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-   -   BOSTON | John Hancock Tower | 790 FT / 240 M | 60 FLOORS | 1976 (https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=164411)

plinko Feb 1, 2009 3:38 AM

BOSTON | John Hancock Tower | 790 FT / 240 M | 60 FLOORS | 1976
 
An imposing and sleek crystal slab of glass nearly 800' tall, the John Hancock Tower dominates the Back Bay skyline and the city of Boston.

Designed by Henry Cobb of PeiCobbFreed, the tower fronts the amazing H.H.Richardson Trinity Church. Cobb gave deference to the square and the church by using a parallelogram shape and placing the small axis in front.

The building, typical of the era, doesn't meet the street very well (unfortunately I don't have any photos), but as a sculptural object, it's spectacular.

During construction this tower had a number of problems. The minimal curtain wall design didn't appropriately address the wind conditions and over half of the tower's 10,000 glass panels fell out. There's a great photo in Carter Wiseman's book on Pei that shows the building shrouded in cardboard. The actual liability and details of the curtain wall issues (and who had to pay for what) were never released. A secondary issue that arose during construction was similar to the Citicorp Center in NYC, where the engineers realized the building could topple over in certain wind conditions. Even more scary, the weak axis was actually the short one! Additional bracing was added during construction to counteract this.

The building has an observation deck on the 60th floor, but I believe that the deck has been closed since 9/11.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...OWER/JH001.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...OWER/JH002.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...OWER/JH003.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...OWER/JH004.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...OWER/JH005.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...OWER/JH006.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...OWER/JH007.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...OWER/JH008.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...OWER/JH009.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...WER/JH010A.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...OWER/JH011.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...OWER/JH012.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...OWER/JH013.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...OWER/JH014.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...OWER/JH015.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...OWER/JH016.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...OWER/JH017.jpg

M II A II R II K Feb 9, 2009 5:33 PM

It looks like it could use some company in the skyline.

ardecila Feb 10, 2009 5:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by plinko (Post 4060761)
During construction this tower had a number of problems. The minimal curtain wall design didn't appropriately address the wind conditions and over half of the tower's 10,000 glass panels fell out. There's a great photo in Carter Wiseman's book on Pei that shows the building shrouded in cardboard. The actual liability and details of the curtain wall issues (and who had to pay for what) were never released.

Are you sure about this? My Architectural History professor this year was with IM Pei & Partners at the time of this incident. He wasn't involved with the project, but he claims that the builder was held responsible because Pei & Partners held a drawing which proved that the window gaskets had been installed incorrectly. I can't imagine he'd tell a bunch of students something that was supposed to be kept secret.

Jibba Feb 10, 2009 7:58 AM

Quite a pleasant building from certain angles and under certain lighting conditions, but overall I'm not very much of a fan. A slab is a slab is a slab...

plinko Feb 10, 2009 9:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardecila (Post 4078369)
Are you sure about this? My Architectural History professor this year was with IM Pei & Partners at the time of this incident. He wasn't involved with the project, but he claims that the builder was held responsible because Pei & Partners held a drawing which proved that the window gaskets had been installed incorrectly. I can't imagine he'd tell a bunch of students something that was supposed to be kept secret.

Well, it has been over 30 years, so it's quite possible that at a certain point the principals involved were no longer prohibited from talking about it.

I was merely paraphrasing Carter Wiseman's book on Pei (from 1991) and other sources I've read over the years (mostly in the early to mid-90's) that all said that the findings and liabilities were kept private.

Nonetheless...problem solved now...

BTW, who was your professor? (I'm just curious)

Serge Feb 10, 2009 11:24 PM

La Tour Montparnaston

blade_bltz Feb 13, 2009 6:21 PM

Some of you may remember that prior to 9/11, the Hancock used to have a sweet observation deck. Well, thanks to one trusty urban explorer DZH22 from archboston.com, some of that experience has been recaptured.

