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| Constructing and Reconstructing the Central Artery | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
September 20 - October 18, 2001
The “Big Dig”, the world’s largest urban construction project, has been undertaken to replace an elevated highway with an underground expressway. It carries big implications for the Boston of the first half of the 21st century, just as the initial construction of the central artery was expected to—and had—a major impact on the Boston of the second half of the 20th century. Using the visual record of the years of Artery construction (1951-59) and the current reconstruction (1992-2000), the city of Boston is portrayed at two significant moments in history, a half-century a part. While the original artery was built with little fear of consequences, today’s artery re-builders are mindful of minimizing disruption, and of provisions of open space, and public facilities, transit improvements, pedestrian amenities, adjacent highways, etc. The task of reconstruction is believed to be more costly than the original building of the artery, and will prove to be more challenging to work with the consequences of that earlier decision.
This exhibition was organized by Alex Krieger, chairman of the Department of Urban Planning and Design, in collaboration with Patty Heyda, and Peter Vanderwarker.
We gratefully acknowledge the generous support of Muriel and Norman
B. Leventhal, Mapping Boston Foundation; Artery Business Commitee;
Boston Redevelopement Authority; Cashman Construction; and Anthony
Pangaro, Macomber Developement Associates.