SsD

Boston, MA | 2007
[Architecture Boston Feature]

Boston City Hall occupies one of the best pieces of land in Boston. At the intersection of 3 major subway lines and at the geographical heart of downtown, this is an ideal location for a dynamic civic center; however the current City Hall is accused of failing to interface effectively with the public. We propose taking advantage of a latent urban potential: The site is the missing link between the historic Fenway Park and the new Rose Kennedy Greenway.  By allowing the plaza to connect these important open spaces, City Hall will sit pavilion-like in a park, much like a New England meeting house at the center of urban life. Opening the City Hall to its surroundings and reprogramming it with public functions such as a meeting hall, a community/ cultural center, and a civic history museum will also make it an integral part of Boston’s historical ‘Freedom Trail.’



Aerial view of city hall:  At the infrastructural scale, the plaza surface is opened so that light and air can connect of the 3 buried subway lines to the activities of the plaza.  At the urban scale the greening of the plaza allows it to join the Fenway and the Rose Kennedy Greenway.



The plaza has the latent potential to provide the much needed connection between Fenway Park and the Rose Kennedy Greenway (left).  New public programs at City Hall can allow it to become a new addition to the ‘Freedom Trail.’ (right).

Revealing the red, green, and blue subway lines brings new public activity to the surface of the plaza.



Section through the plaza: Natural light and ventilation brought to the subway levels can also allow for new programs to be added underneath the plaza.

PROJECT CREDITS:

architect
Jinhee Park AIA + John Hong AIA/LEED (principals in charge), Frederick Peter Ortner, Catarina Marques, Jiseok Park



RELATED PROJECTS:

acc	czech library	boston harbor	prov plaza

index <  works < cultural

Boston, MA | 2005
[honorable mention, international competition]

It is the reciprocal edge between water and land that makes an island an extraordinary natural resource and public amenity. As an urban gateway to the Boston Harbor Islands, the structural roof-form or this design becomes a literal/metaphorical reference to this junction of water and land. Where the ‘actual’ site above the Central Artery prohibits excavation, the curvilinear roof-form is reflected onto a polished terrazzo map of the harbor islands implying the shoreline topography. This roof also collects runoff for reuse in the building and landscape while its downspouts become part of a demonstration water/land garden.

Miesian space to figural space:   The transformation of the roof planes from horizontal to vertical creates a transition from continuous public openness to figural private enclosure.

Structural concept:  like a flat sheet, a flat slab of concrete will deflect and fail (left).  Folding this sheet greatly increases its strength.

The section of the building transforms from folded to flat – open public space containing ticketing and exhibition areas to private interior space containing restrooms and wash areas.

A singular shape performs in multiple ways.

In the evening, the pavilion becomes part of the linear eventscape illuminating the new greenway.

PROJECT CREDITS:

architect
Jinhee Park AIA (principal in charge), John Hong AIA/LEED (collaborating principal), Sadmir Ovcina, Frederick Peter Ortner, Erik Carlson, Hyeyoung Kim

structural engineer
Jaeseoung Lee, Weidlinger Associates Inc.




RELATED PROJECTS:

mass art	city hall	bac sasaki	acc	white stadium

index <  works < cultural