February 1, 2007
ON TO DALEY PLAZA! (via Brian Boys):
Brutalism Begone: Good riddance to Beantown's City Hall (Philip Murphy, 31 January 2007, City Journal)
Good news for humanity: Boston mayor Thomas Menino wants to sell City Hall and build a new one elsewhere, preferably with a harbor view. With any luck, the sale will lead to the demolition of one of the ugliest civic buildings ever built.Posted by Orrin Judd at February 1, 2007 5:56 PMBoston's City Hall is a notorious concrete bunker guarding a windswept brick plaza, constructed in the 1960s as a near-perfect expression of that era's homage to expert wisdom. And the wise experts do call City Hall a significant architectural creation. The American Institute of Architects gave the building its highest honor in 1969, and the following year, the Boston Society of Architects recognized it as one of the city's most beautiful structures.
Ordinary Joes, on the other hand, hated City Hall at first sight.
They shouldn't tear it down. It should be turned into a movie set. It's an ideal Evil Overlord's Lair. You can almost hear the "Empire Strikes Back" theme.
Posted by: Joseph Hertzlinger at February 1, 2007 6:23 PMA little context, please.
In the late 60s, bunkers were really cutting edge. All the universities worthy of the name were building them for their administration offices....
Yep. Bunkers, and those really neat Aliens-set-looking glass and rusted iron skeletal things that made you go "Wow! Total anomie, man!"
Posted by: Barry Meislin at February 1, 2007 6:24 PMI hope Bostonians savor its destruction as much as I did the tearing down of Robert Moses' bleak Coliseum building at Columbus Circle a few years ago. How often do such positive developments occur in modern city building? I'm happy to have the mall that occupies the site now.
Posted by: David Hill, The Bronx at February 1, 2007 9:58 PMThe Colosseum was a hideous monstrosity. I used to live a few blocks away and had to pass the darn thing all the time. There was a really good street vender tho set up next to it, on 60th st I believe, who sold what he called Addis Ababa chicken wrapped in pita.
Posted by: Jim in Chicago at February 1, 2007 10:09 PMWow! The picture in the article looks like a concrete pagoda. Really, really ugly.
Great comment, Barry. As usual.
Posted by: jdkelly at February 2, 2007 8:41 AMI like the part about how the building "houses the city morgue, animal control, and the DMV, all wrapped up in one demoralizing package."
Posted by: Marilyn Terrell at February 5, 2007 6:53 AM