Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Please, Stop the Nonsense at Gov Center

Maybe Boston City Hall should be replaced, maybe it shouldn't, but there is nothing aesthetically pleasing about the building. It isn't and will never be a historic landmark in terms of architectural achievement. Here at UMASS, a school designed by the same architect, we have the same god-awful concrete mammoths. Part of me likes them, but then I see how they are just falling apart. Concrete just isn't a great material to work with as the primary material used in building. First, it isn't comfortable. It isn't colorful and has tones that just put people to sleep. It isn't particularly good for heating a building or keeping it cool. It leaks like all hell. And, with acid rain on the blook, they have shelf lives between 50-75 years.

I'm sick and tired about hearing how all these people love the design of Boston City Hall (or UMASS Dartmouth). I've yet to see any normal human being stand up and say how spectacular these buildings are - because they aren't. I'm not saying Boston should shift Gov Center to a different part of the city or even replace the ugly monster they call the city HQ. However, let's not kid ourselves either - it isn't some splendid piece of art either, I don't care what far-removed-from-reality architects think.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The term MONSTROSITY was coined to describe such clods of art. ugh! The auditorium in the Boston HQ is one of the most uncomfortable and depressing I've ever been in.

Anonymous said...

Please, please, please tear it down and start over again. It is just plain ugly. Rebuild there, rebuild elsewhere, I don't care, just tear it down.

Do the same thing with the federal buildings a few blocks over and the JFK building as well. JFK certainly deserves better than that federal building.

Anonymous said...

It is beautiful. It's of its time, the interiors are gorgeous, and the plaza is not only beautiful but functional. Why does everything have to look the same? Why can't we maintain different buildings that are of their period so everyone's happy? The buildings we build now are horribly ugly, and if that's all we've got our city will truly be a monstrocity.

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