Because of the city’s long history, its architecture covers a range of eras, starting with the colonial period and stretching into the modern age. From the colonial era, buildings of interest include
The Old State House 1713
The Paul Revere House 1680
www.paulreverehouse.org
From the Federalist era visit Faneuil Hall, an attraction for much more than just its remarkable architecture.
The Massachusetts State House, designed by Charles Bulfinch, is another example of this type of style.
The Copley area offers the juxtaposition of notable Victorian era buildings, Trinity Church and Boston Public Library, and two unmistakable modern buildings, the Prudential and Hancock Place. Also worth a peek and perhaps a few snapshots is the Moakley Courthouse, erected in 1995. Don't forget the Christian Science Center in the Back Bay as well as Boston's Symphony Hall.
In residential areas, architecture varies from neighborhood to neighborhood. However, Boston’s dense population has long been served by “double-deckers” and “triple-deckers,” which are two- and three-storey houses where more than one family lives. These buildings color the neighborhoods of Dorchester, South Boston and Mattapan, and images of Boston streets have been promulgated by popular movies such as Good Will Hunting and Mystic River . Jamaica Plain has an enormous variety of architecture, including a veritable catalogue of the Victorian period bounded by Centre Street from Hyde Square to the Forest Hills subway stop and the submerged rapid transit rail, the Green Line. It also contains the Loring-Greenough House at the junction of Centre and South Streets, where lived, on the eve of revolution, a Commododre Loring of the British navy, saving his skin by finding a departing ship before the arrival of those who could, justly, do him considerable harm. The house is a grand one, listed and in need of some care. It is part of something called the Tory Trail.
For the classic Boston homes you're likely to have seen on TV, be sure to walk around Back Bay and Beacon Hill, Boston's oldest residential neigborhoods. Beacon Hill is incredibly charming with grand townhouses and a few streets that are still cobblestone. Visit Louisburg Sqaure to see Beacon Hill at its best - this is the block John Kerry and other notable Bostonians call home. Back Bay offers larger buildings and wider streets, but has much of the same historical charm. Beacon Street and Commonwealth Avenue offer the grandest buildings, while Marlborough Street is quieter and Newbury Street bustles with stores. Newbury Street is a jumble of different styles, from the stately lines of the Museum of Natural History building (now Louis, Boston) to the Gothic flying buttresses of the Church of the Emmanuel. Once home to thrift shops and boarding houses, Newbury Street rose from the ashes of its former self to become the funky, eclectic shopping street it now is.
Be sure to also check out the historic South End, specifically Union Park between Tremont and Shawmut streets. It is a classic example of Boston row house architecture. You might even want to stay there; some of this townhouses have been converted into Bed and Breakfasts
More modern buildings include Harvard's visual arts building, known as the Carpenter Center, which was designed by Le Corbusier. The Bush Reisinger Museum on the same street has a beautifull addition by Gwathmy and Siegel. The Fogg Museum, designed by James Starling is also worth a visit. Before you travel out to Lincoln, MA to visit the Gropius House Gropius House, make sure you visit the MIT Campus which has quite a few architectural treasures: The Baker House by Alvar Aalto, Saarinen's Chapel, a remarkable student dorm on Vassar Street, designed by Stephen Holl and of course Frank Gehry's spectacular Stata Building.
And don't forget about the Hancock tower debacle... The Hancock Tower was designed by I.M. Pei back in the mid-seventies. Wind issues were something that the builders didn't really account for and thus, windows fell from 24 stories to the street. It was all due to the wrong glass being used in the tower - glass that could not withstand the pressure from the winds. Even now one can feel the building shift with the winds and the area at the base of the Tower is probably one of the windiest places in town. Speaking of wind, it also a well known fact that the wind currents along the Charles river have been altered by the various downtown buildings. Each new building changes the currents on the river - so watch that tack when you're sailing!
The traffic in Boston is very bad, though not as much as it used to be. Fourteen years of enduring the Central Artery-Tunnel Project - affectionately known as The Big Dig - has brought some semblance of sanity to an otherwise frightening driving experience. Begun in 1990, this ambitious project started with adding a third harbor tunnel with direct access to Logan Airport, and then submerging two decks of the Interstate highway system below ground and dismantling the 1950s era steel girders.
Best to use the metro and the efficient bus lines, which is known as "The T" People are friendly and seem to understand that they are lucky to live in such a great city.
