January 2022
31
Municipal Ribbon-Cutting Held for Somerville Library Somerville, MA – Somerville Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone, Ward 6 City Councilor Lance Davis, the Somerville Library trustees, architect Ben Youtz, and representatives from CTA Construction Managers recently joined members of the Somerville community for a ribboncutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of the newly renovated and restored West Branch Library.
Ben Youtz
Crews from CTA Construction Managers completed a full renovation of the existing 1909 historic landmark structure and built a new addition to the iconic Carnegie classical revival style building. DesignLab Architects, who took on the restoration project and designed the new addition, blended the restoration with
the new space. The addition houses several different community multipurpose flex spaces. The space also incorporated the city’s vision of a blended indoor/outdoor space with the inclusion of a floor-toceiling glass wall that opens directly to a landscaped multi-purpose space. “The NanaWall is a signature design feature of the new addition that is an integral component of the building envelope while providing flexibility in program use. When closed, it provides a tight enclosure, yet still allows for uninterrupted views from the new community gathering space within the building to the outdoor reading garden. When open, it allows the line between indoor and outdoor spaces to be blurred, so that a variety of events can take place that take advantage of the gracious connection between inside and out,” said Ben Youtz, lead architect on the project. “We’ve worked with CTA for almost 20 years, and this is our third public library together,” said John SayreScibona, owner’s project manager from Design Technique, Inc. “The collaborative experience with CTA, designLAB Architects, Mayor Curtatone’s office, the
West Branch Library / Photo by Anton Grassl
City Council, library staff, and the library trustees was instrumental in bringing this worthwhile and much needed civic project to fruition.” “It was a five-year planning process before construction even began, and that was before Covid hit mid-construction,”
said Rob Cassano, project manager for the City of Somerville. “We wanted and were able to deliver a space that not only preserved the historic elements of the original structure but was also fully accessible to the entire public and visually consistent with the neighborhood.”
Public Art Incorporated into Boston Apartment Community Boston – Redgate, a real estate advisory and investment firm headquartered in Boston, announced that Colombian artist, Felipe Ortiz, created a new mural outside of the 230-unit Addison apartment community in Orient Heights. Ortiz’s murals are a fusion of artistic themes representing the urban scenery from the U.S., its vast landscape, and fastpaced urban environments, in addition to Colombia’s vibrant culture, colors, sounds and dense natural scenery. In the second major artistic element of the apartment complex, Ortiz incorporated imagery of native wildlife from East Boston’s Belle Isle Marsh into the new mural. Fellow muralist and cross-medium artist, Mia Cross, previously created an interior painting which is the signature feature of Addison’s lobby. Cross is a Boston-based artist who is originally from Framingham. Her work has been featured in numerous galleries and exhibits throughout New England and New York. Redgate has also commissioned artworks for Addison by Cyrille Conan and Craig Lupien. Conan’s artwork is a two-story mural located at the main amenity space. Lupien’s mural, to be completed in the spring, will be on the side of Addison’s pool. Located at 144 Addison Street, the community is Redgate’s latest urban
apartment development along the rapidly growing Blue Line corridor between Revere and Boston. “The place we have created at Addison is very welcoming and hopefully inspiring to the artist community, and these wonderful pieces of public art reflect that idea,” said Damian Szary, a principal at Redgate. “Felipe’s mural not only has created great beauty on the exterior of our building, but it was actually designed to help make the intersection at Ashley and Boardman
safer, especially with vehicles turning into the nearby Marriott parking lot.” Addison includes a first-of-its-kind maker space on the premises for residents to create, test and launch design concepts, artworks and other projects, establish entrepreneurial ventures, and collaborate. Remote work lifestyles are also well supported with on-site co-working space, including private offices and conference rooms. Residents began occupying units in December.
“Creativity and aesthetic beauty and the pioneering drive people have to carve their own path is really built into the spirit and soul of what Redgate has created here in Orient Heights,” said Addison community manager, Ty Brieske of Greystar, the development’s property manager and leasing agency. “These fine works by Felipe and Mia as well as the art of Cyrille Conan and Craig Lupien have been front and center in the place-making at Addison.”
www.high-profile.com
