Charles Bulfinch Influence On Boston
“Boston is history, a history made of bricks and woods.” In the river of Boston’s history, just like Prometheus brought fire to lawless human-beings, Charles Bulfinch brought European taste and design to the arid land of architecture in Boston, ushering in a new era in the name of Federal Architecture.
After the revolution, as what Thomas Pemberton said, Boston was capable of great increase, as many large spaces of land still remain vacancy. Meanwhile, frequent devastating conflagrations kept the building trade busy and changed the appearance and layout with some regularity. All these situations made it possible for Charles Bulfinch to show his talent for architecture. Under such circumstances, Charles Bulfinch finished his eighteen-month …show more content…
grand tour and came back to Boston from Europe where he was just at leisure to cultivate a taste for architecture and was impressed by Adam style architecture. Such experience and his wealthy family background made him a young man with taste and fortune, and became the foundation for changing Boston’s architecture environment.
Right after in 1787 he came back from European, he tried to sketch some plans of State house and a couple of houses. And finally, in 1788 new Hollis street church became his first executed design. This congregational church with strict symmetry marked the beginning of a career—professional architects—and was the beginning of a series of Charles Bulfinch’s Federal Style opuses. Since this first design, the whole society started to regard him as a symbol of fashion and taste and his following designs had the power to represent social changes and trends. More specifically speaking, the Joseph Coolidge House designed by him in 1792, a three-story brick house with sixty feet square, indicated the movement of prosperous merchants to the West End. In 1793, he built Boston theater at the corner of Franklin street and federal street, and it is “the first professionally designed American theater designed by native architect”, and it triggered the trend of setting up theaters in Boston. One of the most famous designs of him is Tontine Crescent (built in 1793), a curve of sixteen lined three-story houses. It was acclaimed as Boston’s apex of taste and fashion, and later generations simulated this “lined together” design to construct buildings and nowadays you can find this kind of mimic on every street of Boston. While at the beginning, because this plan was so ambitious that general court refused to incorporate. With no other means, Bulfinch and his brother in law constructed it by themselves, which lead to the bankrupt of Bulfinch. This set a precedent that an architect finished a project with self-funding.
Cherishing Bulfinch’s favorable reputation and concerning good relations with Bulfinch, many notable people requested Bulfinch to build and design residences for them. The most famous people among them is definitely Harrison Gray Otis，who was both one of the wealthiest person in Boston and one of the most powerful person in the Federalist party. From 1796 to 1806, Charles Bulfinch built three houses for him. (the first one is located in the west point, while the second and third are located in the Beacon Hill neighborhood). Besides, Parkman’s the fine pair of double houses are also quite famous, which are made of Chelmsford granite. Actually, as long as you go to the Beacon Hill neighborhood, you could see a lot of Bulfinch’s designs, some of them are preserved quite well. In one word, Bulfinch changed the aesthetic taste of Bostonians and made them live in a more elegant life style.
Except his private architecture designs, Bulfinch also left his sign on Boston’s public architectures, and he is totally “a servant of Boston”.
After selected as a selectman on the Board, Bulfinch was responsible for the construction and plan of Common. During this period, Bulfinch designed and supervised the construction of India Wharf from 1802 to 1804, which later became Boston’s “headquarters of the trade with the Orient”. Meanwhile, he redesigned Faneuil hall in 1805, adding a third floor on it. That provided more space for commercial activities. He designed the plan of Common development on every single street and every block of this region. It seems like Boston Common was made by his hand. With viable city planning, more and more residents and merchants came to Common. All in all, Bulfinch had a indelible meritorious deeds for the commercial prosperity and development of Common. Let’s look beyond Boston Common, he designed Massachusetts State prison in 1803, University Hall in Harvard(during 1813 and 1814), and Massachusetts General Hospital in west point(in 1818). A lot of buildings, indeed. But when it comes to his most astonishing public opus, I have to mention Massachusetts State House (built in 1798)—a typical example of Federal style. Not only because it is the first State house in the whole America, but also for its delicate design and grandiosity. It is located in the Beacon Hill, just in front of Boston Public park. Due to Bulfinch’s request, the columns and statuaries inside were all hand-made by Italian artisans who were purposely sent to Boston for the construction of State House and even stones were purposely transported from Italy. Such elaborate and intricate ornamentations changed how Bostonians thought about aesthetic. For a period of time, there was a law that limited the heights of buildings to that of The State House. From this law, you could see that Charles Bulfinch had a unique and insurmountable position among Bostonians. I even heard
that some people at that time thought Washington as an authoritarian and regarded Bulfinch as the true saint. Under the influence of personal worship, the whole Massachusetts started a fever of Federal style. Public facilities and institutions were Federal style, personal residences were Federal style, public churches were Federal style…. Almost everything was painted with the color of Federal Style.
Bulfinch introduced Federal style into Boston and bring taste and fashion to this small town, turning it into a true urban center. But beyond all Bulfinch’s fascinating designs—they are all just materials, his spirits had more lasting influence on the architecture environment. Concerning miserable salaries, Bulfinch was usually stuck in the situation of Bankruptcy. For a such greatly talented architect, it was indeed a tragedy that he had to stretch himself extremely thin to gather fundings for constructions（and most of them are public buildings). He was even incarcerated into prison for debts for about five times. Without thinking about giving up being an architect and choosing a more profitable vocation in the prison, he still designed and sketched designs with great passion. He totally devoted himself into the construction of Boston, and was saturated in the joy of creating. The satisfaction of construction and dedication are the greatest legacy that he left in world architecture environment.
