The Kensington | 665 Washington Street | Downtown

Re: Residences at Kensington

People have to understand that precast concrete exterior panels are basically the absolute cheapest shit available to clad a large steel-framed building. It's the vinyl siding of modern curtain wall construction. There's really no justifying using the stuff on aesthetic grounds. There are no architects enraptured with the exciting new possibilities of the material. They're not scribbling precast-concrete-paneled-clad dreams on a napkin late at night. They get it out of a catalog. It's cheap shit, it looks like cheap shit and I bet any designer that specs it only does so because they've been forced to do so. I also bet they're embarrassed about it.
 
Re: Residences at Kensington

atlantaden said:
My God, I had one of these as a kid! What a great find, Beton!! I loved this building set, spent hours and hours building skyscrapers! When I completed the building, I morphed from architect into....Godzilla! :) Maybe my love for this building set explains why I actually like the blue glass panels on the Kensington! Also, the panels remind me of the Traveler's Insurance building downtown that was blown up to make way for 125 High St. I loved that building!
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I loved that Traveler's Insurance Building also! It was right next to the Central Artery. Something about it made it look so major league for some reason. It was very "Mad Men". It's hard to explain.


I still mourn its loss:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7MwnofAZc4
 
Re: Residences at Kensington

Too bad that Travelers building couldn't have lasted...it was the closest Boston ever got to '50s corporate modernism, and although I'm not old enough to have firsthand memories of it I do recall the first time I saw it in an aerial and being surprised to see a modernist high rise existed in the middle of downtown. I even like how its timid embracing of modernism left it looking more like Philadelphia's PSFS tower than some glossy Park Avenue thing. Yep, put me down as liking it!
 
Re: Residences at Kensington

As someone who remembers it well, IMHO it was just OK. It looked kind of like a tall high school from 1960. The implosion was a great event.
 
Re: Residences at Kensington

We called it the "Bathroom Building" because of all the blue and white tiles!
 
Re: Residences at Kensington

You know what would redeem this slightly? Giving over every square inch of beige facade to graffiti artists. That would be a cheap and unique fix. If they don't make the call, I will.
 
Re: Residences at Kensington

Worked for 40 Bond
40-bond-gate1.jpg
 
Re: Residences at Kensington

I want to punch it in the ovaries.
 
Re: Residences at Kensington

^ In response to that I'll say this thing's a little bitch.
 
Re: Residences at Kensington

Maybe we'll have an earthquake soon, and this will be destroyed. Along with city hall, Tremont on the Common, and the state mental health building (sorry, Van). But that's it. Nothing else.
 
Re: Residences at Kensington

BostonUrbEx said:
Maybe we'll have an earthquake soon, and this will be destroyed. Along with city hall, Tremont on the Common, and the state mental health building (sorry, Van). But that's it. Nothing else.
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Heh. +1.
 
Re: Residences at Kensington

Here is a look at some more angles of The Kensington as it approaches topping out, which I will assume will happen in the next week to 10 days. The developer has launched a new Website thekensingtonboston.com. Some of the interior pictures and amenities look interesting.

This building doesn't offend me the way it does others on this board. While not a masterpiece, I do think the street interaction on Washington Street has potential, plus getting more people living in this neighborhood should continue the momentum downtown.

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Re: Residences at Kensington

BostonUrbEx said:
Maybe we'll have an earthquake soon, and this will be destroyed. Along with city hall, Tremont on the Common, and the state mental health building (sorry, Van). But that's it. Nothing else.
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So if it wasn't clear over the last couple of weeks, this building is hands-down the undisputed most hated building on this forum, and that's saying a lot. We're now hoping for a natural disaster of epic proportions to potentially bring this building down.
 
Re: Residences at Kensington

The glass doesn't look that bad when it's not in a HDR zoomed in shot.
 
Re: Residences at Kensington

The type of building you go home with at last call. Greatest architectural critique ever.
 
Re: Residences at Kensington

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That sidewalk is criminal.
 
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