ruminations about architecture and design

Friday, February 10, 2012

25 harrison avenue

This building, located in the Chinatown district in Boston, has been the subject of two articles by the Boston Globe. I have a feeling it going to be the subject of several more, including an investigation into housing conditions in similar buildings. The story so far has centered around the evacuation and closure of the building following a response to a false alarm by the Fire Dept. Firefighters observed a potentially dangerous structural conditions in the basement among other problems. The building has been ordered closed pending a review by a structural engineer. Single rooms in the building were being rented out to Chinese immigrants who have been displaced by the incident. The owner has put them up in a local hotel at the moment, which was a charitable act, but I think that he is going to be in a certain amount of hot water.

Chinatown is the most densely populated part of Boston and has some its oldest and eclectic architecture. It is vibrant socially, but pretty rough around the edges, and its territory has been the target of developers who have been building high rise apartments for higher income tenants. 25 Harrison is not an exception, in my opinion.

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