After the revolution, as what Thomas Pemberton said, Boston was capable of great increase, as many large spaces of land still remain vacancy. Meanwhile, frequent devastating conflagrations kept the building trade busy and changed the appearance and layout with some regularity. All these situations made it possible for Charles Bulfinch to show his talent for architecture. Under such circumstances, Charles Bulfinch finished his eighteen-month …show more content…
grand tour and came back to Boston from Europe where he was just at leisure to cultivate a taste for architecture and was impressed by Adam style architecture. Such experience and his wealthy family background made him a young man with taste and fortune, and became the foundation for changing Boston’s architecture environment.
Right after in 1787 he came back from European, he tried to sketch some plans of State house and a couple of houses. And finally, in 1788 new Hollis street church became his first executed design. This congregational church with strict symmetry marked the beginning of a career—professional architects—and was the beginning of a series of Charles Bulfinch’s Federal Style opuses. Since this first design, the whole society started to regard him as a symbol of fashion and taste and his following designs had the power to represent social changes and trends. More specifically speaking, the Joseph Coolidge House designed by him in 1792, a three-story brick house with sixty feet square, indicated the movement of prosperous merchants to the West End. In 1793, he built Boston theater at the corner of Franklin street and federal street, and it is “the first professionally designed American theater designed by native architect”, and it triggered the trend of setting up theaters in Boston. One of the most famous designs of him is Tontine Crescent (built in 1793), a curve of sixteen lined three-story houses. It was acclaimed as Boston’s apex of taste and fashion, and later generations simulated this “lined together” design to construct buildings and nowadays you can find this kind of mimic on every street of Boston. While at the beginning, because this plan was so ambitious that general court refused to incorporate. With no other means, Bulfinch and his brother in law constructed it by themselves, which lead to the bankrupt of Bulfinch. This set a precedent that an architect finished a project with self-funding.
Cherishing Bulfinch’s favorable reputation and concerning good relations with Bulfinch, many notable people requested Bulfinch to build and design residences for them. The most famous people among them is definitely Harrison Gray Otis，who was both one of the wealthiest person in Boston and one of the most powerful person in the Federalist party. From 1796 to 1806, Charles Bulfinch built three houses for him. (the first one is located in the west point, while the second and third are located in the Beacon Hill neighborhood). Besides, Parkman’s the fine pair of double houses are also quite famous, which are made of Chelmsford granite. Actually, as long as you go to the Beacon Hill neighborhood, you could see a lot of Bulfinch’s designs, some of them are preserved quite well. In one word, Bulfinch changed the aesthetic taste of Bostonians and made them live in a more elegant life style.
Except his private architecture designs, Bulfinch also left his sign on Boston’s public architectures, and he is totally “a servant of Boston”.
After selected as a selectman on the Board, Bulfinch was responsible for the construction and plan of Common. During this period, Bulfinch designed and supervised the construction of India Wharf from 1802 to 1804, which later became Boston’s “headquarters of the trade with the Orient”. Meanwhile, he redesigned Faneuil hall in 1805, adding a third floor on it. That provided more space for commercial activities. He designed the plan of Common development on every single street and every block of this region. It seems like Boston Common was made by his hand. With viable city planning, more and more residents and merchants came to Common. All in all, Bulfinch had a indelible meritorious deeds for the commercial prosperity and development of Common. Let’s look beyond Boston Common, he designed Massachusetts State prison in 1803, University Hall in Harvard(during 1813 and 1814), and Massachusetts General Hospital in west point(in 1818). A lot of buildings, indeed. But when it comes to his most astonishing public opus, I have to mention Massachusetts State House (built in 1798)—a typical example of Federal style. Not only because it is the first State house in the whole America, but also for its delicate design and grandiosity. It is located in the Beacon Hill, just in front of Boston Public park. Due to Bulfinch’s request, the columns and statuaries inside were all hand-made by Italian artisans who were purposely sent to Boston for the construction of State House and even stones were purposely transported from Italy. Such elaborate and intricate ornamentations changed how Bostonians thought about aesthetic. For a period of time, there was a law that limited the heights of buildings to that of The State House. From this law, you could see that Charles Bulfinch had a unique and insurmountable position among Bostonians. I even heard
that some people at that time thought Washington as an authoritarian and regarded Bulfinch as the true saint. Under the influence of personal worship, the whole Massachusetts started a fever of Federal style. Public facilities and institutions were Federal style, personal residences were Federal style, public churches were Federal style…. Almost everything was painted with the color of Federal Style.
Bulfinch introduced Federal style into Boston and bring taste and fashion to this small town, turning it into a true urban center. But beyond all Bulfinch’s fascinating designs—they are all just materials, his spirits had more lasting influence on the architecture environment. Concerning miserable salaries, Bulfinch was usually stuck in the situation of Bankruptcy. For a such greatly talented architect, it was indeed a tragedy that he had to stretch himself extremely thin to gather fundings for constructions（and most of them are public buildings). He was even incarcerated into prison for debts for about five times. Without thinking about giving up being an architect and choosing a more profitable vocation in the prison, he still designed and sketched designs with great passion. He totally devoted himself into the construction of Boston, and was saturated in the joy of creating. The satisfaction of construction and dedication are the greatest legacy that he left in world architecture environment.