Recent comments in /f/boston

yacht_boy t1_jb34ki3 wrote

I love city hall. Took me a while to appreciate the interior, but once it clicked I was in awe of the architects. The whole building is awesome, except for where people have butchered various parts of the interior. Even the plaza, which may not be pretty, has served the city very well for huge gatherings of all sorts.

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Marshmallowadmiral t1_jb33jd3 wrote

The point is that nobody lives there. Yes, Faneuil Hall is a major tourist attraction and there are some restaurants and bars around there (and doesn't city hall plaza seem even more dead when you look at the crowds around Faneuil?). But the area is not a real neighborhood, it's a destination. Which I think is a major failure of American cities in general- our city centers are most often treated as destinations rather than places to live. This general attitude has some pretty bad outcomes for city dwellers, both historically and today. While Scollay Square is long gone, it's still a useful story to explain why Boston looks the way it does today, and it helps us talk about what direction Boston (and American cities) should take in the future.

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beerpatch86 t1_jb30nmn wrote

I mean, it is ugly, but architecture is kind of an art (well, it can be..)

Brutalism is definitely polarizing but done well can be stunning, especially interiors. Exteriors are either loved or hated, though I have seen plenty of "meh" Brutalism structures. As far as I'm concerned, if you're going to go for something as 'bold' as Brutalism, may as well go all out.

Boston City Hall is awesome from some angles, and a big fat concrete eyesore from others. It's absolutely subjective. Nice photo, op.

Alsp #bringbacktheplazafountains

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