old town Boston

Le Carbusier's Carpenter Center

~Truth vs. Myth~

1. Boston is not colder or windier than Chicago.
2. Boston drivers are nicer than Chicago which makes the weird Boston streets not as dangerous.
3. No taxes on clothes? Yes yes yes!
4. and yes Boston has the only Le Corbusier building in north America, the Carpenter Center
5. and the best cocktail lounge ever (thank you for taking me Maje!) - Cuchi Cuchi 
6. also it seemed to me that everything was on Mass Ave. why do you need the rest of the streets?

So going to Boston I was a little bit anxious. Everyone I know and the people I was going to meet told me I will get lost driving around there. The GPS will not work and people usually give up rentals and just take taxis. So I am basically freaking out. Fortunately, everyone exaggerated and I was fine. What was true is that there are a lot of little streets, rotaries that throw you off somewhere unexpected and maybe no lanes? :-p Drivers though were definitely nice and let you in no matter how short of a notice your request was.

Driving in the described conditions I ran across many architectural wonders. My favorites from Saarinen at MIT: The auditorium and the chapel.

 

 

Another true thing about Boston is that it reminds me a lot of Europe; with its small scale, everything is more together and organized in squares, and there is a lot of modern architecture.
Ah Frank Frank! Why do you leak so much? ...and then the dorms by Steven Holl.

 

   

One sad story is that I didn't get to see the full power of the cantilever at the Boston Art Museum. When I finally arrived at the computer room hanging off of it, it was already dark and all you could see was the reflection of the macs :-(

Last but not least, why don't we have service stations instead of gas stations in Chicago? That was the best treat! You don't have to get out of your warm car - someone puts in gas for you. Thank you Boston.