As a handbook with information about Boston buildings, the AIA guide is useful. And its treatment of older buildings is reasonable. But this book is most interesting as a historical memoir, a reminder that architectural critics were once smitten by poured concrete and vast, empty plazas. Ever wonder how disasters like St. Louiss Pruitt-Igoe managed to win AIA awards? Read Susan and Michael Southworths guide to Boston, and youll understand.
The Southworths heap praise on the most unlikely monstrosities in the city. The execrable State HEW building is "a tour de force demonstrating the structural possibilities of concrete." The horrific Boston Architectural Center is "an admirable piece of contemporary architecture."
The Southworths absolutely fawn over modernist heroes, irrespective of their work. They have nothing but kind words for I.M. Pei - making them perhaps the only persons in Boston capable of defending Harbor Towers or the MIT buildings. They are positively giddy about Le Corbusiers Carpenter Center, a monstrous bunker. In their eyes, the spatial drama is stunning, as are the bold concrete forms ... it is the work of a master."
Now that architects have moved beyond blocky and dingy concrete boxes, the Southworths have very little favorable to say about them. They sniff at the varied facades, rooflines, and materials conceived for buildings like 75 State, 222 Berkeley, 500 Boylston and 99 Summer - if dingy concrete was good enough for Le Corbusier, why isnt it good for contemporary architects? Why cant we have more anonymous boxes like the "elegant" and "sleek" 28 State Street?
The Southworths bemoan the fact that downtown buildings of the 80s frequently destroyed little alleyways. Of course, when I.M. Pei wiped out entire streets and blocks of lovely townhouses in the 60s, as at Government Center and the Christian Science complex, that was perfectly OK, producing "dramatic forms."
Thankfully, the Southworths era has long past. Their views would be more irritating if they werent so absurd, and if anyone still had the audacity to build the concrete mausoleums they so passionately love.
Boston as seen by sixties architecture buffs
A Good Guide Book