John Hancock - A Century of Self-reflection - Boston Architecture

by Julia Springer

Title

John Hancock - A Century of Self-reflection - Boston Architecture

Artist

Julia Springer

Medium

Photograph - Digitally Enhanced Photograph

Description

Julia Springer
John Hancock - A Century of Self-reflection - Boston Architecture

Reflections on Bostonian architecture old and new! With Trinity Church providing the foreground, this "virtual" building is the 495 foot, 36-story Berkeley Building, or "old" John Hancock Building reflected in the simple, blue-tinted glass of the "new" John Hancock Tower.
Trinity Church is the oldest of this trio of buildings, consecrated in 1877.
The Berkeley Building was completed in 1947, and is known for its weather beacon at the summit, which emits light patterns to broadcast weather forecasts:
Steady blue, clear view
Flashing blue, clouds due
Steady red, storms ahead
Flashing red, snow instead.
Flashing red is also used during baseball season to notify fans when a Red Sox game is cancelled due to weather conditions. When the Red Sox won the World Series, in 2004, the lights flashed red and blue and an extra stanza was added to the poem: Flashing blue and red, when The Curse of the Bambino is Dead!
Its successor, the new John Hancock Tower, was completed in 1976. Located on the corner of Copley Square, in Boston's Back Bay district, the new John Hancock Tower is the tallest building in Boston, its 60 floors rising some 790 feet into the sky. Two 300-ton weights were installed on the 58th floor to act as a damper to combat motion sickness experienced by workers in the upper floors, yet still it was determined that the building might be unstable in certain winds, and steel bracing had to be added. An observation deck at the top of the building was closed after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 in 2001.
Beyond the Berkeley Building one can also see ongoing construction, bringing our architectural history tour - spanning more than a century - to the current day.

This image would look stunning gracing the walls of a downtown office building and also makes a perfect card or gift for any Bostonian, for an aspiring architect, or for a lover of the history of design!

This image was post-processed using Topaz photoFXlab, Adjust, Detail, and B&W Effects to enhance the details of this architectural history tour.

Uploaded

January 2nd, 2013

Statistics

Viewed 1,234 Times  -  Last Visitor from Cambridge, MA on 04/23/2024 at 8:37 AM

Colors

Embed

Share

Sales Sheet

Tags