The Revitalist

The Arctic Club, a turn-of-the-century treasure in downtown Seattle, reopened this month as a new grand hotel. The building, replete with signature walrus heads encircling the facade, is a stately and playful monument to the riches amassed in the Klondike gold rush. If, as Robert Service once wrote, "the Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold", these tales were once recounted in the Arctic Club's Alaskan marble lobby by the folks who had witnessed them first hand. The Northern Lights Dome Room is the building's most spectacular feature, however -- a ballroom that seats over 200 people with a gilt and glass ceiling lit to resemble the northern lights. These interior rooms and the facade are protected under the historic landmark designation and have been well-restored.

Restoration and rehab took over two years. The Revitalist got a sneak preview just before the building opened in early July.

Planetizen's Best of the Worst in Planning for 2007 recaps some this past year's most ridiculous planning decisions: the latest in eco-friendly burials (no gravestones, just gps coordinates!), public loudspeakers so that government employees monitoring cameras can scold you for spitting out your gum on the sidewalk, and $90,000 spent in court over the difference between "sandy" and "creamy yellow."

The Planetizen Podcast lists the top planning issues of 2007: transportation and resource scarcity (e.g. water) were top of the list.

The National Trust's blog PreservationNation looks at the Best and Worst of 2007 in preservation: bests included celebrities using their star power to raise money for preservation issues and the public opening of Philip Johnson's Glass House; worsts included the loss of several mid-century modern structures and the city of Buffalo's Five In Five plan to demo 5,000 buildings in five years. The Paschal House here in Raleigh got a mention as a worst. The gorgeous, landmark, mid-century house has been languishing on the market and is in danger of being the latest teardown.

Notre Dame's new lighting scheme, simple and dramatic.

Toronto's Globe and Mail has an interview with the man behind the lighting concepts for most of Paris' most famous architectural treasures, including the most recently lit, Notre Dame Cathedral (via Planetizen). As the Chief Engineer for Doctrine, Expertise and Technical Control for Paris, François Jousse has lit the City of Lights, from simple street lights to complex schemes like the Cathedral. Being Paris, each project had to proceed through a complex web of bureaucratic approvals, but the Cathedral lighting also had to satisfy the Archdiocese who uses the church. The designers had originally wanted to light the famous rose window from the interior so that passersby could see it glow, but the Church objected. Lighting from inside would effectively reverse the image, with theological implications. Mr. Jousse's solution was to project a replica of the image (as seen from the interior) onto the exterior of the window. The interview is amusing, especially if you find the particularities of the French entertaining, and it reminds you of the impact that projects like this can have on the city. Thankfully, Boston has Light Boston to remind us of the gems of our city.

New Harvard University President Gil Faust says that she wants to take a step back on the University's plans for the Allston campus and proceed more methodically and inclusively than the school has been. The science complex that will house a stem cell research insititute will stay on schedule to break ground next year, but the rest of the plans are being reconsidered. The Allston plans had included moving the Graduate School of Education and the School of Public Health, building four new undergraduate dorms, and building a new museum for contemporary art. The plans had been somewhat controversial among the school community – there is doubt about moving undergrads across the river from the main campus. Also, Allston residents have mixed feelings about the development, largely because the university has been fairly heavy handed in their dealings with the community. Faust hopes to salve that relationship by reexamining the plans and taking time to listen to all the concerns. Regardless of the results of all that listening, that Harvard-owned land colored red in the map above will one day be filled with Harvard programming.

Bamboo will fill the red gates to create a hedge that isolates this park from the bustling city.

The Globe's architecture critic Robert Campbell takes a pre-winter walk through the Rose Kennedy Greeway and comes out largely disappointed. He loved the simplicity of the North End park and enjoyed the naturalistic pathways of the Chinatown park but left cold by the largest of the parks, the Wharf District parks. He points out that sections remain unfinished and the several buildings that were to be on the Greenway have yet to be realized, or even imagined. Even though the Greenway is behind schedule, we have yet to see how some of its most significant features will be impact the whole. As Campbell puts it, with an air of resignation, "it's helpful to remember that even great cities don't always get things right for the first few centuries. It took half a millennium to finish the Piazza San Marco, in Venice." Hardly inspiring, but while we're waiting for the evolution of a century, perhaps we could bask in some winter sun on one of the North End benches anyway.

When I heard that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie had moved to New Orleans a while back, I thought it was a little odd; but Pitt's latest announcement is, I guess, the logical outgrowth of that decision. Pitt has announced the designs for his Make It Right project – a project that will build 150 affordable, green houses in the Lower Ninth Ward. You can browse the designs on the website and sponsor a whole house or a particular element, like a thermostat, a refrigerator, or a low-flush toilet. You can even donate in someone else's name and give them a certificate instead of the standard Christmas sweater. Pitt explained the how and why behind the project on NPR.

