Harries/Heder Public Art - 300 Summer Street

300 Summer Street Artists' Community Building

Lightsconce by Entry

Location:	Boston, Ma
Client:	Fort Point Arts Community
Project:	Artist Live/Work Studio Building (Lajos Héder Architect) and steel plate sculptures covering sidewalk, vestibule, ramp, rails, light sconces
Budget:	Building Conversion: $3,000,000 Sculpture: $50,000
Funded by:	Building: by artists/owners Sculpture by: Riley Foundation, LEF Foundation, The Browne Fund of the City of Boston, An Anonymous Donor

300 Summer Street is the most prominently located artists' building to date in the Boston area. It is ideally placed to draw together the long established Fort Point Arts Community and other artists and art patrons of the region. It needed a presence in the city and a significant public space. We funtioned both as architect for the building conversion and as artists for the steel plate sculpture.

To mark the building, the artist/architect invented a set of entrance sculptures that signify the new life of the building without violating the historic facade. The sculptures, forming canopies, rails and light sconces were made of the steel plates that used to cover the warehouse floors in this building. The steel plates were salvaged and recycled with the rust and marks of their previous life still visible.

The Building

Steel Sculpture on Bridge

Side View of Exterior Entryway

Exterior Entryway

This 100,000 square foot, 9 story brick, concrete and steel warehouse building was converted into artists' live/work studios and art related businesses. It has become the vital center of a community of over 300 artists. It contains 47 units of Artists' live/work lofts, 9 units of art-related businesses, a coop gallery, and a restaurant.

Users: painters, photographers, mixed media artists, furniture makers, architectural model makers, framers, graphic designers, cooperative gallery, restaurant.

Key Issues: Providing a focus for the Fort Point Arts Community at a very visible and accessible location, creating a true mixed use building for the arts, cooperative ownership with limited equity to insure continuity of artist use.

Architectural Features: Historic commercial facade on Summer Street preserved, entrance marked with sculptural canopy, atrium with gallery and restaurant connecting to below street floors, adaptable standard bath/kitchen cores for studios.

Atrium

All Photos by Beckett Logan

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