Winthrop Center | 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

Are they making their own concrete? Looks like there's an apparatus for one.
 
Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

Rover said:
I KNEW there was some poster out here who still had the hots for Squirrely Shirley! Just couldn't remember who..;)
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Leave it to me to stir the pot...

briv said:
...what's with all the animosity towards Shirley Kressel? She's not the raving kook that some people here portray her as. I've had several conversations with her and found her to be a friendly and intelligent woman. I think one can disagree with her without resorting to personal insults and snide insinuations.

She used to post on this board. Considering all the cheap shots taken at her from some members here it's really no surprise that she doesn't anymore.
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Beton Brut said:
I tend to agree that a lot of the voices of opposition over early morning shadows on the Common and Public Garden in February are absurd. This sort of opposition does more to undermine the credibility of urban activists and preservationists than it does to the betterment of our parks, streets, and other elements of the built environment.
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We'd probably all do well to remember that the silence between the notes is still part of the music.
 
Beton Brut said:
We'd probably all do well to remember that the silence between the notes is still part of the music.
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You have such a way with words....

odurandina said:
It was never about the money....

I'll credit Shirlz; that i don't believe she was doing 'this' out of feelings of inadequacy, urban paranoia, etc,
that is clearly present when you attend community meetings...

She came with an argument, and was prepared to defend it;

Still, i believe her core goal was obstructing and running out the clock to ensure nothing got built.

It's clearly the most clever tweak of core nimby fanaticism. Shirlz really sold it!
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Rover said:
I KNEW there was some poster out here who still had the hots for Squirrely Shirley! Just couldn't remember who..;)
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I'm actually most curious to see what this thing will look like from the water. I've never seen that rendering and it should glow at night. M Tower doesn't do a ton from that view because it's a little hidden. I think this might be highly visible. You already know from the park it's going to look like a monster in terms of size relative to other buildings.
 
Jahvon09 said:
Are they making their own concrete? Looks like there's an apparatus for one.
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Yes. After all the excavators "munched" the old garage into wreckage, this machinery grinds the material--along with the underlying layers of sediment--into a high-enough quality slurry that then gets used to pour foundation structures.

If you stand in Winthrop Square Park right in front of jolly ole' Bobbie Burns and look at it, you can see the refined slurry coming off the conveyor belt in a continuous, endless pour. Because [as has surely been remarked on this forum in regards to other projects] once you start a pour, you can't stop!
 
Good gosh!! I never even knew that was possible! Recycled concrete!! What will they think of next?!!

The miracle of modern technology in skyscraper construction!! :cool:
 
How it meets the street is a disappointment. They've refined away the grand gesture, the big welcome that was meant to lead the public through the building. Maybe there's a good reason, but it feels diminished.

And the lovely park has been made generic, history be damned.

I blame BRA, not developer.
 
I've driven/walked past that triangular park dozens of times and can't really remember it. Did it have large plaques with faces on them a la yankee stadium?

Either way if I dont remember it I doubt it was much. I like the renderings for the new park, reminds me of a mini PO square
 
Suffolk 83 said:
I've driven/walked past that triangular park dozens of times and can't really remember it. Did it have large plaques with faces on them a la yankee stadium?
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More like a Hall of Fame for pot smokers! Anybody paying for that stuff out of pocket is nuts. You could have just stood in the middle of the park for 5 minutes and you would have been high as a kite the rest of the day. ;)
 
vanshnookenraggen said:
I just hope this doesn't turn into some rehash of the Freedom tower where the original design (Libeskind) was changed by a different firm (Childs) and what we end up with is a tall piece of shit that is devoid of any symbolism or grace of the original design.
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It will. Its how the ball rolls in this business.

cca
 
I'm probably a minority but I hated the Libeskind Freedom Tower. It's essentially a generic prism topped with a skeleton frame surrounding two smokestack looking structures that covers 1/3rd the entire height of the tower and a spire. The current iteration isn't super amazing and is essentially a rehash of the cancelled NYSE tower but it's elegant in it's own way and the shape of the tower pays tribute to the original Twin Towers.
 
KentXie said:
I'm probably a minority but I hated the Libeskind Freedom Tower.
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+1

Libeskind's scheme was something to talk about, not something to build.

The only truly compelling building on the site today is Fumihiko Maki's 4 World Trade Center, a "quiet" and cerebral tower that invites contemplation rather than broadcasting its presence.
 
I dont hate the freedom tower but to call it uninspired would be an understatement. Bland and ridiculously generic given the site seem more apropos
 
^^Can you explain (further)?

The Great Hall was never great (narrowed, approved version, less great). But, if it increased the viability of the project if the economy turns down; of the groups who bid, maybe 2 or 3 teams were safe bets for building through the worst scenario.

The public requires a genuine, iconic 'Athenæum type' thing that serves the public, and stands for 100+ years; not a cheap take on the Javits Center–when the tired monoliths get imploded.

Test the finalized plan getting u/c quickly vs the nimby onslaught; They started with an outlandish bid offer, won over shareholders, navigated through bitter, cantankerous, nimby resistance, and saved the project via a 2 tower plan.... MP's skill and mastery were a thing to behold. Ritz Towers, Millennium Pl, MT/ Burnham Bldg, and Winthrop Square.... maybe we count our blessings. Menino was right when he called this group "the Pro's who get the job done and deliver."
 
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Equilibria said:
BCDC presentation on "The Connector" ("Great Hall" apparently wasn't cutting it) and the open space:

http://www.bostonplans.org/getattachment/9489d79c-053d-4910-97de-3dd2ee0c872c
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Thank you for the renderings. Very informative. An effort is being made. Clearly. I'm sure the park will serve its purpose, especially if the trees provide a real canopy - much as the trees there now do. Why it needs to be oriented to the new building and therefore wholly redefined seems unnecessary to me.

The great hall? A challenging space for sure. Maybe it will perform in ways I don't understand. It's tasked to do a lot. But to my eye, a grand public gesture it is not.
 
I like this new design because its realistic. That other crap was never gonna be what it said it was. This at least works great for what it really is. I think they realized this and thats why it looks the way it does now.
 
A sincere question: is it common to NOT include ADA-required ramps in detailed renders like the ones released earlier today (looking at the stairs in the 'Great Connector')?

Thanks.
 
rjacobs said:
A sincere question: is it common to NOT include ADA-required ramps in detailed renders like the ones released earlier today (looking at the stairs in the 'Great Connector')?

Thanks.
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I think that actually is accessible. If you look at the Page 22 render, the accessible route does something like 7 zig zags while the stairs cut through the ramping.
 
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