The Concrete Era of Boston City Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Concrete Era of Boston City - Research Paper Example He started it with tax reforms and initialized various measures like the Freedom Trail Project to improve the relationship with locals. But, many challenges still remained as Boston was one of the oldest municipalities in the United States. Real reforms started to take place during the period of John F. Collins who followed Hynes. Several big architects like Le Corbusier and Charles Luckman started to work on various projects in the city. The Prudential Center was the first building to be build during the Hynes, Collins period using glass and steel mainly. Everybody expected the other buildings to follow the same pattern. But surprisingly, concrete considered as an ugly material by many took over the architecture of the city completely. The Government Center and the Boston City Hall built in 1968 was described as "one of the handsomest buildings of the time" by New York Times. I. M. Pei who constructed it designed it in such a way it had room for all administrative offices under one roof. The design for the City hall was selected though an open competition. The design of the Hall was so modern that it evoked many protests from the local architects as well as various other people who felt it did not suit the city's historical importance. The winner Gerhard Kallmann, Noel McKinnell, and Edward Knowles used concrete to create an authenticity for the building. The City Hall was simply described as "Mycenaean or Aztec overtones" by Walter Muir Whitehill. Most of the City Halls major designs like the concrete structures which doubled as sunscreens and top huge overhanging were Le Corbusier's idea (S. Southworth & M. Southworth, 2008). This concrete structure re-defined the Boston's face in the... This "The Concrete Era of Boston City" essay describes how the city and its "Concert Chapter" has changed with the times. The Prudential Center was the first building to be build during the Hynes, Collins period using glass and steel mainly. Everybody expected the other buildings to follow the same pattern. But surprisingly, concrete considered as an ugly material by many took over the architecture of the city completely. The Government Center and the Boston City Hall built in 1968 was described as "one of the handsomest buildings of the time" by New York Times. I. M. Pei who constructed it designed it in such a way it had room for all administrative offices under one roof. The design for the City hall was selected though an open competition. The design of the Hall was so modern that it evoked many protests from the local architects as well as various other people who felt it did not suit the city's historical importance. The winner Gerhard Kallmann, Noel McKinnell, and Edward Knowle s used concrete to create an authenticity for the building. The City Hall was simply described as "Mycenaean or Aztec overtones" by Walter Muir Whitehill. Most of the City Halls major designs like the concrete structures which doubled as sunscreens and top huge overhanging were Le Corbusier's idea (S. Southworth & M. Southworth, 2008). This concrete structure re-defined the Boston's face in the architectural world. Several new buildings started to appear using concrete. Nearly one hundred and fifty-four mega structures were erected in between 1950 to 1970.