Travis 's Blog 4

Living in a very vibrant part of the city, I am constantly surrounded by famous landmarks and structures that contribute to Boston’s famous cityscape. One of the buildings that I noticed very recently, however, is one that I pass multiple times a week, yet never really stopped to take in the detail, especially in its façade. Simmons’s Main College Building is a rather large but subtle structure that houses everything from administrative services to classrooms. Lined along the walk to Fenway, this building has a great presence formed by its large stone masonry and column work. Although these columns are not structural, they clearly resemble early Greek architecture. One example that can be used is the Temple to Athena. Similar to the temple, this building’s columns give a sense of framing and order among the main entrance and its full span along the street. You will also notice that both structure’s columns have dominant capitals and vertical ribbing. But because these columns are not dominantly structural elements, I also related the Simmons building to early Egyptian architecture found in the Mortuary Complex of Zoser, where the columns are an architectural element rather then a structural support system.