[MassHistPres] 2011 Preservation Achievement Awards Announced!

[SARA WERMIEL]

While we’re on the subject, I likewise am disappointed to see an award to
Atlantic Wharf for Integration of Preservation and New Construction. 

This project, which involved the gutting of two historic loft buildings and
preserving their shells, seems to me a case study in façadism. But the worst
part is that the former Graphics Arts Building, one of the lofts, was a very
rare example of Guastavino floor construction used throughout, in a factory
building. This was a major Guastavino project, and he intended his floor
arches to be used in fireproof factory buildings, but got few orders for
this kind of building – the Graphics Arts was a rare example. If the
developer had left some of the structural system, which is so historically
valuable, exposed, that might be worth an award. But to my knowledge, he did
not. I believe the Columbian floor of the adjacent building was demolished
too.

--Sara Wermiel

Historian of technology/historic preservation consulting

Jamaica Plain, MA

 

From: masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu
[mailto:masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu] On Behalf Of rthenr at comcast.net
Sent: Friday, July 22, 2011 10:11 AM
To: Christine Piontek
Cc: masshistpres at cs.umb.edu
Subject: Re: [MassHistPres] 2011 Preservation Achievement Awards Announced!

 

I am disappointed to learn that The Boston Preservation Alliance has given a
Preservation Achievement Award for "New Construction in Harmony with
Boston's Built Environment" to The Boston Museum of Fine Arts. The
alterations made to the Fenway entrance by British architect Sir Norman
Foster disrespect Boston architect Guy Lowell's original and splendid Ionic
colonnade by adding two handicapped access ramps with solid parapets which
cut diagonally across the facade and hide the bases and lower parts of many
of the columns. This unsettles the entire Fenway elevation and reduces it to
a mere backdrop for the celebrity architect's  intervention.

 

Samuel R. Blair, AIA

  _____  

From: "Christine Piontek" <cpiontek at bostonpreservation.org>
To: masshistpres at cs.umb.edu
Sent: Monday, July 18, 2011 4:25:47 PM
Subject: [MassHistPres] 2011 Preservation Achievement Awards Announced!

The Boston Preservation Alliance is pleased to announce the 2011
Preservation Achievement Awards, honoring outstanding achievements in
historic preservation and compatible new construction in Boston.
 

Integration of Preservation and New Construction 

Atlantic Wharf

Modern Theatre

 

Maintenance of a Historic Neighborhood Landmark

Jamaica Plain Civil War Monument

 

Neighborhood Preservation

 90 Smith Street - Basilica Court

 

New Construction in Harmony with Boston's Built Environment

 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

 

New Parkland Added to Boston's Open Space

Fan Pier Public Green

 

Rehabilitation by a Public Agency

Brewer Fountain

 

Rehabilitation of an Historic Industrial Space

Boston Renaissance Charter Public School

Metropolitan Waterworks Museum

The Watermill Lofts - The Lofts at Lower Mills

 

Rehabilitation/Restoration of a Religious Property

Tiffany Stained Glass Window Restoration at 
Theodore Parker Church

 

Rehabilitation/Restoration Preserving Boston's Heritage

Georges Island Visitor Center

 

 

To view more about the Alliance and this year's award recipients, please
visit:
www.bostonpreservation.org/programs/preservation-achievement-awards.html

 

For further information, contact Christine Piontek at 617.367.2458 or
cpiontek at bostonpreservation.org.

 


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