Wentworth Mixed-Use Life Sciences Complex | 500 Huntington Ave | Fenway



IMG_0118.jpeg








https://bpda.app.box.com/s/2w2fmlh9vlgwo1ur5u1ut0oyg59evyj3
 
As a WIT grad, I would have loved to see more Institute focused buildings, but am also intrigued by this use on this site. So much lab space has been focused on Kendall that I wonder if having this type of space here, especially sandwiched between Green and Orange lines will do good or bad to attract tenants. It adds to the diversity of uses already in the area, from education, civic, housing, where we are seeing mixed uses within our neighborhoods rather than just in the buildings themselves.

I'm meh on the project itself, but it's intriguing nonetheless.
 
These giant lumpy boxes that have become so common in the last decade are virtually-interchangeable. They're soulless and unappealing, and their relentless proliferation is making our whole built environment soulless and unappealing.

Looking at these buildings, it's as if they're trying to take the the nearby, normally-scaled, apartment buildings along Huntington Ave -- their dimensional proportions and visual organization -- and scale it up 3-4x. If you look at the other recently built/proposed giant lumpy boxes in our area you can see a similar design approach being used. Why anyone would think this is a good idea is a mystery to me. It looks idiotic and I wish it would just go away.
 
Last edited:
One source of the problem is that most buildings are built by a distant investor looking to make money. In decades past, they used to be built by a company and were seen as a physical manifestation of the company.
 
I feel WIT has been doing a decent job on redevelopment and new buildings, but, yeah, this one is not it, and hurts the pride a bit (as it should the architectural depart!). Only way this works is if they dedicated a street level space to a Punter's revival, and/or brought back Sparr's from down the way. Which is to say: it'll just be bad.
 
Beantropolis said:
These giant lumpy boxes that have become so common in the last decade are virtually-interchangeable. They're soulless and unappealing, and their relentless proliferation is making our whole built environment soulless and unappealing.

Looking at these buildings, it's as if they're trying to take the the nearby, normally-scaled, apartment buildings along Huntington Ave -- their dimensional proportions and visual organization -- and scale it up 3-4x. If you look at the other recently built/proposed giant lumpy boxes in our area you can see a similar design approach being used. Why anyone would think this is a good idea is a mystery to me. It looks idiotic and I wish it would just go away.
Click to expand...

They are soul-murdering.

I'm totally pro-development (and tall) for Wentworth here in this location. But would it KILL someone to care about the architecture anymore???? This proliferation of low detail, boxy, generic boxes is nothing more than cheap vandalism at this point.

Boston should never be Houston or Levittown. At some point, the BPDA needs to care about architecture and how it affects the human beings living in the city as much as the diversity makeup of the development company.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top