East Boston Master Plan
Location: East Boston, Massachusetts
Term: Fall 2019
Course: Studio IX: Special Topics ARCH 9000
Faculty: Manuel Delgado
Partner: David Rabkin (MArch ‘20)
Introduction
Students had the opportunity to participate in a Travel Studio with the options of six locations: Shanghai, Barcelona, Benin, Paris, Mexico City, and New England. With Professor Manuel Delgado, I was able to participate in the Barcelona Travel Studio to explore the architecture and harbor front qualities of the European city. The goal was to take these elements and use inspirations from Spain to create a master plan for an East Boston site near the ICA Watershed. Working in pairs, each group implemented program they thought was necessary for the community and had a concept based on Iberic culture.
Piers Park offers a modern development that is looking to encourage Bostonians and tourists to travel to the site. By analyzing the site, the opportunity arises to incorporate a new design that ties into the existing infrastructure that can be interactive and engaging experiences for all visitors.
Master Plan
With M’Arch 20’ student David Rabkin, our master plan dissects the paintings of famous painter Pablo Picasso. Being an icon of Iberic Art, Picasso’s paintings integrate free form shapes and paths that deal with asymmetry, working with different radial experiences to create a successful piece of work.
The opportunity of combining existing infrastructure with a proposed master plan will correlate a direct connection with the Boston Harbor. With keeping with the same free form circulation that the site offers, the proposal of intertwining pathways begins to create both an interactive and learning experience through topographic change and differentiation of program. The master plan acts as a development of experience, interaction, and learning that extends beyond the public path.
Housing
To fit with the theme of housing on Marginal Street, a combination of row houses and apartment buildings are designed to fill the gaps along the street elevation, incorporating concepts from the master plan within the design of the building, bringing a new housing style through the sense of scale and materials, engaging the public on the ground level with retail.
Boat House
With removing the existing boat storage, the goal was to relocate a new boat house with an updated design that pays close attention to boat heights, interior and exterior storage, and accessibility. A ferry pavilion and lighthouse were incorporated as well, to encourage a gathering space that provides views and accessibility to the site via the harbor.
Stadium
Being the focal point of the design, the stadium highlights the most important element of Iberic culture; soccer. The stadium provides a variety of functions for the site, not only hosting the sport Iberians enjoy, but having the ability to be multi functional for the environment of Boston and the people that encompass it.
