Lt. Thomas D. Armory Square; Dartmouth Street and Commonwealth Avenue
In beginning to consider a site on which to focus it seemed desirable to choose one of architectural diversity; a heterogeneous site encompassing places of commercial, residential, and public use will provide ample reference material on urban development. The Back Bay provides an ideal layout to capture many different aspects of land use and development with its gridded structure, particularly the boundaries of Dartmouth Street and Clarendon Street to the East and West, and St. James Street and the Charles River Esplanade to the North and South.
Clarendon St., Dartmouth St., St. James St., Charles River Espanade, Google Maps
Thinking about this area as a whole, I knew that I wanted to include a stretch of Commonwealth Avenue; I’ve always really enjoyed the walk along the mall, and have always been interested in its placement relative to the structures around it. This will also probably secure an MIT FSILG within the boundaries of my site, which will likely prove interesting in examining the change of the area over time, as residential properties are bought by MIT or the FSILG itself. I hope to investigate the expansion and development of MIT across the river, especially the influence it has had on the development of independent properties in its surroundings.
I chose to expand my site from Comm. Ave towards the North and South in order to better capture the diversity of the Back Bay area, reaching to the Charles River as well as many residential, public, and commercial properties. I am particularly excited to see how locations near the water develop, as there has likely been a great deal of use and change to these areas over the years. I also purposefully included Copley Square within my site; not only does this add a public, recreational space, but also a small property from the 1700s, the Trinity Church. This area of Boston is historically very rich, as it was included among the earliest expansions of the city. The influence of my site’s proximity to the Boston Common may be of particular interest.
The structure and layout of the Back Bay is also quite interesting in regards to the layout of the surrounding areas. The gridded streets are a bit of a rarity in Boston, at least to this degree of homogeneity in alignment, indicating that this area was likely developed under a common plan or commission; however, the existence of small outposts of eighteenth century architecture suggest that the Back Bay was likely redeveloped relatively recently in the historical timeline, over the remaining eighteenth century constructions.
Traversing the Back Bay from North to South also makes evident the distinct divisions in the use of space, which seem to be arranged in layers of lateral, East to West, homogeneity; this alignment makes sense considering the Charles River, as the grid is organized so that streets run parallel to, or orthogonal to the Charles. The Charles River Esplanade is clearly a space dedicated to public, recreational use, including walking paths with bike lanes and benches. Continuing away from the river, there is a section of residential development which encompasses the brownstones homes of the Back Bay. Just south of the brownstones is a cluster of commercial development which includes a great deal of boutiques, cafes, and service-based businesses. Copley Square provides the border between the commercial development and the large office buildings, as well as another public enclosure and historical site, as mentioned.
This area of the Back Bay, bordering Clarendon, Dartmouth, and St. James Street, and the Charles, appears to include an ideal mixture of developments. Including properties which are both modern and of historical importance in such proximity, it will likely prove to be an interesting study of urban development.
Works Cited:
Sanborn. "Boston, MA - Google Maps." Map. Google Maps. Google, 2013. Web. 15 Mar. 2013. <https://maps.google.com/maps?q=boston>.