SHIFTboston

Sounds like the event was a success!

If these people can organize an event that gets taken seriously by local government and media and causes provocative buzz, why can't ArchBoston? In this context we should be encouraged to promote the ArchBoston awards or maybe even our own ideas contest based on the "Build a Better Boston" forum.
 
Finally someone's thinking big thoughts about future Boston --and the fact that they're not members of this forum gives them some immunity against being pooh-poohed.
 
I didn't realize this forum had such a stigma against it?
 
http://www.metropolismag.com/pov/20100209/underground-inspiration

Underground Inspiration
By Mason Currey

Tuesday, February 9, 2010 4:55 pm

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Last year, the inaugural SHIFTboston Ideas Competition called on architects, designers, engineers, and others to submit provocative visions ?to enhance and electrify the urban experience in Boston.? The competition sponsors weren?t necessarily looking for build-able schemes, but rather for inspiration?for ideas that would engage citizens and galvanize the local design community.

But the winning proposal, announced last month, actually doesn?t seem that far-fetched. The architects Sapir Ng and Andrzej Zarzycki?the former is an associate at Tsoi/Kobus & Associates, the latter an assistant professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology?envisioned a new use for the abandoned Tremont Street Subway tunnel, which runs underneath Boston Common. In their scheme, the tunnel becomes a network of underground cultural venues, including a theater, a cinema, art galleries, and a ?media-infused trolley museum.?

What are the chances that such a thing could actually be built? Right now it?s simply too early to tell; according to a press release from Tsoi/Kobus & Associates, ?[m]eetings to share details of the plan with politicians and policy makers are currently being scheduled.? Here?s hoping those meetings happen, and that the city?s politicians are canny enough (and/or jealous enough of New York?s High Line) to take Ng and Zarzychi?s proposal seriously.

Read more about the Tremont Underground Theater Space at SHIFTboston.org.
 
If the Neds of this world won't let us build above ground, I guess becoming mole people works.
 
Well, there might be one or two microparticles, armed to the teeth (I'm thinking a micro-ninja sword and micro-Uzi), that were belched out by the subway cars that came through this tunnel 80 years ago.

That could be as harmful as living above (but not near) a highway, or in a townhouse, or in the country, or whatever else freaks out the NMIMBYs (No Microparticles In My Backyard).
 
Designers dream up underground arts space

Couldn't find this posted anywhere and didn't know where to put it. Feel free to move as you see fit.

Designers dream up underground arts space
Old tunnel fodder for winning plan

Last year, SHIFTboston, a nonprofit organization aimed at fostering creativity in urban planning, issued a call for ideas for its first annual ?design inspiration?? competition. More than 140 architects, engineers, artists, and landscapers from around the world submitted entries to be judged by a panel of seven local and international design professionals, and finalists were announced in January at a showcase held at the Institute of Contemporary Art.

The winning proposal presented by architects Sapir Ng, an associate at Boston architecture firm Tsoi/Kobus & Associates (TK&A), and Andrzej Zarzycki, a former TK&A architect now teaching at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, laid the plans for turning an abandoned subway tunnel beneath Tremont Street into an underground art gallery, theater, and event space linking Boylston Street and the South End. That?s right: A party in the T...
Click to expand...
Full Story

It sounds like a really cool concept. I like adaptively reused train tunnels. I've always enjoyed the Tunnel Bar in Northampton. Of course, I'd rather see the tunnel used for transit purposes, but that's highly unlikely. An underground art space seems like a good fit.
 
Re: Designers dream up underground arts space

If this gets built, we'll never see a transit link there ever again. It'd be the Rose Kennedy Greenway of the MBTA. An inconvinently-located sacrosanct little corner of the city that can never be touched again.
 
Re: Designers dream up underground arts space

I agree -- it's just like a rail trail. Once it is converted to temporary alternative use, you create a constituency for keeping it from ever returning to active transit service.
 
Re: Designers dream up underground arts space

Arborway said:
If this gets built, we'll never see a transit link there ever again. It'd be the Rose Kennedy Greenway of the MBTA. An inconvinently-located sacrosanct little corner of the city that can never be touched again.
Click to expand...

I agree. I don't see why anyone is so eager to see this happen.

If you want an abandoned tunnel to turn into an artsy fartsy place, use the abandoned trolley tunnels at Broadway Sta or the one in Cambridge (Harvard, I think?).
 
Mods: Not sure if this should have its own thread, separate from the SHIFTBoston thread (SHIFTBoston being a competition this concept won).

http://www.metro.us/boston/local/ar...t-to-turn-t-tunnels-into-thriving-attractions

Metro Boston said:
Architects want to turn T tunnels into thriving attractions

STEVE ANNEAR/METRO
Published: December 19, 2011

More than a year after two local architects launched a plan to turn abandoned underground MBTA tunnels into tourist attractions and walkways, the creators are reigniting public interest in the idea.

