OT: an ode to the Boston's recent boring buildings

[eippo1]

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/property/article/2015/04/28/boston-architecture/

Pretty scathing article, but it does have quite a few good points. I remember being so disappointed with the Intercontinental Hotel was being built. It looked so much better with scaffolding and cranes than it ever did with it's final facade. I generally take a walk around Franklin Street and some of those areas to see some riskier, period mixing architecture. Heck, even the Federal Reserve spaceship is pretty cool in comparison.

[rwsaunders]

Glass curtainwall systems are inexpensive to manufacture and install on a high-rise structure as compared to many other materials and I never met a developer who wanted to invest more capital because he/she was worried what the project would look like to you and I and the rest of the little people.

Tighten up the planning commission requirements and design review committee standards if you want some chance of improving exterior designs. In the meantime, there is limited incentive for a developer to invest a dime in what the public defines as attractive.

[brando]

Same thing in san francisco. putting up a bunch of garbage.

[Lewis Moon]

Glass curtainwall systems are inexpensive to manufacture and install on a high-rise structure as compared to many other materials and I never met a developer who wanted to invest more capital because he/she was worried what the project would look like to you and I and the rest of the little people.

Tighten up the planning commission requirements and design review committee standards if you want some chance of improving exterior designs. In the meantime, there is limited incentive for a developer to invest a dime in what the public defines as attractive.

Socialist. Why do you hate American Capitalism? Next thing you'll tell me is that you would prefer this (http://designspiration.net/jamesgibbs/soviet-cold-war-brutalist-architecture/)

[tiretrax]

They must be hiring Dallas architects. Ours design the most banal crap, but people go crazy about them for some reason. Must be the food courts with sushi bars.

[Bruce K]

What's wrong with a sushi bar???;)

BK

[jmoore]

They must be hiring Dallas architects. Ours design the most banal crap, but people go crazy about them for some reason. Must be the food courts with sushi bars.


^truth


LOL





PS - when are we going riding again?

[1centaur]

Taste is very personal, so it's not surprising that design by committee leads to bland. But risking it all by going with one person's taste can leave a city stuck with some of the buildings the author thinks are so great (shown on the last page), which I in several cases think are hideous.

[MattTuck]

Socialist. Why do you hate American Capitalism? Next thing you'll tell me is that you would prefer this (http://designspiration.net/jamesgibbs/soviet-cold-war-brutalist-architecture/)

You have seen Boston City Hall, right?

http://ad009cdnb.archdaily.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/1299365529-boston-city-hall-wikimedia11-528x351.jpg

On the topic of architecture, I consider myself an uninformed enthusiast. I took an architecture appreciation course in college and found it incredibly interesting. The focus of the course was on how humans interacted with buildings and spaces created by buildings.

It is easy to be critical of the visual aesthetic of a building, especially ones that are not really very inspired. But the real test of a building is how people interact with it (and seeing it from afar is one of many ways that you can interact with a building).

I think that most designs today are focused on keeping costs in line and not being so daring that it causes problems in the approval process. That being said, the visual aesthetic IS an important part of the character of a city.

I heard an interview a few weeks ago with the Mayor of South Charleston (I believe) who served for 10 terms. He said that the mayor's office can have a big impact on the aesthetic of a city through the planning process, and THAT is really the biggest and longest lived legacy a mayor can leave.

[johnmdesigner]

We've been building ugly buildings for decades. Nothing new here.