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.