Material
The structural design is made up of composite beams and girders supporting steel deck and concrete topping slab on a steel frame. The 25-story superstructure is founded on 6-foot (1.8 m) thick foundation mat bearing on clay. The 6-story low-rise is founded on spread footings, hold down piles (tension piles) and 24-inch (610 mm) pressure slab designed to resist a hydrostatic head of approximately 25 feet (7.6 m). The parking garage is made up of slurry wall construction.
The building's distinctive design includes carved rose granite cladding with two-story windows, a vaulted copper roof line, and strong exterior column detailing. The design, by John Burgee Architects with Philip Johnson as Design Consultant, also includes a main building entrance through a courtyard, framed on each side by two symmetrical wings, each faced with soaring columns.
Read more about this topic: 500 Boylston Street
Famous quotes containing the word material:
“When science is learned in love, and its powers are wielded by love, they will appear the supplements and continuations of the material creation.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“We have imagined ourselves a special creation, set apart from other humans. In the last twentieth century, we see that our poverty is as absolute as that of the poorest nations. We have attempted to deny the human condition in our quest for power after power. It would be well for us to rejoin the human race, to accept our essential poverty as a gift, and to share our material wealth with those in need.”
—Robert Neelly Bellah (20th century)
“Any so-called material thing that you want is merely a symbol: you want it not for itself, but because it will content your spirit for the moment.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)