Much of Boston’s growing Seaport District consists of land owned by the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport). The Seaport’s high real estate values and its scale of development have effectively limited certain communities from participating in the development of the City’s newest neighborhood. Simultaneously, the Seaport’s public realm has struggled to keep pace with the rapid pace of architectural expansion.
As part of an interdisciplinary team, led by Stephen Gray of Grayscale, Agency was enlisted by Massport to develop strategies to both activate the public realm and provide opportunities for entrepreneurs from disadvantaged communities to engage in this activation.
Our team’s work began with an in-depth inventory of Massport’s existing public realm including existing amenities, gaps in connectivity and program offerings – as well as outreach to potential collaborators in the community. With a broader context in place, the team selected two sites for further study. The team worked iteratively with the client and their internal team of engineers and designers to develop concept plans for both sites. One site, the street edge of the City’s fish pier, was selected for implementation in 2020. Along with Grayscale, the team includes architectural firm Lo-Tek and programming expert, Chris Wangro.
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