Nate's Essay

Peter Nate MacLellan
Ms. Grosart, JUA
January 9, 2007
Urban Infrastructure

Boston’s Best in Architecture and Contracting

The Junior Urban Adventure group I choose was exactly what I was looking for. Urban Infrastructure group not only looked for amazing architecture in the city but also looked deeper into how the buildings were constructed and how they gave back to the community. The group traveled throughout Boston visiting an architectural firm by the name of CBT Architects, a contracting firm named CWB, town hall were we met with the cities planning section named BRA, and finally hitting the streets of Boston and Fanueil Hall asking residents questions about our essential questions.
I found the trip to be very educational and fun because I had the opportunity to answer my essential question. Boston, along with many other large cities, seems to go out of it's way to create extravagant buildings and architectural feats. Are there benefits and reason why Boston creates buildings like 111 Huntington St. and the Bunker Hill Bridge? If so, where do architects and contractors draw the line between beauty and productivity in new buildings? The answer to this question was not easily found and is not completely answered either but I have a lot more information on how to answer it now, after completing the course.
Boston creates these massive, intricate buildings to draw attention and attractivity to the city and to allow people deeper incite to the cities plans for the future. The building placed at 111 Huntington St. is covered in reflective glass so that it looks nice and brings natural light into the streets below it. The building is so tall that if it was constructed with brick or concrete the area surrounding it would be completely dark at most hours of the day. The Mandarin Oriental project, which is a mostly a large hotel but also much more, was created to utilize the small amount of land it is placed on. It also adds commerce to the area. Prataap, the cities executive planner, told us that most buildings in Boston’s business district are created to make money. The Mandarin Oriental project is costing over $400 million to construct but will bring in larger amounts of money in the years following its completion. All the money that is made from these over-the-top structures have taxes paid for them and this gives the city, state, and country, money.
I also learned that architects and contractors will go to any length to build the most efficient and creative buildings they can. The city will only approve the best structures that they receive plans for and this makes the competition to build a lot stronger causing higher demands for what the city will accept.
Overall, the trip to Boston left me with a much greater understanding about the cities use of land and reasons for making so many fascinating structures. Boston is now over flowing with people and buildings and this factor is a leading reason for the cities recent architectural boom. The city could build the cheapest and most efficient structures but that would not catch the consumer’s eye and would not create the amount of demand present.