The site I chose for this project is located at the intersection of the freedom trail and the greenway in downtown Boston; designated by the Boston Redevelopment Authority as ‘Greenway Parcel 9.’ This parcel also is located with the center of a matrix of nodes created by popular locations within Boston: The Boston Common, Government Center, Quincy Marketplace, TD North, The Aquarium, Paul Revere House, and Chinatown. These destinations mark circulatory ‘hot spots’ where people of different cultures and traditions will intersect. The greenway acts as a boundary between some of these locations and creates a separation between the old and new fabric of Boston’s urban context. In turn the greenway creates a new secondary path circulating from North to South. The Freedom Trail is also a major destination in downtown Boston. It is where the Freedom Trail and the Greenway meet where parcel 9 is located, making it a perfect location for a culture center.
The site is centrally located within the matrix of traffic circulation within the urban context. The site is also within a 5-10 minute walk from maybe popular public transit stations and businesses. At the moment, the site is trash filled and blocked by traffic barriers, yet should be put to better use being so centrally located within the urban fabric of downtown Boston. Two previous projects have been approved for this site, a museum and a residential building, but eventually fell through due to financial struggles. At the moment the site is in ‘limbo’ with no uses being designated. The site is 43,139 square feet (0.99 Acres) and has a maximum building height of 55 feet. These restrictions I feel work in favor of the design process, allowing for site specificity. The excitement for this site is the possibility of what this project can become. The use for this site in relation to my thesis is sound, and the possibility of competitions for this site in the near future opens many possibilities of how far this project can go.
Building on this site also creates an opportunity to clean up and organize the stands at Haymarket. It is a very dirty site, and by simply designating a space on the ground floor for ‘Haymarket waste handling and storage’, it would easily turn one of the last eyesores within downtown Boston into a beautiful addition along the greenway and the Boston urban fabric.
Coming soon will be a generative model 're-presenting' this analysis.
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