A Tough Stance
Metropolis Magazine|April 2019

At 50 years old, Boston City Hall is one of the most polarizing buildings in America. Building upgrades and revitalization plans hope to change that, but they mistake what the architecture stood for.

Samuel Medina
A Tough Stance

We may quarrel about the purported baleful effect of concrete when applied in mass quantities, but we can certainly agree that it should not be attempted in edible form. At a press event one morning this past February, Boston mayor Martin J. Walsh sliced into Boston City Hall, reproduced in cake and unappetizing gray frosting on the occasion of the building’s 50th anniversary.

Wearing an expression of acute concentration, the mayor served up a slice and handed it to a gracious elderly man at his side—the building’s architect Michael McKinnell. Moments before, McKinnell had praised Walsh’s commitment to steward City Hall into the new century, even if that means reconfiguring its original interiors and ripping up the seven-acre brick plaza outside. Both the lobby and city council chamber were recently renovated— updated with digital signage, LED lighting, and in the lobby, new security turnstiles—and are now ADA-compliant. A programmatic reorganization of the workspaces is forthcoming. By far the largest intervention, a $60 million plan to correct the “undifferentiated void” of the plaza, is slated for completion in 2022; in the latest available design, there are necessary innovations (storm- water management) and nonentities bearing pompous names (a “speaker’s corner” amid clusters of trees). These projects garnered support from Walsh, who, ironically, had once called for the building’s demolition. “All civic buildings need a patron, and we have found ours,” McKinnell said.

That may be true. But a civic building also needs a public (indeed many), and in the case of Boston City Hall, one has not been forthcoming. This, at least, has been the standard script: The People don’t like City Hall, and it doesn’t like them.

Esta historia es de la edición April 2019 de Metropolis Magazine.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

Esta historia es de la edición April 2019 de Metropolis Magazine.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

MÁS HISTORIAS DE METROPOLIS MAGAZINEVer todo
No New Buildings
Metropolis Magazine

No New Buildings

The energy already embodied in the built environment is a precious unnatural resource. It’s time to start treating it like one.

time-read
7 minutos  |
November/December 2019
The Circular Office
Metropolis Magazine

The Circular Office

Major manufacturers are exploring every avenue to close the loop on workplace furniture.

time-read
1 min  |
November/December 2019
Signs of Life
Metropolis Magazine

Signs of Life

Designers, curators, and entrepreneurs are scrambling to make sense of motherhood in a culture that’s often hostile to it.

time-read
7 minutos  |
November/December 2019
Interspecies Ethic
Metropolis Magazine

Interspecies Ethic

In probing the relationship between humans and nature, two major exhibitions question the very foundations of design practice.

time-read
6 minutos  |
November/December 2019
Building on Brand
Metropolis Magazine

Building on Brand

The Bauhaus turned 100 this year, and a crop of museum buildings sprang up for the celebration.

time-read
8 minutos  |
November/December 2019
Building for Tomorrow, Today
Metropolis Magazine

Building for Tomorrow, Today

Radical change in the building industry is desperately needed. And it cannot happen without the building trades.

time-read
6 minutos  |
November/December 2019
Strength from Within
Metropolis Magazine

Strength from Within

Maggie’s Centres, the service-focused cancer support network, eschews clinical design to arm patients in their fight for life.

time-read
5 minutos  |
October 2019
Next-Level Living
Metropolis Magazine

Next-Level Living

The availability of attractive, hospitality-grade products on the market means everyday consumers can live the high life at home.

time-read
1 min  |
October 2019
Mi Casa, Su Casa
Metropolis Magazine

Mi Casa, Su Casa

Casa Perfect creates a memorable shopping experience in lavish private homes.

time-read
1 min  |
October 2019
Enter The Culinarium
Metropolis Magazine

Enter The Culinarium

AvroKO imagines the future of residential amenities—where convenience, comfort, and sustainability meet.

time-read
5 minutos  |
October 2019