Building preservation and brutalist architecture

Mark Pasnik and Chris Grimley are Principals at Boston’s OverUnder, a multi-disciplinary practice with expertise in architecture, urban design, graphic identity and publications. This session will specifically highlight two projects – Boston City Hall Conservation Management Plan and ArtFarm, with a focus on building preservation and brutalist architecture.

We speak with OverUnder Principals, Mark Pasnik and Chris Grimley. Mark and Chris are joining us from their Boston practice to discuss their work, in particular around the Boston City Hall Conservation Management Plan and Somerville ArtFarm.

Chris and Mark share a bit about the history behind the Boston City Hall and what it represented in the community when it first opened in the 1960s. The delve into what some of their priorities were when they started the 5-year process of creating its Conservation Management Plan. More than a decade of research went into the preservation of this space. OverUnder talk about the unique considerations that designers have to priorities when preserving landmark and heritage spaces. We find out what the role is of brutalist architectural like Boston City Hall in our modern world. We then shift gears and move onto their project ArtFarm. The ArtFarm is an incubator for the arts and a model for public open space in a developing neighbourhood, Chris and Mark go into further detail about the project. The role of urban agriculture in the space was important to the design, we go into why that is and how they prioritised sustainable site planning strategies as well.