The project team includes William McDonough + Partners (green design), Graft (master planning and collaborators with the Jolie-Pitt Foundation on projects around the world), and the Cherokee Gives Back Foundation (financing). The project asked architecture firms to submit designs (pro-bono) for houses that could be sold for $150,000, had at least 3 bedrooms and a front porch, and incorporated green and sustainable design. The designs are in, and it looks like this is the short list of designs from which residents will choose.

Concordia's design features a front stair that is sized for entertaining.

Morphosis' design will float like a boat during a flood.

This design, by BNIM, is my favorite. It seems the most closely related to the vernacular architecture of the area.

The Mass House of Representatives voted on legislation that resolves the open issue around development on filled tidelands. In February of this year, the Mass Supreme Judicial Court ruled on a case where Cambridge residents sued the developers of the massive NorthPoint complex. At issue is whether development projects that are sited on filled tidelands but that are not on the waterfront (waterfront properties are regulated by Chapter 91) are subject to the state's environmental and public benefit review just as waterfront projects are. The Court ruled that all filled tideland projects are subject to review and left it to the legislature to sort out the ensuing mess. Well, the House passed a bill that is meant to resolve the question and settle the titles of already existing properties (like One Post Office Square, for example). An earlier version of the bill had called for the creation of a new office under the Director of Tidelands and Great Ponds that would review the overall public benefit of projects on filled tidelands but falling outside the purview of Chapter 91. Thankfully, the passed version of the bill doesn't require the creation of a new office (such a Massachusetts solution), but gives the thumbs up or down power to the EoEA. Filled tideland projects will still have demonstrate that they provide public benefit (elements like economic development and jobs are included in the calculus, along with the traditional public access and environmental protection). The Senate has yet to weigh in, but it appears to be headed for approval and signing by Gov. Patrick.

This photograph from the WBUR Flickr pool demonstrates the striking beauty possible in City Hall. Kallmann, McKinnell & Wood Architects.

WBUR had a piece this morning on the BSA's campaign to reimagine and preserve City Hall. This month's issue of Architecture Boston focuses on the Modernist hulk and features concepts from six young architecture teams that work with the building's assets and rework its flaws. The teams put out some interesting ideas. One offers to bring the Waterfront to City Hall, instead of the other way around, and convert the Plaza into a wading pool/ice rink. Another proposes to wrap the structure in a way that brings the public to the building with a new interface off the plaza. These proposals worked off the same set of "sins" that need to be addressed: too opaque, too big, too mute, too ugly, too dark, too empty, too costly, too aloof.

The Plaza as wading pool. Studio Luz and c2|studio.

The wrap concept. Howeler+Yoon.

But what I find more interesting are the similarities that point to today's architectural trends. (I suppose it's inevitable.) There are a lot of rooftop gardens and "green-ness," sweeping ramps that funnel pedestrian traffic, undulating and faceted forms, large windows/walls with sheets of open glass, and canopies/wraps/sleeves galore. It's kind of like every dish on Top Chef featuring some unexpected vegetable prepared in a "confit" – everyone is speaking in the same vernacular. Even the renderings all have the same mash-up style of photography, CAD and those weird semi-cartoon people (I have to confess that those people leave me cold).

Magic Johnson was in town this week to promote a project co-developed by his Canyon Johnson Urban Fund and Cathartes Private Investments. The Mezzo Design Lofts in Charlestown is a 146-unit condo building, new construction, transit-oriented (near Sullivan Square T stop). The market niche is the Design element – buyers can work with the on-site interior design team to furnish the unit and then roll the costs into the purchase.

Johnson said that he has been trying to do a project in Boston for a while now, "I've been down this road in Boston for about 10 years now. I was kind of disappointed because I thought it would have created jobs." But now that he has got one in the ground, maybe his CJUF, which focuses on minority neighborhoods and workforce housing, will find it easier to get a second one done. No doubt he was nudged by reporters hot to trot over Gov. Patrick's recent announcement on casinos, but he did also say that he would be interested in a casino development as a way to be "putting people to work."

The Ames Building, at 14 stories, was Boston's first skyscraper and is still one of the tallest masonry buildings on the East Coast.

One of our historic neighbors, the Ames Building on Court Street, is making news again. Normandy Real Estate Partners announced their intention to redevelop the building back in July and this week they announced that they have selected elite hotel designers the Rockwell Group to handle the interiors. Normandy is the latest firm in the long saga to try and make a go of the boutique hotel concept in the building (other developers have included Intercontinental Real Estate Corp. and O'Callaghan Hotels). But they seem to be quite well capitalized and people seem to think that the hotel market is on the up, so maybe they'll be in it for the long haul. The Rockwell Group make an exciting addition to the team because they have serious design cred (Nobu 57, the Carlton hotel, and the W Union Square hotel, all in New York).