Paper 1
Paper 2
Paper 3
Paper 4
View map
Image courtesy of Yahoo! Maps
A shot of the main publication offices, spanning over 500 feet parallel to the pool and Huntington Ave
The clean and grimy clash in Public Alley 903. Note the security camera guarding the private garage
Paper 1 - Choosing the site
(Revised May 12, 2004)When prompted to choose a site in Boston to research, I first thought of Christian Science Park in Back Bay. It was one of the first public places I ever visited in Boston; when I first arrived at MIT, some upperclassmen took me there to enjoy the huge reflecting pool at night. The design of the outside spaces and the architecture of the surrounding buildings captivated me from the start. It was such a picturesque location that I returned there a month later to pledge my fraternity; it is a fraternity tradition to come up with a unique, exciting method of pledging1, and I wanted to drag my brothers out to one of the most unique sites in Boston to hear me pledge.
I returned to Christian Science Park again, this time to explore the site and observe the different types of land use. The boundaries of the park are Massachusetts Ave to the west, Huntington Ave to the south, and Belvidere St to the north. Most of the buildings on this block are owned by the Church of Christ, Scientist, including the publishing offices of the Christian Science Monitor and other periodicals. One particularly interesting building is the main chapel, which was designed as a mixture of several classical styles (Gothic, Neoclassical, etc.). I will explore why this building was designed the way it was, and how it affected the streets and buildings around it. Besides the church-owned buildings, the Christian Science Park encompasses a large area of open space, including several blocked-off streets that run through it. One thing I will explore is how the church came to acquire all of this land, as well as determining what stood there before. I would also like to determine why the surrounding streets meet in this triangle shape at this particular spot, and how this status as a visible break2 to traditional perpendicular street patterns affected development on the site.
Looking beyond institutional land use, I also explored the commercial and residential neighborhoods north and west of the park. To the north of the site, there are rows of apartments that run east-west along narrow streets. These apartments are nearly uniform in appearance, making the street a corridor of red-bricked walls and tall green trees planted in front. The area seems almost suburban in its cleanliness and uniformity, and I plan to find out why it is so well-preserved. In contrast, the block to the west of the park is much more diverse in land use and appearance. The south end of this block is dominated by one large apartment complex, with shops on the first floor. This complex looks noticeably modern when compared with the north end of the block. Buildings on the north end vary in size, color, and use; some are specialty stores catering to the needs of Berklee college students, some are chain restaurants like Wendy’s and Dunkin’ Donuts, and some are apartment homes. In general, however, the buildings on the north end of this block are less unified and more dilapidated than the large complex on the south end. I plan to investigate why this part of the site is less unified and clean than the blocks to the north of the site, as well as how ownership of this area was divided in the past.
My site thus consists of four blocks: the Christian Science Park, two blocks of apartment buildings to the north, and one block of stores and apartments to the west. One main theme of my investigation will be the changes of institutional ownership and land use in these blocks. I predict that the presence of the Church of Christ, Scientist, has had a large impact on patterns of development on my site over time.
References
1 “Pledging” means to accept an invitation to join a fraternity.
2 Clay, Grady. Close-Up: How to Read the American City. Chicago, 1980. p. 42-50