Lucy Humphreys

Boston City Hall Plaza

Harvard GSD Department of Landscape Architecture, Core I

Instructor: Jungyoon Kim

This two-and-a-half-week project was our first introduction to both grading and designing for a civic space. We began with a site that has vexed Boston for half a century: Boston City Hall Plaza. Not only is the relationship between the current plaza and Boston City Hall itself unclear, there is nearly a twenty-foot grade change to navigate from Cambridge to Congress Street.

In evaluating the current grading of City Hall Plaza, I was stuck by the vastness of the site. My primary question moving into this project was, “Can I divide the space to still accommodate larger-scale civic engagement while allowing everyday use that is more practical and accessible than the current layout of the plaza?”

To address the large difference in elevation from Cambridge to Congress street, I split the site in two, leaving the commuter boulevard from the T station directly to City Hall at a +44’ elevation. I designed the North end to slope downward in tiers, leaving the central commuter route and each alcove wheelchair accessible. The topography is designed to invite visitors into these alcove spaces, while simultaneously directing the water runoff to the most densely vegetated areas.

Approximately 25,000 people pass through the Plaza every day, so it was also extremely important to maintain convenient commuter access both to City Hall itself and through the Plaza to surrounding businesses and tourist attractions. These smaller spaces are still actually quite large, ranging from an 1,100- to 2,100-person capacity, with additional overflow on the slopes and steps. These allow for smaller-scale community events, such as concerts and rallies, or even simultaneous political gatherings. Boston is an incredibly diverse city, and I think the need to allow for many different modes of community engagement is very important. The upper area can still accommodate around 9,300 people, which as a reference point is about equal to attendance at both the Youth Climate Strike earlier this year, and the Women’s March in 2018.

The first diagram on page 8 illustrates the typical commuter patterns through and around the Plaza, (pedestrian, automotive, and subway), while highlighting average daily visitors. Faneuil Hall, for instance, just East of the Plaza, accommodates 50,000 average daily visitors. This research highlighted the need to maintain the Plaza as a commuter space. The second diagram illustrates the capacity of my proposal, compared with attendance of past events that have taken place there.