Tracing Coastlines: The Architectural Legacy of Boston’s Old South Bay

Additional fee, registration required.

Follow one of Boston's former coastlines through the old South Bay to discover how successive layers of fill influenced the area's economy and built form. 

This tour will explore the architectural history of a neighborhood built atop filled tidal flats and a complex fabric of industrial buildings that rose above wharves once stretching into the sea. Many of these wharves have been converted into artist lofts and studios along with creative offices, all of which have driven the neighborhood's recent transformation. You'll also experience new housing projects that were designed thoughtfully to complement this historic character.
 

Learning Objectives

1. Examine the historic relationship between Boston's evolving coastline, active harbor areas, and built urban form.
2. Delve into the relationship between an area's historic infrastructural and ecological history and the layering of its architectural development.
3. Find out how contemporary zoning regulations, historic/landmark districts, and development review processes guide contemporary projects to be responsive to historic architectural contexts.
4. Learn strategies for contemporary housing projects to respond to historic residential contexts, from new construction to adaptive reuse and renovation.

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