Strategies that could improve visitor experience and/or preserve the site

A way I would like to improve this side is to have a more useful space for this greenery. This area would work better if it had a linear space that would connect the Boston Public library to Trinity Church. The space is vacant and would be used for more opportunity to connect both buildings. 

These tree I would like to be removed and create a more define walk space that can draw people into the building. The trees don’t really serve a purpose for its location. But if they were more defined into specific areas or locations on the side it would draw more attention to the site itself and into the building. 

Summarize Site Visit

We Started our views from the Northside of Trinity Church
The first thing we seen was the Phillips Brook Memorial Statue, it space creates it a nice nodal point that brings point into that space.
Parish house and its columns that ascend upwards toward the second floor. 
We proceeded towards the facade of the building. Its bold, rough , and rusticated form contrasts the buildings around it. 
Massive masonry vaults and high decorative facade makes it appealing to most visitors. 
Chancel of the church really brings you in with the gold and heavy lighting. 
Center square space is the only area with the best natural lighting, creating it a hierarchial  space in the church. 
Chancel was highlighted with more lights which makes it completely stand out from the area around it. The lighting really draws people to the alter. 
Stain glass on the Northside allows little to no light, which enhances the center square and artificial lights
We exited the church on one of the aisles of Trinity Church, it was a dark space with only a few small light fixtures 
The basement of Trinity Church which was remodeled in the 90s, used for more common space and meeting areas. 
Most of the stone used to make the foundation of the church
Located on the east side this image is the back if Trinity Church. one can see the rusticated work throughout the building.
Exterior shot of the parish house, showings defined lines and repeating pattens through the building 
We ended back to the Northside of Trinity Church right next to Phillips Brooks statue.

Site Visit: Strategies used at site to improve visitor experience

Statue of Phillips Brooks on the north side of trinity, stands by himself and makes itself a nodal point for most viewers coming from the north side. 
Open center square, although it does not have many trees it haves a define space in which draws one into that space and you can see The Boston Public library and Trinity Church
With no trees or other structures in front of Trinity Church stand bold, strong and rusticated facade makes it stand out from the surrounding areas.
The lighting from the alter dominates the center axis and draws visitors towards the front.
Center Square brings a lot of natural light into the center. Making visitors come to the center and look around. Making viewers see the form of the building which would be arranged as a Greek Cross  

Site Visit: Details and Ornamentation

Carved stone pulpit in which the Center panel depicting Jesus into Jerusalem


Image of the organs on the Northside of Trinity Church
Three choir pews in the Chancel. Altar railing panels shows the winged lion, a symbol for Mark the evangelist.
Image of the fountain used for baptizing members into the parish
Cross hanging in the center of the Chancel, on each 4 sides of the cross there are 4 important biblical figures.
Margaret Redmond, is the only woman stained glass designer to have work represented in the church’s sanctuary. Her work includes a window on the north wall, and four smaller windows depicting the Apostles and Evangelists 
Memorial to Phillips Brooks at Trinity Church who was the Rector at the time during the construction of Trinity Church, this statue is located on the south side of the building.
Exposed stone foundation in the basement of Trinity Church
Coffered ceiling done by John LaFarge, each side of the contains an important biblical figure
Column decoration with leaves and colored in gold.

Site visit: Interior

Enter Trinity Church into the center nave, the Chancel dominates the area with the used of heavy lighting
South side image of the church, seating was used for more important figures of the church
North side stain windows and similar seating as the Southside
Center square, only source of natural light, highest point of the church
Chancel of Trinity Church, its decorative windows, images of important events in catholic history. On the Altar.
Urn flanked by peacocks and scrolling leaves

Top of the chancel,its very decorative tops and curves illuminate the space as well as the light helping it contrast from the other areas of the church
North side aisle where everyone would exit Trinity Church
Renovated space in the basement of Trinity Church for new common space
The foundation stayed in place around the area, under the floor the piles used for the foundation are not seen as they were years ago

Site visit: Approach and Exterior

Coming from the North side of Trinity Church
North side view, one can see the image of Phillips Brooks Memorial  Statue
Image of the Parish, stairs were under renovation 
North Tower with it’s rusticated facade and linear windows
Center space in the area, and across the large landscape area is the Boston Public Library 
Image taken from the landscape area towards Trinity Church
Large masonry facade with very decorative elements around it
Northside of the porch of Trinity Church
Heavy masonry columns at the entrance with its original wood door. 
South side tower similar to the north side
Back of Trinity Church, on the East side its continuous rusticated work from the front
East to North side, a covering walkway that connects the parish home to the Church
Inside the walkway of the connecting space
Image inside the walkway looking to the church, can see the decorative elements from the church and its center tower

