance on Boylston.

The speech at the Boston Harbor Hotel was Menino’s first since he announced in March he would not seek a sixth term. His remarks were laced with references to the Boston Marathon bombings, which he said brought out Boston’s best.

“I have never been prouder of our city,” Menino planned to say. “When the world turned their eyes to Boston over the last two weeks, they saw greatness everywhere. They saw it in our people and their strength. They saw it in the skills of our police. They saw it in the speed of our first responders. They saw miracle after miracle of greatness in our ambulances and hospitals.”

Menino also said he heard echoes of the Marathon explosions in the sporadic gun violence that haunts some Boston neighborhoods, evoking Martin Richard, the youngest victim of the bombings. A photograph circulated in the media after Richard’s death showed the 8-year-old holding a sign that read, “No more hurting people.”

“We must heed young Martin Richard’s call: ‘No more hurting people,’ ” Menino said in the prepared remarks. “We have to put an end to violence in our neighborhoods and the senseless scourge of guns.”

Andrew Ryan can be reached at acryan@globe.com Follow him on Twitter @globeandrewryan.
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Re: Menino plans renovations to BPL's Johnson Wing

Well golly! Where have I been...
 
Re: Menino plans renovations to BPL's Johnson Wing

Uh, good luck mutilating a landmark?
 
Re: Menino plans renovations to BPL's Johnson Wing

I was 100% against any change, last year. I've become less opposed, though, not sure why. I do like the idea of opening up the Boylston Street side of things, just not sure how it would work and I'm not a fan of government being landlords to private business. The sidewalk outside the Johnson wing is too wide and certainly something could be built that wouldn't take up too much of the existing inside space.
 
Re: Menino plans renovations to BPL's Johnson Wing

The windows in the Johnson wing are a disaster. That building should not be weighty granite, but a Mies Barcelona Pavilion.

I would begin by knocking down the ridiculous granite "fence" that blocks all the first floor windows from the street. Then taking down the prison-bar windows on the second floor. After that, the second floor granite gets knocked down and replaced with floor-to-ceiling sheets of glass.
 
Re: Menino plans renovations to BPL's Johnson Wing

JoeBoston1 said:
The windows in the Johnson wing are a disaster. That building should not be weighty granite, but a Mies Barcelona Pavilion.

I would begin by knocking down the ridiculous granite "fence" that blocks all the first floor windows from the street. Then taking down the prison-bar windows on the second floor. After that, the second floor granite gets knocked down and replaced with floor-to-ceiling sheets of glass.
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Precisely. The facade of the building is where it fails. The interior is brilliant with its incredible covered courtyard (atrium) at the exact proportion of the McKim building. The facade needs to be updated so that it reflects the brilliant and stunning interior volume. The Johnson building is, in effect, the antithesis of the McKim building, but has the same solid facade, so it is ineffective at contrasting. A filigree facade will perfect the complex and duality of the two buildings.
 
Re: Menino plans renovations to BPL's Johnson Wing

Wait- what? Am I reading this right? The Copley Square portion of the building? This sounds awful! Can someone perhaps better describe where this is, preferably with a Google Maps streetview reference? I'm trying to understand what is going on and it sounds like a terrible idea.
 
Re: Menino plans renovations to BPL's Johnson Wing

BostonUrbEx said:
Wait- what? Am I reading this right? The Copley Square portion of the building? This sounds awful! Can someone perhaps better describe where this is, preferably with a Google Maps streetview reference? I'm trying to understand what is going on and it sounds like a terrible idea.
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You read it wrong. They're talking about the facade along Boylston Street at the SE corner of Exeter Street. In essence, directly across the street from where the first bomb went off during the Boston marathon. Right now there's a useless robotic public toilet there and absolutely no street-level interaction between the building and Boylston.

The original MMW Boston Public Library building fronting Copley Square will not be touched.
 
Re: Menino plans renovations to BPL's Johnson Wing

This would be a great legacy for Mayor Menino to leave us on his way out. My only concern is that bright sunlight shining into big new glass windows may not be good for books.
 
Re: Menino plans renovations to BPL's Johnson Wing

Ron Newman said:
This would be a great legacy for Mayor Menino to leave us on his way out. My only concern is that bright sunlight shining into big new glass windows may not be good for books.
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I wouldn't be too concerned about that. The facade in question faces north, so it doesn't get much in the way of direct sunlight as southern exposure would.
 
Re: Menino plans renovations to BPL's Johnson Wing

BostonUrbEx said:
Wait- what? Am I reading this right? The Copley Square portion of the building? This sounds awful! Can someone perhaps better describe where this is, preferably with a Google Maps streetview reference? I'm trying to understand what is going on and it sounds like a terrible idea.
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The whole thread has been talking about the Boylston Street facing Johnson Building. Obviously no one is touching the McKim Building. It's probably federally and state from any alterations other than preservation.
 
Re: Menino plans renovations to BPL's Johnson Wing

BussesAin'tTrains said:
The whole thread has been talking about the Boylston Street facing Johnson Building. Obviously no one is touching the McKim Building. It's probably federally and state from any alterations other than preservation.
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Not only on the National Register, it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1986. Absolutely untouchable.

Don't know how much of the interior including the murals by Sargent and Abbey was also given Landmark status.
 
Re: Menino plans renovations to BPL's Johnson Wing

isn't the Johnson building too new to be landmarkable?
 
Re: Menino plans renovations to BPL's Johnson Wing

^ Ron, I'm not in love with the Johnson Wing (see below) but it's too important of a building in his slow march to Post-Modernism to not be landmarked.

Some earlier thoughts on the Johnson Building:

Beton Brut said:
To me, the Johnson Addition is an act of architectural taxidermy. The massing and articulation all seem (to me, anyway) like references to (and all-out thefts from) several large-scale Frank Lloyd Wright buildings (see below) without any attempt to imbue the building with the spirit of Wright's work.


The "skins" of these buildings, stitched together by Johnson, are stretched over a bland, value-engineered International Style core, bereft of any evidence of craft or humanity.

Crazy?
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Re: Menino plans renovations to BPL's Johnson Wing

Ron Newman said:
isn't the Johnson building too new to be landmarkable?
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Maybe not to be a Boston landmark, but it would seem not to meet the criteria to become a National Historic Landmark.

A nationally significant property may:

• Be the site of an event that had a significant impact on American history overall
for an example: Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Building (Brown Building), NY

• Provide an outstanding illustration of a broad theme or trend in American history overall
for an example: Navajo Nation Council Chamber, AZ

• Be the property most strongly associated with an important figure in American history
for an example: Eudora Welty House, MS

• Be the best example of an architectural style or significant development in engineering
for an example: Wainwright Building, St. Louis, MO

• Be a site that can provide nationally significant archaeological information
for an example: Bottle Creek Site, AL
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Re: Menino plans renovations to BPL's Johnson Wing

stellarfun said:
Not only on the National Register, it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1986. Absolutely untouchable.

Don't know how much of the interior including the murals by Sargent and Abbey was also given Landmark status.
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Protection for historic buildings comes from local governments, such as Boston Landmarks Commission, NOT the federal level. You're statement that the McKim, Mead, & White building is untouchable is true, but listing on the National Register, even attaining NHL status, does not necessarily confer that protection. Take Soldier Field in Chicago, which was de-designated a NHL after a ridiculously out of scale addition.
 
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