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Present: Bill Barry, Eric Breitkreutz, Michael DeLacey, Leslie Donovan, Jack Glassman, David M. Hart, John Hecker, Erin Hester, Lyn Hovey, Susan Hurst, Wendall Kalsow, David Kelman, Peggy Kutcher, Michael Lynch, Bill Mack, Doug Manley, Henry Moss, Ivan Myjer, Susan Schur, Malcolm Smiley, Jonathan Smith, Sara Wermiel, and Cynthia ______. 1. Design in Historic Settings, Roof Additions: Eric Breitkreutz, Matthew Bronski, Lyn Hovey, and Sara Wermiel contributed images and critiques of roof additions to historic structures. Discussion compared approaches that attempt to extend the vocabulary of the "host" building into the new construction and those that introduce a new set of visual forms. Most examples occupied the twilight zone where neither approach was consistently applied. Examples ranged from residential penthouses set on top of strong, multi-story Beaux Arts buildings, to the evolution of massive Mayan ceremonial structures that spanned centuries. This is not an arena in which architects have distinguished themselves (excepting the Mayans). Discussion began with presentations of two interesting large-scale upward expansions by Finegold Alexander and Notter Finegold Alexander. Sara Wermiel presented the more recent example, at 266 Causeway Street, a 1909 industrial building by Codman & Despredelle, where the height of the original was doubled. She noted that many late nineteenth/early twentieth century commercial buildings were expected to grow upward at some point. Michael Lynch pointed out that there are few tall neighbors in the vicinity of the Causeway Street building, but that the original structure is still clearly visible (in spite of decorative cupolas that blur the original for the inattentive). Next, Eric Breitkreutz presented Samuel J. F. Thayer's Clarendon Baptist Church at Montgomery Square in the South End. After a disastrous fire, in the 1980's, it was converted to housing. Michael DeLacey compared the rebuilt church to Gund's Church Court project, characterizing the South End example as a "greedy addition" where the volume of the program forced the architect to overwhelm the original massing and where the requirement for windows created such a reverberation of forms that the result has begun to lose the sense that the original building was a church. Michael suggested that the Boston Ballet might have provided a more suitable program for the rehabilitation of the church. Others praised the fact that the church was not simply raised and that its transformation continued to contribute steeply raked roofs and tower to the street. Susan Schur and Eric suggested that the conversion of religious properties would become an increasingly significant issue with the divestiture of Archdiocesan properties. Eric then showed a penthouse addition on a building at Clarendon and Columbus Ave. where an arched form echoes the arched windows in the upper story of the large commercial building below. Michael Lynch thought the contrasting design of the penthouse in scale and color or tone was successful, but the arch attracted too much attention to a single element. Others thought the handling of trees in an integral rooftop garden confused the design. Eric's last example was the old Police Headquarters at Stuart and Berkeley Streets that has a two-story addition with elaborate corner columns and a projecting metal cornice. Susan noted that the new architecture is sufficiently well integrated for observers to see the overall composition as a "whole building." Ivan Myjer found the extruded cornice profile much to simple visually. Michael Lynch felt that the final building is too low to work visually as a tripartite composition. Jack Glassman argued that we shouldn't write off the Berkeley Street addition in spite of its idiosyncrasies. John Hecker and Michael DeLacey said the addition is clearly contemporary, using contemporary materials (EIFS and lead coated copper) and makes the transition between old and new convincingly. Michael Lynch observed that the Secretary of the Interior's Standards do not encourage this approach. Matthew Bronski contributed images of a series of additions to the same building, a 1907 Shepley, Rutan, Coolidge design with a low but broad penthouse added in 1984 and a companion building rising from the ground in 1990. The original building (medical offices) was light stone with shallow pediments. The roof addition is a continuous dark metal screen with a heavy, flat cornice. Bill Mack noted that the continuity of the roof addition is interrupted at the pediments. Jon Smith pointed out that the FAR issues on this campus are very difficult to manage and that these solutions added considerable space with little damage urbanistically or architecturally. Susan Schur compared its attempt at a neutral solution to the Fogg Art Museum's conservation center, where a much bolder design solution is woven into a complicated façade with better elements of new architecture and no ill effect on the whole. Lyn Hovey whisked the committee away to Copan and the border of Honduras and Guatemala where he illustrated 400 years of architectural expansion on a single site where the earliest remaining structures date from the 5th century. Stepped pyramids strictly governed by systems of mathematical proportion now resemble vast ground sculptures by artist Michael Singer. Vegetation, including ceiba trees that are revered as living ancestors, helps to integrate an architecture where there was already little variation in material or in structural approach. The final pyramid is over 60' tall, even though it is only half the size of that at the grander complex of Tikal. The expansions partly buried original structures, although large portions of each remained visible in the final stage. Ivan noted other examples where the continuity of spiritual value in a place could shift from one dominant population to another, citing Spanish Baroque churches atop stone platforms built by Incas. Michael DeLacey suggested that the committee consider making an award for outstanding "architectural interventions." Henry Moss said that the group might discuss this at the next meeting, and that the Mayan's would have clearly taken the honors among today's entrants. 2. Changes in Massachusetts Building Code: Vernon Woodworth's BSA Codes Committee is warning practitioners that much of the flexibility in Section 34 of the Mass. State Building Code could be lost when the next edition of the code is released. Henry asked Michael Lynch to discuss this with Matthew Bronski and perhaps contact Vernon for a more detailed explanation. 3. Asher Benjamin House, Greenfield: The committee leaders sent a letter to the Mayor of Greenfield urging that this unusually intact Asher Benjamin house be protected. The owner proposes removing an existing Palladian door, sidelight, and arched window assembly and replacing them with a vinyl-clad facsimile (of unknown verisimilitude).
Preservation Planning for the United Nations Headquarters by David Fixler of Einhorn, Yaffee, Prescott 8: 00 a.m., Thursday, February 10, 2005 The Architects' Building, 52 Broad Street, 5th floor, Boston
Henry Moss, Matthew Bronski, and Sara Wermiel co-leaders and scribes
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