Category Archives: Architecture

China’s penis building

Posted on May 8, 2013 | 3 Comments

China Penis BuildingChina officials are not amused that people are referring to the new state building that will be the new headquarters for The People’s Daily (China’s major newspaper run by the ruling Communist Party) as the penis building.

However, what would one expect people to say? This may be the most literal interpretation of the penis I’ve ever seen.  So much for subtlety.   According to the report in – where else? Cosmo – censors in China are now blocking photos of the unfinished skyscraper because it has become the source of so many jokes.

You can read Cosmopolitan’s article here.

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Posted in Architecture, Humor

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Design Museum Boston: Street seats challenge

Posted on April 10, 2013 | Leave a comment

Design Museum BostonLast September the Design Museum Boston issued a challenge to design an iconic bench or ‘street seat’ that was also socially and environmentally conscious for the Fort Point Channel neighborhood in Boston.

172 entries from 23 countries were submitted.  Models of all designs are currently on display at 1/8th their size at the museum. On Saturday, April 27th the Design Museum Boston will unveil 20 of these innovative bench designs in the Fort Point Channel neighborhood as part of their newest, public exhibit.  The museum encourages the public to vote on their favorite bench and the designer with the most votes will receive the “People’s Choice” award.

Street seat models are on display at the Design Museum Boston at Factory 63 at 63 Melcher Street, Boston – Monday thru Friday 9-5pm / Saturday 10-4pm.

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Posted in Architecture, Boston

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San Francisco Transbay transit station

Posted on April 3, 2013 | 1 Comment

San Francisco TransbayFast Company has a cool article any architecture enthusiast will love.  The city has shared renderings for new The Transbay, a multi-modal transit hub in the heart of San Francisco, which includes a 5.4 acre rooftop park.  The three city block building will include a bus depot, train tracks and other transit infrastructure below a massive 1,000-foot office tower.

The city is targeting a 2017 opening for the Transbay.  If you’d like to read more, check out the full article, here.

 

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Flashback Friday

Posted on February 15, 2013 | Leave a comment

Flashback FridayThe John Hancock Tower which was designed by I.M. Pei & Partners in the early 1970s transformed Boston’s skyline and is often photographed by tourists and residents alike.  The soaring glass structure literally reflects the Back Bay neighborhood.  When the structure was being built, architects had an issue with the large reflective glass windows popping out and crashing below.  Many of those patched windows in the photo from 1973 are from those falling windows. Pedestrians must’ve cast a weary eye toward the sky when walking by. The more recent photograph is of the same building but from a different angle to afford you a better appreciation for the minimalist design the building is noted for.

Past Flashback Friday Posts

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Posted in Architecture, Flashback Friday

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BosGuy home furnishing

Posted on November 4, 2012 | 2 Comments

BoConcept FurnitureLast week we finally made time to hang the wall unit we purchased from BoConcept earlier this fall.  The Volani wall unit provides me with some much needed storage (something always an issue in a city apartment).  I could not be happier with how it complements the sideboard.

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Gus Sparrow Glider

Posted on October 12, 2012 | 1 Comment

home furnishing

Sparrow Glider

After the home remodeling concluded this summer, furniture I’d had for nearly a decade needed to be updated.  The shopping spree which started in August has made October feel a bit like Christmas.  The pair of Sparrow Gliders ordered two months ago arrived this week.

The Sparrow Glider from Gus is upholstered in what they call cashmere carbon and it nicely complements the Carmichael Loft Sofa (also from Gus) upholstered in totem storm (honestly who names these fabrics).

Much more needs to be done, but the space is finally coming together.

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Tuesday’s Trivia

Posted on August 28, 2012 | 6 Comments

In 1770 a wealthy merchant who would become a famous patriot in the American Revolution purchased this home in Boston’s North End neighborhood.  Can you name this famous man?

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Posted in Architecture, Boston

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75th Anniversary of Golden Gate Bridge

Posted on May 27, 2012 | 1 Comment

75 years ago today on May 27, 1937 the Golden Gate Bridge which spans 1.7 miles (nearly 3 km) and links San Francisco to Marin County opened.  The bridge is even more beautiful in person, although this photograph from the web does the bridge justice.

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Aizhai Suspension Bridge in China

Posted on April 7, 2012 | Leave a comment

Check out this breathtaking photograph of the world’s highest and longest tunnel-to-tunnel bridge.  It recently opened in central China.

The Aizhai suspension bridge links two tunnels 1,176 meters apart (nearly 3,900′), carrying traffic 355 meters (nearly 1,200′) high.  The bridge is really beautiful. If you are into this sort of thing, you can see more photos by linking here.

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Ink block

Posted on March 4, 2012 | Leave a comment

Ink Block courtesy of BRA

Despite the South End’s gentrification, a corner of my neighborhood near the Mass Pike and Chinatown has remained a no-man’s land only notable for it’s tenant, The Boston Herald.  The Herald’s announcement last year that it would leave it’s home of more than 50 years has resulted in a recent proposal dubbed the “Ink block”.

The ambitious plan calls for replacing The Boston Herald building  with multiple buildings of mixed use space that would include 470+ rental residential units, retail space and 400+ underground parking space.

The Boston Herald building is scheduled for demolition in the fall of 2012 and based on the neighborhood’s enthusiastic response, I hope they can start building this welcome addition right away.

