East Boston Site
ELEVATED PARKSCAPE
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The elevated parkway was a design inspiration from the New York Highline, but its purpose in this master plan is to extend the plane of the residential area on top of the hill and at the front of the park, instead of revitalizing an abandoned railway. Here its presence equalizes the waterfront for all economic levels of residential living, adding new ways to viewing Boston Bay and its unique skyline.
Some features distinct to the main Piers Park addition include a Performance Stage, similar to the one within the Charles River Esplanade, that can be used for events, and an elevated walking area that loops around the its center. The idea was to create an amphitheater-esque park-scape that would not be obtrusive to the openness of Piers Park.
PIERS PARK MBTA STOP
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Extending the plane from the residential units means that negative space will be created underneath, becoming an abandoned space. Therefore the negative space was turned into mainly a new MBTA station that would act as a transportation node from Maverick Station and Logan airport. This station offers space for retail shops and restaurants just below the the upper park space.
The station is lined with the same funnel-shaped colonnade present from the rest of the park space. Glass facades line the lower entrances of each of the stores and the main MBTA lobby, leading to elevators and stairs. Another row of funnel colonnades create an archway canopy over the main street where buses and cars can pull over to load or drop off passengers.
BOSTON MARITIME MUSEUM
In honor of New England's maritime history, the Maritime Museum is another intervention that was beneficial for the masterplan. This museum is directly inspired by the Maritime Museum of Barcelona which housed many vessels that were out of commision.
The East Boston Maritime Museum will also display mainly out of commision vessels native to New England. Unlike the Museum in Barcelona, the vessels here are juxtaposed by the fleet of boats and vessels docked at Piers Park and the many ships passing through Boston Harbor.
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WATERFRONT SHOPS
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The tremendous amount of boats present at the docks around Piers Park is a testament to New England's nautical history boating culture. The addition of the Waterway shops was to create a hub of shops that attracts both land and sea. Here boaters could easily dock and have immediate access to many amenities. The inspiration for this intervention came from the harborwalk and docks at Seaport Square, where the boats and floating platforms become an integrated park space for people to visit.
These shops are set in a colonnade with retail spaces taking up shops on the water level and a multi-layered platformed upper level that offers extended views of the park-scape.
RENDERS
Project Year - 2019 Masters
EAST BOSTON URBAN PROJECT
Group: Robert Nesbit & Roy Galang
This project began with a trip to Barcelona, Spain as an exploration of Spanish culture and the ways their passion for history, tradition, and art have shaped architecture. In a small collaboration with students from the University of Girona. Some highlights of the exploration from Barcelona include its unique coastal architecture, the artistry and designs of Antonio Gaudi all over the city, and the architecture revolving around the cultural lifestyle of the Spanish. On return, students were tasked to create a large-scale intervention on East Boston's waterfront, implementing design decisions based on explorations of Barcelona's Iberian coast and its historic city.
By combining the the ideas of the Charles River Esplanade, the Highline, and Park Guell, Piers Park can be used to activate the beautiful waterfront that connects towards Logan airport, opening up the disconnection between Logan Airport, the gateway of Boston, and Downtown Boston, as well as equalizing the economic residential communities that live in the area.
A New Integrated Stop
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Observing the site, the group saw a disparity in residential access towards the waterfront. The presence of Piers Park takes up a large section of the waterfront and does allow access for the residents around the area to experience the waterfront and the skyline of Boston, however the lower income residential housing and apartments are kept apart at the boundaries of the park by gates, streets, and topography. This creates a hardlined threshold that could have otherwise been more layered and integrated with the park.This is an issue as higher-end residential units and apartments take up the water's edge exclusively, with more units being planned. Integrating the lower-end residential community became a primary goal
Another issue to be addressed is the continuity of experiences from Boston, East Boston, and Logan Airport. East Boston has an opportunity to become a destination between the airport and the city of Boston with its less-cluttered waterfront with one of the few spots that showcases the Boston Skyline from the water. East Boston depends on both the MBTA transportation system and water taxi for commuters to get into Downtown Boston. By activating the waterfront to attract both commuters who travel via local transportation whether that is by car, bus, train, and ferry, East Boston has an opportunity to bridge the gap between Logan Airport and downtown Boston.
Design Language
The design language of the masterplan follows inspiration from Park Quell's flute and funnel columns that created elevated outdoor platforms and tunnels throughout its hilly area in Barcelona. This shape became the most common occurrence for the multiple interventions within the masterplan due to the views available throughout the site. This addresses the view and access disparity between the residential apartments further up the hill and the newer and premium residential blocks that are monopolizing the waterfront.
Creating elevated garden scape requires many planters and support systems to allow the placement of soil. These funnel-shaped support systems
