ICA architecture

When the new Boston ICA opened last December, everyone talked about how cool it would be to come to the ICA by sea. The building is so dramatically oriented toward Boston harbor that it seemed a given that the building would look great from the water. But when I recently chugged through the harbor, I was disappointed to see that the building looks about as anonymous and dull from the water as it does if you approach it by land. And the junk on the roof looks especially distracting from this angle. All this surprised me. Despite all my griping about the building, I really figured it would look great from the sea.

Now I think the only really good view of the outside of the building is the three-quarter profile of the building, especially at night with the city skyline behind it, as in this gorgeous (official ICA) photo at left.