Re: Shreve, Crump & Low bldng may be replaced w/ new develop
I attended this meeting yesterday. Pretty much ruined my day.
I arrived at the meeting a little late and only caught the end of the presentation. From what I could see from the rear of the room, the design continues its paring down, now reduced to a windowed box with a couple of setbacks. The presenter-- I assume he was from Stern's office -- stated a few times that the building will have have high-quality details and that's where the focus will be. However, judging by the details on Stern's other 2 nearby buildings -- the cartoonish 222 Berkeley and the shockingly cheap-looking Clarendon, I have to say I'm doubtful.
Interestingly, the presenter also mentioned how the new less is more aesthetic, ie, box, was based off a sketch by the BRA's Kairos Shen. He also mentioned that this new design reflects the intention that this be a background building, which I found laughable considering the extreme prominence of the building's site and its gargantuan scale. It will dwarf its entire block, as well as the Arlington St. Church, and utterly dominate, visually, this corner of the Public Garden. I assume that's why we see them getting cute with the POV in the renderings, angling the perspective downward from some imaginary vantage point 500' above the Public Garden.
During the comment and question portion of the presentation, Andrea Leers, a BCDC Commissioner, heaped praise on the new boxy approach. She also made a befuddling remark to the effect that although the BCDC has voiced their desire for a much grander, bolder design for this very important site than those previously proposed, well, I guess that's impossible, so a plain box is great -- to which several other commissioners agreed.
There were comments from neighborhood residents and a representative from the Preservation Alliance lamenting being left out of the redesign discussions, and criticizing the secretive, backroom nature of the process.
My impression was that this commission was just going through the motions, and they're ready to rubber stamp anything Druker shows them at this point. It makes me wonder what the point of such a commission is. After all, if a 400' blank black wall could get by them (45 Province), what can't?