17 replies to this topic

[Carter711]

The new home of the Boston Institute of Contemporary Arts is set to open soon.  Although its grand-opening was pushed back from Sept. 17, it should be all open in October, or November.  Perched on the South Boston waterfront with great views of the Boston skyline, it is the first major museum building built in the city in 100 years.

[Cotuit]

A vision fulfilled at harbor's edge. Museum a frame on surroundings. [The Boston Globe]
New ICA building emerges into the light [The Boston Globe]
Audio Slideshow

[DoctorGonzo]

I'm sorry to say that the ICA's design is absolutely repulsive.

In the drive to make the building look "different" they didn't bother to make it look good.

[dgreco]

DoctorGonzo, on Dec 10 2006, 10:41 PM, said:

I'm sorry to say that the ICA's design is absolutely repulsive.

In the drive to make the building look "different" they didn't bother to make it look good.

I think the building is pretty cool, I don't know how it fits in the area, but I don't find it to be repulsive.

[TheBostonian]

dgreco, on Dec 13 2006, 03:34 PM, said:

I think the building is pretty cool, I don't know how it fits in the area, but I don't find it to be repulsive.

Nothing fits into a sea of parking lots.  We'll see how it looks when the area is built up.

[cloudship]

I have to say it doesn't really do it for me, either. I am going to the airport tomorrow - I will check it out then. But somehow it just seems, I don't know, lost there. It's so tiny compared to the other buildings.

[cloudship]

I got a quick chance to check out the Museum yesterday (minly because my Brother's girlfriend's flight was two hours late!). I didn't do the exhibit but walked around the outside and into the store.

It's one of those model buildings - one where the model looks fantastic, but when it comes to be built and you see it in place it dosn't quite live up to expectations. It was a little too off in scale, I think it meeded to just be larger. Also, things like moldings and railings and stuff kind of got in the way. Nice concept, but the details let it down.

I would love to see it all lit up at night, though.

[crispin]

I've only seen pictures so far, and am looking forward to seeing it in person, but it seems like a great addition to a city with little in the way of modern architecture. And if it's not a great addition, I'm still pleased that the attempt was made.

[JJK5]

I'll be checking this out tomorrow.  The girlfriend and I had intended on checking out Body Worlds at the MoS but that's been sold out.   I'm looking forward to the ICA though, should be interesting enough.

[gregw]

I checked it out last weekend. The building is totally cool. It's got a glass elevator and huge plate glass windows overlooking the water. It's also pretty dramatic how the upper stories overhang the plaza on the water side. The art show was pretty interesting as well: how new technologies allow us to see beyond visible reality making us kind of like superheroes with xray vision.

It will be interesting to see how this part of the Boston waterfront, now largely parking lots, develops around the ICA. Now it has a kind of weird isolation but that will soon change no doubt.

[JJK5]

Well the line to get in was out the door, so we walked down to Harpoon instead..  

[Cotuit]

Some photos of the ICA I took back in July:

[atlrvr]

Well, 3 out of 4 sides look great...the view from the parking lot is pretty bad, especially with the bubbling paint.

Hopefully when Fan Pier is completed, you won't be able to be that far from the ICA and see it on that side.  Being forced to stand closer to the building would probably help it.

[Cotuit]

I'm disappointed that this building has a back. A building of this stature should not have a back, all sides should present interest to the viewer, regardless of what may (or may not be) eventually built on one side of it.

[Lowerdeck]

The 4th side looks terrible, it's like they remodeled some place and forgot to finish the job.

And I was wondering why they had removed "ICA" from the Hynes stop on the Green Line.

[cloudship]

I agree that side looks bad, but I am wondering if doing something about the lot in front might not improve that dramatically. Not sure how that gels with the plans for Fan Pier, but it might be a great place for showing off some big installation art.

Does this building remind anyone else of the old Polaroid cameras - the ones that fold up?

[Cotuit]

I hate the roof line. When making such clean lines and such a deliberate shape, why couldn't they have found a better solution for the mechanicals? It looks like they designed the building then all of a sudden remembered that they needed HVAC.

The architect Diller Scodifio + Renfro have been tapped to do the Creative Arts Building at Brown University in Providence. So the ICA (and how unimpressed I am by it), have me interested.

cloudship, on Sep 26 2007, 09:42 PM, said:

Does this building remind anyone else of the old Polaroid cameras - the ones that fold up?

Yes.

[cloudship]

It looks like they designed the building then all of a sudden remembered that they needed HVAC.

Having worked in an architectural office. I wouldn't doubt that is exactly what had happened - they forgot to figure out how big the equipment was going to be and it needed to be bigger than they expected.

I think that might be one of the issues with the ICA - it is much better close up than it is from a distance. It gets lost very easily there. I wonder if as buildings go up in the area, it might not be so bad.