No Acess

Blocked off Lindemann Stairway.

Although installation of well-designed, metal grates to supplement some terrace and courtyard side walls and low to meet current building safety codes have allowed the removal of chain-link fencing blocking some ares of the plaza, the most interesting external stairways and areas–like that shown here–are still blocked off. See also this photo from 2009 when there was still some access to this area.

Architect Paul Rudolph’s Government Service Center consists of two separate, but connected buildings: the Hurley Building and the Lindemann Mental Health Center. It’s the most misunderstood building in Boston. Many consider it (wrongly, IMHO) to be the ugliest building in Boston. However, brutism is resurgent; interest among architects and architectural historians or enthusiasts has been picking up and gaining speed in recent years, and even popular sentiment has softened, at least to some extent. See this NY Times piece, Brutalism is Back, and Why Boston’s Brutalism Is Back in a Big Way from Boston Magazine.

One of Rudolph’s masterpieces, Boston’s Government Services Center ranks high among the best examples of Brutalist architecture in the United States (perhaps even eclipsing Boston City Hall). Designed and constructed after Rudolph’s Yale Art and Architecture Building tour de force, the Hurley/Lindermann building was never completed according to Rudolph’s original design and vision. Construction of this high rise portion was never realized.

Posted by iMatthew on 2019-10-06 23:29:49

Tagged: , Paul Rudolph , Architecture , Brutalism , Brutalist Architecture , Boston , MA , Government Services Center , B&W , Black and White , Monochrome , Monochromatic , bnw