Merck Research Laboratories

January 7, 2008

Merck Research Laboratories, 33 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston

The building to the right was completed in 2004 and houses Merck Research Laboratories in Boston's Longwood Medical Area. Work here concentrates on drug development for cancer and neurodegeneration.

This building is credited with saving a nearby institution, Emmanuel College, from financial collapse. In 2000, the cash-strapped school was looking for a developer that would build on its land as a last resort. Merck swept in, and that year, signed a 75-year lease for $50 million, no strings attached. The result: the construction of the building, and the pumping of money into the historic private school. Since 1999, Emmanuel's endowment has soared from $8.6 million to $85 million. Enrollment has increased from under 500 students in 1999 to over 1700 in 2007. The school enrolled its first coed class in 2001. It is presently building a massive science center, adjacent to the Merck building, slated for completion in 2009.

In the distance is Harvard Medical School's New Research Building, which opened in 2003 and houses some of the best modern architecture on the medical campus, a large state-of-the-art cafeteria, and FitCorp gymnasium.

Museum of Fine Arts

January 6, 2008

Boston Museum of Fine Arts - European Masters Room

The William I. Koch Gallery in the MFA houses European art from 1500-1700, and is one of the MFA's grandest galleries. The original part of the MFA, which includes this room, was opened in 1909 on Huntington Avenue ("Avenue of the Arts"). The central rotunda contains murals created by John Singer Sargent, who also painted the walls of McKim, Mead, & White's Boston Public Library in Copley Square.

The museum has been expanded numerous times over the years, and the building is currently undergoing a massive expansion that will provide much more gallery space for the now-crowded museum collections.

Frog Pond, Boston Common

January 5, 2008

Boston Common - Frog Pond Ice Skating Rink

The Frog Pond is an artificial structure in the northern part of Boston Common. Originally, it was a natural, low-lying marsh in the middle of the Common. However, as early as 1848, it was artificially constructed and filled with water from Cochituate Lake near present day Natick, MA.

In the summer months, the concrete pond is filled with water to a depth of about 6 inches to a foot for use as a children's splashing pool. In the winter, as shown above, it serves on one of Boston's only outdoor skating rinks.

Mission Church from Park Drive

January 4, 2008

Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help (AKA "The Mission Church"), as seen from Park Drive in West Fenway, Boston

The Basilica shown above is only one of 34 in the United States (there are 11 of them in Rome itself). It is located on Tremont Street, in the Mission Hill section of Roxbury, Boston. Built in 1876 of Roxbury Puddingstone (the twin towers flanking the original cupola, seen in the picture, were added in 1910), the church was elevated to the title of Basilica in 1954 by Pope Pius XII during the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

This view through the barren trees was taken from Park Drive in the West Fenway neighborhood, in front of my apartment building. I have lived at this location for over 4 years, yet I have never noticed that the church was visible from my street, no doubt because it is obscured by the trees during the warmer months and that i rarely face this direction from this exact location. The church is located 0.8 miles away SSW from this location, by the way the crow flies. Standing next to the church at the Mission Hill Playground, which sits atop Mission Hill, offers one of the best views of Back Bay and Downtown Boston as far as Southie.

MBTA E Line

January 3, 2008

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Green "E" Line, Boston

One of 4 streetcar lines (the "Green Line") that converge underground in the "Downtown Subway", the E line runs from Lechmere (see 12-30-07), underground through Downtown Boston, and emerges from the tunnel along Huntington Avenue ("Avenue of the Arts") to an area of Mission Hill near Jamaica Plain. The Green Line operates trolleys that run on overhead power lines. This view was taken from the Longwood Medical stop, just north of Brigham Circle, and looks northeast towards Northeastern University. The main building of MassArt appears to the left of the photo.

This was a particularly cold evening , with heavy wind gusts and a temperature of approximately 10 degrees at the time the photo was taken.

Christian Science Mother Church

January 2, 2008

Christian Science World Headquarters "Mother Church", Boston

Founded in 1879 by Mary Baker Eddy, the Church of Christ, Scientist currently holds a worldwide membership of upwards of 400,000. The building above is the Mother Church, the headquarters of this religious sect. It was built in 1906 as a much larger addition to the original Gothic structure (1894), peeking from behind the massive domed building to the right of the photo.

In the 1970s, I.M. Pei and Associates designed an enormous plaza behind the domed church, including a reflecting pool, a colonnade, a Sunday School building, and a high-rise administration building.

The Prudential Tower (see January 1, 2008 post) appears to the right of the church in the distance.

Prudential Center

January 1, 2008

Prudential Center, Boston

A view of the 750-foot Prudential Tower from the Huntington Arcade of The Shops at Prudential Center. With its avocado and fair blue paneling, the tower is widely considered to be the ugliest building in Boston (City Hall tops the list).

The center is home to over 75 retailers, the Prudential Tower itself, the Hynes Convention Center, the Sheraton Boston Hotel, and Panda Express.

Christmas decorations hanging from the ceiling are experiencing their last days before being taken down for the season.