B
building babel
Guest
Re: finally
I love it too. Big bold and beautiful. And it even has sticky-out bits like 77 Elm.
I love it too. Big bold and beautiful. And it even has sticky-out bits like 77 Elm.
What's worse than the building itself is the empty, depressing windswept "plaza" that surrounds it. That district is so out of place in Boston which is mostly dense, urban and walkable. The Government Center area is like a little chunk of suburbia plopped into a great urban place. And then there's the side that fronts Congress St. which says a big f&%* you to pedestrians. It's really a horrible blunder... much worse in person.
Well, I'm sympathetic to the article. To me the modern era was about disregard for the street and surroundings, disregard for heritage and lots and lots of parking lots. Of course there are good examples of modernism but frankly most of them can go **ducks**. I also agree that a lot of Dickinson's work are eyesores... particularly that grim beast at Bay and College. One of the ugliest buildings in the city, IMO.
It's true, I resent the modern era and what it did to cities, not only Toronto. I know it's not a popular view here, but it is my opinion.
''It really doesn't work for municipal government,'' Mr. Menino said. ''The building is unfriendly, cold, and the way it's structured, it has a third floor only on one side and it doesn't have a fourth floor.''
''I'm convinced someone in power had an uncle who owned a concrete factory,'' said Councilman John Tobin, who with a colleague proposed selling the building in 2003, only to have a piece of the ceiling fall on their desks days later. ''The air quality is poor. The windows don't open, and some offices are like meat lockers and others you can get a tan in.''
So, again, if you're gonna pick one lamb to sacrifice to the gods of anti-Modernism, you might as well pick the one with lupus and anthrax.