Re-Imagining Boston CIty Hall - Rotch Scholarship Competition

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Re-Imagining Boston CIty Hall - Rotch Scholarship Competition

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Boston City hall and its plaza have been the topic of much debate and speculation, leaving its fate in question at times. It is necessary to acknowledge City hall as what Aldo Rossi called an urban artifact: architecture that defines a particular place, with the potential to develop “in both space and time”. Like the Palazzo della Ragione in Padova which has evolved to contain multiple functions, so too can Government Center - and the space around City Hall is critical to that mission. To carefully intervene at City Hall, this project accepts the challenge to imagine spaces that do not compete with or disrespect the existing architecture. By carefully removing only the three story unarticulated brick mass, the pedestrian experiences a suddenly permeable mass, enabling the delicate insertion of new program and an absent density into the Congress Street elevation. In uncovering the concrete piers of the City Hall, a noticeable rhythm is discovered along the street front. Through the extension of this rhythm along and across Congress Street with pavilions and re-articulated surfaces, we can envision a unified urban condition that roots City Hall in the fabric of the city, and reinforces the existing plaza and street front.