Research: The architect and how the building fits in his/her chronology

Image of Henry Hobson Richardson
  • Henry Hobson Richardson was born on September 29, 1838 at the Priestley Plantation in St. James Parish, Louisiana. 
  • He was born into a very stable home in which his father HenryDickenson Richardson, was a cotton merchant and one of his great grandfather JosephPriestley was a philosopher and an inventor who was considered to be the discoverer of oxygen.
  •  Whilestaying in New Orleans he went on to study at Tulane University than to Harvard College atCambridge, Massachusetts. 
  • In his time in these American colleges Richardson had his interest in civil engineering, but shifted to architecture after spending some time looking at buildings in Boston.
  • Richardson later had pack his things and went to Paris in 1860, to attend the Ecole desBeaux Arts in the atelier of Louis-Jules Andra, which happened to be one of the best architectural schools around the world.
  • He was only the second U.S. citizen to attend theEcole’s architectural division.
  • Richardson’s attraction to medieval influenced his designs in most of hisbuildings. Richardson wanted to evoke a sense of firmness in which he was able to do with theuse of recurrent stone. Richardson’s specific configuration of proportion, massing, and masonrycreated a visual weight in which seem to anchor them to earth
  • 1867 Grace Episcopal Church – Medford, Massachusetts
  • 1868 Benjamin W. Crowninshield House – Boston, Massachusetts
  • 1868 H. H. Richardson House – Clifton, Staten Island, New York
  • 1868 Alexander Dallas Bache Monument – Washington, DC
  • 1868 William Dorsheimer House – Buffalo, New York
  • 1869 Brattle Square Church (now First Baptist Church) – Boston, Massachusetts
  • 1869 New York State Asylum – Buffalo, New York
  • 1871 Hampden County Courthouse – Springfield, Massachusetts
  • 1871 North Congregational Church – Springfield, Massachusetts
  • 1872 Trinity Church – Boston, Massachusetts (National Historic Landmark)
  • 1874 William Watts Sherman House – Newport, Rhode Island
  • 1875 Hayden Building – Boston, Massachusetts
  • 1875 R. and F. Cheney Building – Hartford, Connecticut 
  • 1875 New York State Capitol – Albany, New York
  • 1876 Rev. Henry Eglinton Montgomery Memorial – New York, New York
  • 1876 Winn Memorial Library – Woburn, Massachusetts
  • 1877 Oliver Ames Free Library – North Easton, Massachusetts
  • 1878 Sever Hall – Cambridge, Massachusetts
  • 1879 Oakes Ames Memorial Town Hall – North Easton, Massachusetts
  • 1879 Rectory for Trinity Church – Boston, Massachusetts

Research: History of the building and highlights to look for on site

History 

  • The famous Copley Square building is the third home to this parish. The first two were located in what is now the Downtown Crossing area of Boston.
  • After the second church was destroyed by the Great Fire of 1872, Philips Brooks moved the parish to Boston’s new Back Bay neighborhood, a recently land-filled marsh.
  • Henry Hobson Richardson was chosen as the architect in June 1872, and construction began in 1873.
  • The first building to be completed was the Chapel or the Parish House, in November 1874.
  • Construction on the new Trinity Church building was than completed in November 1876
  • In the late 1990s, under the leadership of its Rector, the Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd, the parish launched another ambitious building project. 
  • Much needed common space for programs and ministries Undercroft was created by excavating more than 13,000 square feet below the church.
  • The adjoining Parish House was renovated, and Organs were repaired.
  • At the same time, innovative, eco-sensitive new technologies were installed for the heating/cooling systems. 

Highlights 

  • Chancel – The area is a very decorative area inside the church, it really shows the work of the artiest and architect. It shows its significance in the way the lighting works in the space and choice of golden interior color. 
  • Open Square Space – The Center square is hieracialy the most important piece in the interior. Its massive size and natural lighting shows the importance of the center. It also shows the form of the Greek Cross by sectioning the different areas starting from the center.  
  • Facade- Trinity Chruch’s Facade is bold, heavy and almost grounds it to the area. The use of heavy masonry and stone work makes the building different from the more modern look of the surrounding buildings. It’s rusticated facade continues through the exterior of the building, creating repeating patterns and important spaces. 

Website and other digital research

Trinity Church

For my research on Trinity Church I found a couple of online articles on Jstor and another book to find most information of the building and the architect. Dating back to his life and history. Some of the articles talked about the design aspects of the building and its form. 

  •  https://www.trinitychurchboston.org/art-and-architecture
  • “The floor plan of the church approximates a Greek Cross, with near equal legs projecting out from the center which sits below the grand tower.”
  • “The property on which Trinity stands along, with the rest of the Back Bay area, as it is a landfill.”
  • Three American Architects, Richardson, Sullivan and Wright By James F. O’Gorman
  • “He was born into a very stable home in which his father HenryDickenson Richardson, was a cotton merchant and one of his great grandfather JosephPriestley was a philosopher and an inventor who was considered to be the discoverer ofoxygen.” (O’Gorman). “As Richardson grew older he moved to Julia Row, New Orleans in ahouse made of red brick which was designed by an architect who was very known for his worksin the United States Custom House in New Orleans, Alexander T. Wood. Richardson.”
  • Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects. New York, The Free Press, 1982.
  • Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects stated that,”Richardson’s disciplined training in France gave him four important attributes: a supremededication to architecture; a disciplined and highly professional method of design; a keen awareness of the critical function of planning and its corollary, and the three-dimensionalgeometry of the building itself; and a passion for masonry construction