“There was a loss of momentum,” said Sapir Ng, one of the designers. “But we have developed the concept more ... and we are looking for [the T’s] support.”

The “Tremont Underground Theater Space,” was once an award-winning design developed by Ng and Andrzej Zarzycki, but it fizzled slightly over time.

The pair dreamed of revamping unused space where trains once ran, turning the tunnels into a network of underground, interactive social environments filled with artwork and theater acts connecting several city points.

Ng said he plans to contact community groups in the area above the tunnels, and reach out to Emerson College and Suffolk University, after he talks with T officials in the new year.

“People were really enthusiastic about this idea. It would be a shame to abandon it,” he said.

According to T spokesman Joe Pesaturo, the duo is “welcome” to pitch the project, but such a proposal would require reviews from a number of departments.

Paul Regan, executive director of the MBTA Advisory Board, said he would “love to see the conversation happen.”

“I think it’s a good idea to utilize the empty space and an innovative thing that could bring lots of life to downtown,” he said. "If everybody involved does a good job with it, it could be attraction with a lot of possibilities in the future.


Keeping the dream alive
-Ng says the space could bring revenue to the T
-Private funding would be sought for the project
-Ng says the T could turn the space into an underground museum featuring old trains
-The TUTS is looking for community support to move forward
Click to expand...
 
Ng and Zarzycki came and spoke at Wentworth last year. I went to the presentation. I was sad to see the momentum die shortly after. I hope this time it catches on. The TUTS has the potential to join the ranks with the Highline as an international destination.
 
The Tremont tunnel must remain available for transit expansion. If they wanted to do something somehow with Court Street, Bowdoin when it closes (Blue to MGH and beyond could bypass), or the derelict parts of Harvard fine. Screwing up a valuable segment of infrastructure for artsy bullshit and odes to ego should not take priority over an expanded green line.
 
Lurker said:
The Tremont tunnel must remain available for transit expansion. If they wanted to do something somehow with Court Street, Bowdoin when it closes (Blue to MGH and beyond could bypass), or the derelict parts of Harvard fine. Screwing up a valuable segment of infrastructure for artsy bullshit and odes to ego should not take priority over an expanded green line.
Click to expand...

This. But I don't think this museum plan is going anywhere. It's kind of a, "Hey wow, that sounds unique" and then you forget it by the time you read about the next architect/landscaper/artist proposing something flashy and crazy.
 
I highly doubt any of the TUTS finishes would be perm. I would assume all the tracks will stay and will be prominent features, as that is the subject of the museum (that's what I would do at least). If the MBTA ever does get expanded (in 2090) they could easily remove the spaces and access the tracks.

How realistic is this expansion you speak of? I think there's a better chance for TransNational Place than there is for an expansion of the GL using the Tremont tunnel on the horizon.

BostonUrbEx said:
This. But I don't think this museum plan is going anywhere. It's kind of a, "Hey wow, that sounds unique" and then you forget it by the time you read about the next architect/landscaper/artist proposing something flashy and crazy.
Click to expand...
The High Line was an artsy pipedream and guess what? DS+R (a then still emerging firm) actually built it.
 
There is a similar proposal for Manhattan using abandoned train tunnels on the Lower East Side called the Low Line. Like any transit infrastructure I would much rather see it be used for transportation whenever possible. I agree there are other sections of the system that would be better for this type of museum use.
 
The former trolley tunnel at Broadway would be much better for this, IMO.
 
I'd really like to see the Boylston tunnel reused for a Green Line branch replacement of the Silver Line to Dudley Square along Washington Street. With an extension down Warren Street from Dudley to Blue Hill Avenue and beyond.

A new tunnel under Essex (more complicated) Oak or Curve Street could link into the Silver Line tunnel at South Station. The cheaper alternative would be of course to run an elevated over the pike from the Washington Street extension to South Station and into a new portal. The elevated track would of course someday become contained in whatever air rights development takes place. Could make for a useful stations internal to those projects.

The fact no one has offered Vanshnookenraggen's MBTA proposals rockstar treatment at any design related event speaks volumes about the people critiquing futuristic improvements to the built realm.
 
You can't dream big in this city. Or you can but I guess you only get one big dream per generation.

But more specifically it's not like I've really done anything to promote my plan. I guess I'm too pessimistic/realistic about how things work. Proposing a new park or a simple plan to reuse abandoned property for revenue generation are ideas with legs. Proposing a transportation expansion that will cost billions of dollars and in reality won't be needed for generations doesn't so much.

The problem isn't the plan, it's finding out how to get it done. I'll leave that to the next Robert Moses.
 
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