Boston Common - Niche Media - A side of Boston that's anything but common.
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/174813
BUILDING What Charles Bulfinch started these men have continued, welding modern-day Boston, from the Back Bay to the Waterfront, into our historic landscape. BY R.S. COOK PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDY RYAN "B oston has traditionally, in terms of architecture, been led by a series of very bold thinkers," says architect David Hacin. "Charles Bulfinch and I.M. Pei and his team all looked at Boston at different periods of their growth and had a very optimistic and ambitious, forward-looking take on where the city could be going." Today, Hacin is one of the bold thinkers directing Boston's cityscape into the future. His architectural firm Hacin + Associates has designed such marvels as FP3, an award-winning development in the Fort Point district that exemplifies how chic, contemporary design can not only coexist in Bulfinch's Boston, but enhance it. Hacin's latest project is District Hall on South Boston Waterfront, a 12,000-square-foot, one-story building that will house the Boston Innovation Center. He says the $5.5 million freestanding building will be the "public library" of the Innovation District, and will allow people to experience architecture "at a human level." Indeed, Mayor Menino, the champion of the Waterfront's emerging Innovation District, applauds the building as offering a key component of social infrastructure for THE GROUNDBREAKERS Two centuries in the making, Boston's skyline is still defined by these visionary builders. CHARLES BULFINCH KNEW HIS JAIL CELL better than any other inmate before him or since. He knew every brick, every smear of mortar, every steel bar of that Massachusetts State Prison, because he had designed it himself It was the summer of 1811, and America's first native-born architect was spending the sweltering month of July behind bars for not paying a small debt. Despite designing a vast portfolio of buildings that included Faneuil Hall, Massachusetts General PHOTOGRAPHY BY HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES (BULFINCH) v up-and-coming entrepreneurs. Hacin's design sense reflects both a distinguished education—he graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University and then went on to study at Harvard Graduate School of Design—and his upbringing. Originally from Switzerland, Hacin is the son of an architect, and throughout his life he observed how Europeans interacted with their buildings, statues, and public gardens. "They understand what's important about the historic fabric of their cities," he says, "but they also think pretty boldly about making sure the next layer of architecture represents their time and is as bold and as meaningful as the architecture of the past." This perspective not only informs the work of Hacin's firm, but also his role on the Boston Civic Design Commission, a panel that's continued on page 115 Charles Bulfinch 112 BOSTONCOMMON-MAGAZINE.COM 112-119_BC_F_Men_LateFall_13.indd 112 9/16/13 6:46 PM