In studying the buildings and streets surrounding our sites, I began to see it as the corner for which Fenway, Kenmore Square, Back Bay and the transition to the Southend all meet together. It is a diverse area with the Freeway and Mass Ave cutting through to segregate our site into its own neighborhood. The once rectilinear blocks take this shape as the various grids come together. 
The footprint of the neighborhoods varies as well. Back Bay is close to the street with open space in the back. As we transition to the Southend, the buildings become larger and more dense. Our site sits along the edge of the freeway and close to a large open space. The density of this area is not as high as some of the surrounding blocks.
There is a large amount of green space nearby that will lead you to the Charles River or to the Boston Public Garden.
As the various neighborhoods begin to morph into the next, the center of it all becomes undefined. It becomes it own neighborhood. Neither building type, size of lot, or material differentiates it from another. The small long parcels of Back Bay become large long parcels. The large square lots of the Southend become rectangular.
With a city as old as Boston, a mix of materials is bound to exist. For the most part, the site is still filled with the traditional brick rowhouses, which seem to all have a commercial awning at the ground level. The large neighborhood church is made up of larger stones. In the back ground, the Prudential Tower and Hancock Tower provide more modern materials.
When looking at some of the more historic maps, I found one with our site developed. It consisted of typical apartment rowhouses with the train tracks still cutting off the site from the other side of the city.
I took some images of the site and started looking at where the buildings meet the sky. For the most part, there is still a consistency with regard to height and material. Most buildings are 4-5 stories made of brick. The St.Clements Church is the most notable building on the street. Looking across the freeway, there is a view of many of Boston's tallest buildings. The Berklee College of Music is located on the next block. The freeway provides an opportunity for views that normally wouldn't exist in such a dense urban setting.
The footprint of the neighborhoods varies as well. Back Bay is close to the street with open space in the back. As we transition to the Southend, the buildings become larger and more dense. Our site sits along the edge of the freeway and close to a large open space. The density of this area is not as high as some of the surrounding blocks.
There is a large amount of green space nearby that will lead you to the Charles River or to the Boston Public Garden.
As the various neighborhoods begin to morph into the next, the center of it all becomes undefined. It becomes it own neighborhood. Neither building type, size of lot, or material differentiates it from another. The small long parcels of Back Bay become large long parcels. The large square lots of the Southend become rectangular.
With a city as old as Boston, a mix of materials is bound to exist. For the most part, the site is still filled with the traditional brick rowhouses, which seem to all have a commercial awning at the ground level. The large neighborhood church is made up of larger stones. In the back ground, the Prudential Tower and Hancock Tower provide more modern materials. 
When looking at some of the more historic maps, I found one with our site developed. It consisted of typical apartment rowhouses with the train tracks still cutting off the site from the other side of the city.
I took some images of the site and started looking at where the buildings meet the sky. For the most part, there is still a consistency with regard to height and material. Most buildings are 4-5 stories made of brick. The St.Clements Church is the most notable building on the street. Looking across the freeway, there is a view of many of Boston's tallest buildings. The Berklee College of Music is located on the next block. The freeway provides an opportunity for views that normally wouldn't exist in such a dense urban setting.
3 comments:
Annie
You have done a terrific job of enlightening me about our site. The graphics help to make your points clear. I love the building height study. The materials graphic is a little difficult to see, though you did a good job of explaining. You mention that the St. Building is the most notable building on the street. I haven’t been to the site yet, what is the St. Building?
Nice Job!
I agree with Scott, nice overall job. The scale & graphic quality works well to illustrate the various grids. I'd like you to elaborate the geometry a bit. We have an interesting traingular lot--think about & describe the heirarchy of the Back Bay (Mass Ave) grid as opposed to the turnpike.
Great Analysis Annie! I think your black and white site plans shows a lot of important information. Especially the way you show the negative vs positive spaces in the surroundings.
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