#Oma architecture series#

However, this wasn’t always the case. Once clam flats, the Boston Seaport became a rail yard in the late 1800s, fell into disuse after WWII, and later became notorious for its parking lots and criminal activity.ĭevelopment came slowly: a large federal court building (1999), convention center (2004), and new bus rapid transit stations (2004) all landed there, followed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro’s new ICA building (2006). Given it’s prime location-a stone’s throw from the Financial District and the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway-the site seems like a natural locus for density.

#Oma architecture series#

And while the Boston Seaport development promises a series of new public amenities, including landscape architecture by James Corner Field Operations, this concentrated growth has called attention to the resiliency and flooding challenges facing the broader Seaport District. The under-construction block includes 88 Seaport, an OMA-designed retail-and-office project that will rise 18 stories. And while the Seaport District still features its fair share of industrial buildings and surface parking, a 23-acre development situated right next to downtown Boston is sprouting new towers: around eight blocks have complete buildings, with one block under construction and nine blocks awaiting development. Courtesy WS DevelopmentĬountless cities across America have sprawling, empty waterfront sites that once hummed with factories, trucks, and trains. For Boston, it was its Seaport District-a swathe of land approximately a mile deep and long, located east of the city’s downtown. 88 Seaport will include just over 430,000 square feet of office and 60,000 square feet of retail. OMA is designing 88 Seaport, one of the many new towers planned for the Boston Seaport development.