Landscape Architect Articles

Four Firms Offer Their Visions08-13-15 | News

Four Firms Offer Their Visions
What to Do with Boston's City Hall Plaza?

Boston is looking to have a master plan for the sometimes maligned City Hall Plaza within a year, and reports it's willing to spend half a million dollars.

Boston is looking to have a master plan for the sometimes maligned City Hall Plaza within a year, and reports it's willing to spend half a million dollars.

The Boston Herald reports a committee of city and Boston Redevelopment Authority employees met with four "pitching" firms on Aug. 11, 2015 concering Mayor Martin Walsh's vision to re-imagine the 200,000 sq. feet of brick and concrete of City Hall Plaza. The firms were Stantec Architecture & Engineering; Utile Inc.; Sasaki Associates; and Machado & Silvetti Architecture.

City Hall Plaza is accessed via the Government Center stop on the MBTA lines, right across from historic Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market. The plaza, which includes a statue of Boston Celtic great Bill Russell, is walking distance to Boston's North End, Beacon Hill, Boston Common and Boston Garden. Mainly it's just a whole lot of empty hardscape between towering buildings.

Architect I.M. Pei was responsible for siting the plaza, city hall and the other buildings in Government Center. The plaza was designed in 1962. Construction of city hall and the plaza took place between 1063 and 1968.

The hardscaped plaza was brightened this July with the addition of some artificial grass atop the brick just outside City Hall, along with plastic Adirondack chairs and, curiously, a number of beanbag toss boards. The chairs were a welcomed addition.