Boston City Hall Plaza

Landscape Architecture Core Studio II | GSD | Spring 2012 | 2 week project | Instructor: Romy Hecht

Boston City Hall Plaza is under used as a public space within Boston for a few reasons. First, there are very few places to sit within the plaza. Second, the plaza is open to the elements such as wind, sun and rain. Third, there is very little vegetation to provide shade on the plaza. Last, when looking at the plaza from Congress Street there is a brick wall visible to the viewer rather than a welcoming plaza. My goal was to visually connect Congress Street and Cambridge Street to invite people into the space. A ramp was designed to allow people easy access to the plaza. This ramp then morphs into seating as you approach the center of the plaza. The seating is located beneath allees of trees to provide shade in the summer months. In addition, a mound was created to provide impromptu seating and event seating.