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Posted in Architecture, Boston, South End, SoWa

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Zakim reflections by Greg MacKay

Posted on February 28, 2012 | 1 Comment
Reflections

Copyright Greg MacKay

When people think of Boston, they rightfully conjure images of Victorian era bow front brownstones and row houses; modern architecture, while present, is lost amid a mass of brick.  However, when Boston’s expressway was torn down during the Big Dig, the city chose a modern design, and built the world’s widest cable-stayed bridge. The clean lines and modern design has made it irresistible to local photographers like Greg MacKay who recently took this picture.  Like what you see? More of his work is online here.

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Posted in Architecture

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Cathedral of the Holy Cross

Posted on January 24, 2012 | 3 Comments

I live just a couple of blocks from the Cathedral of the Holy Cross which is the heart of the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston.  Walking home this evening I snapped a few photographs of this church which according to Wikipedia is Gothic Revival Architecture.

The church which first opened its doors in 1875 is not significant, but it does inspire architecture enthusiasts to give pause, and I think it provides a lot of personality to the neighborhood.

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Posted in Architecture, South End

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$1 Billion spent by Boston area museums

Posted on January 22, 2012 | Leave a comment

The winter months are my favorite time of year to visit local museums.  They provide a respite from the cold and snow as well as a great way to interact with friends.  According to the Boston Magazine daily blog, several of Boston’s leading cultural institutions have raised and spent significant amounts of money to upgrade their collections and infrastructure in the past 10 yrs.

Institute of Contemporary Art (Photo via ThinkStock)

Some of these projects have made national headlines such as the opening of the new Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) museum on Boston’s south waterfront in 2006.  This was the first new art museum to be built in the city in nearly 100 years and the iconic building has drawn 1,000,000 visitors.

Museum of Fine Arts New America’s Wing (Photo via NBMAA)

At the same time, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) embarked on an audacious expansion, raising more than $500 million to build the New America’s wing; a four story building that has 51,000 square feet and houses 53 new galleries.  The new wing opened November 2010. 

Isabella Gardner Museum (Photo via WBUR)

Last week, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum completed a $114 million expansion, opening a very modern looking new glass building that adds 70,000 square feet of exhibit space.  The new space is a stark contrast to the original building which is a replica of a Venetian palace.

Across the river in Cambridge, Harvard University is re-building the school’s three art museums to bring together the Fogg Museum, the Busch-Reisinger Museum, and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum into one state-of-the-art facility. Construction is expected to be completed in 2013.

If you are visiting the Boston area or if you happen to live here and have not visited one of these venerable institutions, won’t you consider checking them out? These institutions have built some world class facilities that are housing incredible works of art.  Good art evokes emotion and generates dialog – you may be surprised by how much you enjoy yourself.

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Posted in Architecture, Art & Film, Boston

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Night view of downtown Boston

Posted on December 21, 2011 | 4 Comments

Last night Sergio took our friend Rodrigo to the top of The Custom House to show him downtown Boston at night.  From the top of this iconic building, one can get beautiful views of Boston harbor, Faneuil Hall Market, the North End and parts of downtown Boston. Here are a few photos that they snapped.

Faneuil Hall Market Place

An historic meeting hall off to the left of this picture and not visible is where the marketplace got its name.  The middle arcade with the dome is filled with stall after stall of food shops and the arcades above and below house retail & restaurant with the upper floors reserved for office space.  This is Boston’s version of Chicago’s Navy Pier or S.F.’s Fisherman’s Wharf.  Its where tourists come to visit and young 20-somethings get obnoxiously drunk on weekends.

Christopher Columbus Park / North End

The lower left of the picture is part of the Rose Kennedy Greenway which replaced Boston’s elevated highway. The upper left of the photo shows the North End (Boston’s Little Italy); where my grandmother grew up and my brother currently lives. The A-frame building to the right is the start of Long Wharf (where I catch the high speed ferry to Provincetown). Lastly, the blue lights are actually covering an extended arch that runs through the North End’s popular Christopher Columbus park and overlooks Boston Harbor.

Bunker Hill Monument 

North of the North End in Charlestown is the Bunker Hill Monument.  The obelisk which you can walk up was built in the 1800s to commemorate the first major conflict between British and Patriot forces which took place in 1775 and was where rebelling colonists were ordered “Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes”. A short walk from here (but not visible) is The U.S.S. Constitution (a.k.a. Old Ironsides) – the oldest commissioned ship in the world.

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Posted in Architecture, Boston

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Central and Kendall Square Cambridge is booming

Posted on December 8, 2011 | Leave a comment

Recession?  What recession?

The Boston Globe is reporting that the $600 million laboratory and office complex for Novartis designed by noted architect, Maya Lin, in Cambridge’s Central Square has been approved and is expected to be completed in 2015. Architect buffs will recall Lin’s work was first recognized in the US after designing the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. in 1982.

This news comes on the heels of two other unrelated articles in The Boston Globe that addressed new projects underway across the river.  First was the announcement in late October that a $500 million development to build a 1.7 million square foot science and technology campus for Biogen was proposed. That news was followed by M.I.T.’s announcement last week that it was preparing to spend $700 million to redevelop eight of its properties in Kendall Square in Cambridge.

For those not familiar with the area, Cambridge neighbors Boston and can be seen from across the Charles River.  Central and Kendall Square are two prominent neighborhoods in Cambridge separated by just a few blocks.

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Posted in Architecture, Cambridge

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