Whole Foods

Located on the corner of Westland Avenue and Edgerly Road, Harry Ellis Dickson Park (aka Whole Foods Park) is a small park that was developed in memoriam to Harry Ellis Dickson, an associate conductor laureate of the Boston Pops. 

The sculpture in the center in the park is “g” clef twisted to form what is seen today. The modern appeal of the sculpture plays off the modernist parking garages on the northern side of the site which houses the whole foods supermarket. The backside of church park lines the other side of Edgerly Road. There are townhouses that line Westland Avenue

The site has a modern feel to it. Its unique sculpture adds to the feel of the space and gives it a nice focal point. The openness of the park gives off a very public appeal. People are often seen walking through the park, or enjoying a cup of coffee with sitting on one of the benches. 

The scale of the park in comparison to surround buildings is very small, however it makes a big statement and adds to the overall feel of the area. 

Tent City

Tent City is a housing complex that was built as part of a low income housing project in the late 1960’s. The building faced extreme opposition by community memebers. 

The lot that Tent City was developed on was a vacant parking lot a couple blocks south on Darmouth Street from Copley Square. The reason behind it being calles Tent City is the amount of homless people that would pitch tents on the lot and call it home.

The building is very uniquely designed. The architects had to create a transition space from the growing towers in the Back Bay to the townhouses that lined the streets of South Boston. The final design looks similar a stair case, stepping down from a twelve story tower to a four story townhouse.

The space of analysis was an open courtyard that is enclosed on three sides by the apartment structure. The space gives off a very warming feeling. The surrounding buildings acts as a sound barrier preventing most noise from entering the space. There is also a very private feeling to the space that often comforts the person experiencing the space. The vegitation primarily lines the small street that divides that main building from several smaller structures on the site. 

Northeastern University

The Northeastern West Village Quad is located off of Parker and Ruggles Streets in the Roxbury section of Boston. When experiencing this space, several things came to mind; 

The quad is circular in shape with openings on the main axis. To the west the space exits to Ruggles Street. To the north the space exits out onto Parker Street. To the south and east the space empties into the rest of Northeastern’s campus. The space is very busy. Whether it is through the movement of students through out the space or through the cars that sporadically pass through the space, you feel that its not really a space that is to be enjoyed from the ground but from the rooms that surround the space. 

It can often be felt that the quad is the main point on this part of campus where students transition to other parts of the university. The design of the space is quite simple and plays off the simplistic architecture of the buildings surrounding it. The simplicity of the space allows for people experiencing the space to focus on their destination because more than often the viewer’s sight goes towards the exits and the sights beyond.