Worst New Development of 2012

[davem]

The 2012 development I love to hate (thanks, DowntownDave):

I forgot all about this thing! It looks like a tornado picked up a ski hut from Sunday River and plopped it down in Boston. Winner?

 

[Ron Newman]

Could you all identify the locations of what you are nominating? Just the photo isn't enough to identify it. I have no idea where palindrome's nomination is located.

The Bulfinch Triangle abortion isn't eligible unless it was completed in 2012. Was it?

 

[kmp1284]

It's probably South Boston, more specifically the West Broadway area around the D-E-F cross streets. Looks like everything else that's been going up around there. It's not pretty but it's a net gain for the neighborhood. Not that these awards matter to anyone beyond this board, but proclaiming this the worst when you have the moldy twinky at Mass Art or the aforementioned blue box in the running, it would seem exceedingly petty to go after this.

 

[kz1000ps]

kmp, if you wouldn't mind could you elaborate on your dislike for the MassArt project? I know somewhere else you said something about its plastic look, but I'd like a little more insight into what you're thinking.

 

[found5dollar]

Thank you Charlie! That is exactly the one I meant in my post but I don't have photo capability. The parking lot behind is my nominee for worst empty lot.

has this loathsome coffee house been finished yet? Just wondering if it technically has been finished this year.

 

[BostonUrbEx]

 

[Ron Newman]

The Bulfinch Triangle 'coffee house' abortion was still fenced off and definitely not open when I walked by it this week. So, not completed in 2012 and therefore not eligible for this award.

 

[Ron Newman]

Could you all please identify the nominations you are making? Just posting photos is not sufficient. We're not all familiar with these locations.

 

[BostonUrbEx]

Could you all please identify the nominations you are making? Just posting photos is not sufficient. We're not all familiar with these locations.

They've already been nominated. Allston CVS and the infamous 'Blue Box' of Cambridge.

 

[davem]

They've already been nominated. Allston CVS and the infamous 'Blue Box' of Cambridge.

It's not like the Allston CVS is a new building though, they reskinned an existing strip mall that was half burnt out and repaved the parking lot. It does look better then how it was before. The negative side is that I imagine since they invested in the reskinning it will be around for a while longer.

The positive side is I heard CVS may close its location on Comm Ave for another apartment project. Just a rumor, however it was from the same person who told me Kellys was going into Martys a year before it did.

 

[palindrome]

The positive side is I heard CVS may close its location on Comm Ave for another apartment project. Just a rumor, however it was from the same person who told me Kellys was going into Martys a year before it did.

Now that is interesting news. Another Mount Vernon project perhaps?

 

[czsz]

The Bulfinch Triangle 'coffee house' abortion was still fenced off and definitely not open when I walked by it this week. So, not completed in 2012 and therefore not eligible for this award.

Buzzkill. Did you have to, Ron?

 

[datadyne007]

I think we're really grasping at straws here.

 

[Ron Newman]

Nominate it next year, though it will have to compete with the Kensington.

 

[Brad Plaid]

The rendering for "Big Blue" showed it as more green-grey with some wood trimming which would have been a more interesting finish. It disappoints mostly in it's shortness. Yes it replaces a half block of one story retail but 10 floors would have been much more appropriate here. A 14 story apartment block is right next door as well as another of around 11 stories across the street. It is a too-small boutique building making only a token dent in the demand for housing.

Suffolk 83: "I second this thing. Coming up the street this thing looks like its 40 yrs old and its brand new!"

More than a few posters here praise a brand new building for looking like "it's always been there" referring of course to something that looks pre-war. No reason that can't apply to contemporary too. I'll take a 1960ish reference any day over yet another PoMo hack job.

 

[bosdevelopment]

I've ventured inside the Harvard Law building and it's even more of a palatial fascist waste inside than out. Seconded.

are you guys serious? this building is a masterpiece. likely the most striking street-level harvard building (w/o set back).

 

[Ron Newman]

I don't know if it's a "masterpiece" but I think it's a good building, and don't understand the hate for it here.

 

[czsz]

Study fascist architecture and you'll understand. It's a cold, stylized, imperious classicism typical of the authoritarian perversion of the Greek and Roman legacy. Not what you want a building training supposed pillars of democracy an the rule of law to look like.

 

[Hutchison]

As a lay observer it just seems monolithic to me. The undersized arches just seem to emphasize how massive the building is.

 

[bosdevelopment]

Study fascist architecture and you'll understand. It's a cold, stylized, imperious classicism typical of the authoritarian perversion of the Greek and Roman legacy. Not what you want a building training supposed pillars of democracy an the rule of law to look like.

Looking in to this, I actually like fascist architecture. Things are made bigger just for the sake of being bigger. Not nearly as cold as brutalist. To me it's like what a beginner would come up with, if resources were not an issue.