Copley Square

Copley Square is located in the Back Bay of Boston, an area which used to be completely covered in water has been in-filled with earth from around the city and now is one of the busiest areas in Boston. The square is bounded by Boylston Street on the north, Clarendon Street on the east, St. James Street on the south, and Dartmouth Street on the west. Our site was contained between the Hancock Tower (the tallest building in Boston) and the Trinity Church. The two act as a gate to the square from the financial district. As you gaze down St. James you can make out the BPL sticking out from behind the church, as well as the Prudential Tower and many other buildings that serve as a backdrop. All the buildings in the square were built at different times and this is quite apparent in all the different styles of architecture, the most recent being the Hancock Tower.


The Hancock Tower itself is a great piece of work. It is angled so that it is parallel with Huntington Ave. This is for a couple reasons, one being that with its slender shape it keeps from covering the whole square with its shadow, it also creates more square footage within the building. The whole building is covered with glass panels about 10 to 12 feet tall. These glass panels have the reflective quality of a mirror which allows the building to blend in more than stick out. You don't seem to notice the building as much when you are looking at the reflection of another in it. It's really something spectacular, because there are so many buildings surrounding it, there is never an instance where you don't see the reflection of one of them. This sketch shows the reflection of the Trinity Church on the Hancock Tower and the in the photo are a couple buildings from the financial district.

Commonwealth Ave.

There aren't many places in Boston where you can sit in a green space with streets flanked on each side, but down near the public garden you can find just that. It's much more elegant than it sounds. The green space splits Commonweatlh Ave in two and contains an array of trees, statues, and park benches which emit a comfortable vibe. The buildings on each side create walls which help enlose the space and the treetops come together to form a roof above your head, it's like being inside outside. Streets that intersect the avenue act as windows out toward the rest of the city, and there is a spectacular view of the city just beyond the Washington statue that greets you right when you enter the garden.


Here is a perspective sketch and photo of the greenway which splits Comm. Ave. in two.

These othe sketches and photos show how the space acts as an outdoor room. This section taken at the beginning of the avenue shows how each side of the street has tall buildings that become the walls of the space, and the axon shown depicts the intersecting streets that show views of the rest of the city.

Louisburg Square

On Tuesday September 11, my class and I met at Beacon Hill in Boston, more specifically Louisburg Square. This is a gem in the middle of Boston and is considered the heart of Beacon Hill. Here lies the beginning of Boston. One way streets, adjoining buildings, cobblestone lined streets, and a grassy square surrounded by a wrought-iron fence gives this a real 17th Century feel.

My class was to photograph and sketch what we thought were the most important parts of this area. The following were my findings.

This is a photo taken on the eastern side of the square. It shows how each housing unit is adjoined to the next. It also shows the unique architecture of these units, how each one of them bulge outward toward the green space in the middle of the square. Together they create an interesting waving motion which in turn casts shadows on the facade of the building. The act of erecting buildings adjacent to eachother is also known as "infill" which was and still is a common characteristic of Boston architecture.


Here we have a shot through the wrought-iron fence in the center of the square. Through the courtyard you can see how prominent the shadows of the trees are. The branches of the trees in the square hang over the streets and sidewalks acting as a canopy and allow for much shade on sunny days. Also in this picture is Sen. Kerry's house

Here are a couple sketches of Louisberg Squre. This first one depicts a detail of the facade of the eastern side of the square.

These other two show the landscape of the site, how its sloping down toward the river and an up close detail of an old style street lamp.