June 8 - 10, 2007
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Events are taking place during that weekend at five "Common Points" around Boston! Skip to events pages: |
Welcome to a celebration of our built environment—the streets, landscapes, buildings, and neighborhoods that make us distinctive. The Common Boston 07 festival provides an opportunity for all of us to engage with new places and to interact with the people who shape the city. During our tours, discussions, open buildings, and student exhibition, we invite you to take a fresh look at Boston, to understand its history and imagine its future. |
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Right-click and "Save target as..." on the thumbnails below to download the poster and tour guide: | |||
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General Schedule
Each Common Point has various events. Click on the Common Point title links to view events happening at that location. Check back soon for updates!
Friday, June 8
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Noon - 10:00PM
Government Center has been the hub of state and local government since English settlers arrived in 1630. Boston's civic life centered at the intersection of Washington and State Streets, with an open-air market and the first meeting house occupying the current location of the Old State House. The neighborhood changed considerably as a result of fires and landfill projects, and most recently and dramatically in 1958 when the city leveled the West End neighborhood and Scollay Square, to install the Charles River Park and I.M. Pei's masterplan for government buildings.
Saturday, June 9
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10:00AM - 4:00PM
Dudley Square is the meeting point for several culturally rich and diverse neighborhoods. Community engagement has led each through tough economic and social challenges while allowing them to maintain a unique identity. Dudley’s story, however, is less grounded in the past and more about the vibrant neighborhood where community members and organizations such as Nuestra Comunidad, Madison Park CDC, DSNI, Dudley Main Streets, and ACT Roxbury play active roles in shaping the built environment through restoration, redevelopment, and cultural projects.
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Noon - 10:00PM
Maverick Square is playing a key role in the evolving identity of East Boston. The T station, a major transportation hub for the community, is undergoing a massive renovation. Maverick Square is also the center of a housing boom bringing nationally-recognized affordable housing developments and new market-rate condos. This is not the first time East Boston has faced major change, however. The neighborhood was originally a collection of five islands with what is now Maverick Square sitting on Noddles Island. The last major landfill created Logan Airport, as we know it today, almost fifty years ago. Since its creation East Boston has been a gateway for families from all over the world looking to start a new life in the United States, and continues to develop and refine its resources so as to keep pace with its changing neighborhoods and vibrant population.
Sunday, June 10
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11:00AM - 3:00PM
Ashmont Station and Peabody Square are the transport and commercial centers of Dorchester's St. Mark's Area. The neighborhood's residents are actively involved in preserving and enhancing both private and community spaces. The Square's most notable architecture includes the All Saints' Episcopal Church, constructed in 1892, and the Peabody Square Clock, an official Boston Landmark recently restored and landscaped through collaborative efforts of individuals, community groups, and the City of Boston. Yet despite its very visible history the area is also going through major changes, through the redesign of Ashmont Station and Peabody Square and the addition of the six-story commercial and residential Carruth Building. Join us as we explore the public art, transit, and mixed-use projects underway in Peabody Square and take a tour of the historic housese and green spaces in the adjacent Ashmont Hill neighborhood.
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Noon - 5:00PM
Fenway is home to a unique and vibrant variety of uses. Filled in soon after the Back Bay in the mid to late 1800s, the area soon developed a mix of cultural, educational, residential and institutional components sharing close quarters. Fenway today is home to Fenway Park and the Red Sox, the music and nightclubs of Lansdowne Street, the residential areas south of lower Boylston Street, the cultural and artistic treasures of the Museum of Fine Arts and Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the passive and active green areas of the Olmsted-designed Fens parks, the renown hospitals and research institutes of the Longwood Medical Area, and educational institutions such as Northeastern University. The Fenway retains a vital mix of activity, but its future, like that of the city, depends on balancing the interests of local residents and large institutions.