Check it out here:

http://www.archboston.org/community/...ead.php?t=2647

Here is one particularly creepy shot:

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/p...6/IMG_0237.jpg

mrnyc Mar 1, 2009 5:18 AM

wins the least worthy of a thread building award. :rolleyes:

Patrick Mar 1, 2009 7:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrnyc (Post 4116188)
wins the least worthy of a thread building award. :rolleyes:

Wins most idiotic post in this section :rolleyes:

Stu Mar 1, 2009 4:58 PM

That was a dumb comment, wasn't it? :haha:

As for the building, it has aged quite well... better than Boston's other 700+ footer.

mrnyc Mar 1, 2009 9:57 PM

of course it was dumb. thus appropriate to the building. i mean a thread on this one? really? :rolleyes: certainly its not offensive or anything, but even at best it's an unremarkable slab. well, outside of being as someone else said la tour montparnasseston. sorry bostonites, ya got better.

Patrick Mar 1, 2009 10:00 PM

^^^Same can be said about the Sears Tower? It's also plain but is the country's tallest building. But I love this building, I hope they do reopen the observation floor, the views are amazing!

scalziand Mar 2, 2009 4:09 AM

Wow, I didn't know they gutted the observation deck when it was closed. That deck was the first one I actually visited.

TANGELD_SLC Mar 2, 2009 7:36 AM

I think this building DOES deserve it's own thread! It's beautiful, simple, has aged magnificently and still looks sharp! :yes:

It's just too bad the observation deck is closed. What's the reason for them not re-opening it?

bosmausasky Apr 3, 2009 1:17 AM

From what I have heard and read its possible several parties shared responsibilty for replacement of glass panels. Believe Hancock wanted the large windows but was told its not possible and they wanted it done anyway.

The windows still break regularly(although now they stay in place), nobody knows exactly why many say its just imperfections in the glass.

One could argue that the Hancock is actually 62 or 63 stories. I believe the 2nd floor is actually titled "mezzanine" but only has a few offices on it. The 7th and 8th are mechanical and there are 2 stories of mechanical space above the old 60th floor observation deck

arlekin_m Apr 3, 2009 1:23 AM

Gorgeous slab.

MolsonExport Apr 3, 2009 12:50 PM

Last time I was in Boston, I went to the top of the Prudential tower (whenever I visit a new city, I always go to the highest obs deck, if there is one). I wondered why the Pru deck remained open, rather than the Hancock obs.

CGII Apr 3, 2009 2:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrnyc (Post 4116994)
of course it was dumb. thus appropriate to the building. i mean a thread on this one? really? :rolleyes: certainly its not offensive or anything, but even at best it's an unremarkable slab. well, outside of being as someone else said la tour montparnasseston. sorry bostonites, ya got better.

Come back to this thread when you learn that a building's form is about 1% of the architectural formula to create a building.

JBoston Apr 4, 2009 11:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrnyc (Post 4116994)
of course it was dumb. thus appropriate to the building. i mean a thread on this one? really? :rolleyes: certainly its not offensive or anything, but even at best it's an unremarkable slab. well, outside of being as someone else said la tour montparnasseston. sorry bostonites, ya got better.

First of all we're Bostonians.

Second, this building was a first of its kind and a beautiful grand gesture that completely changed the Boston skyline and influenced all of Henry Cobb's designs thereafter. Although you probably don't care about all that since you seem to be obsessed with the building's superfluous proportions.

stormkingfan Apr 5, 2009 1:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blade_bltz (Post 4085824)
Some of you may remember that prior to 9/11, the Hancock used to have a sweet observation deck. Well, thanks to one trusty urban explorer DZH22 from archboston.com, some of that experience has been recaptured.

Check it out here:

http://www.archboston.org/community/...ead.php?t=2647

Here is one particularly creepy shot:

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/p...6/IMG_0237.jpg

Though it was a couple years ago, we were kept relatively up to date on the views from the top of 200 Clarendon St. thanks to DZH.:tup: Hell, I would have done exactly the same thing myself.

Last time I went up was 1 year before this crap (terrorist bastards) happened, so it's not like the only time I went up was 3 days after the tower opened.


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