[MassHistPres] vandalism at the MFA

[Karen Gray]

It is ironic that the chief complaint so far is seems to be what was 
done to make the building handicapped accessible.   I recently escorted 
a visitor through who was in a wheel chair, and we found the interior 
accessibility quite poor, even disgraceful!

Karen Gray

On 7/22/2011 10:29 AM, Dennis De Witt wrote:
> Agreed!
>
> Those completely gratuitous diagonal stone walls cutting off the bases 
> of that magnificent colonnade reflect an unimaginable lack of 
> understanding and appreciation of a magnificent work of architecture.
>
> It is difficult to image who is more at fault, the architect, who 
> should not conceivably have been that illiterate, or the client whose 
> sole raison d'être should be the preservation of our cultural heritage.
>
> Those ramps are the equivalent putting duct tape across the Boit 
> Brats' feet.
>
> IMHO Dennis De Witt
>
>
> On Jul 22, 2011, at 10:11 AM, rthenr at comcast.net 
> <mailto:rthenr at comcast.net> wrote:
>
>> 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
>
>
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