03 · Boston Chinatown Civic Center
Sculpture
Located in Boston's Chinatown, "Sculpture" is a civic center designed to blur the line between landscape, public art, and architecture. The design challenges conventional boundaries by peeling its roof up from the ground, creating a walkable plaza above and a flexible community hall below. This single sculptural gesture invites the public to climb, gather, and occupy the architecture—transforming the building into a continuous urban surface.
- Location
- 109–153 Lincoln Street, Boston, MA
- Year
- Spring 2024
- Role
- Individual Work
- Instructor
- Angela Pang, Harvard GSD
Urban Threshold & Site Strategy
Located at a key threshold between Chinatown, the Financial District, and South Station, the site is shaped by a curved subterranean tunnel that disrupts the surrounding rectilinear geometry and informs the building’s flowing interior and sculptural roof. Acting as an urban hinge, the project connects emerging greenways and surrounding neighborhoods through continuous movement, landscape, and public space.
Spatial Sequence & Circulation
A daylight-filled public atrium anchors the main entrance and serves as the central gathering space, while more focused programs contract inward to create privacy for workshops and meetings. A mezzanine overlooks the atrium to strengthen vertical connections, while a secondary rear entrance provides a quieter circulation route.
Formal Logic & Sectional Qualities
A continuous roof plane folds up from the ground to define both shelter and public space, with its curvature carefully calibrated for occupation and deep daylight penetration. Subdued, textured materials reinforce tactility and human scale, allowing the architecture to feel grounded rather than monumental.
"Sculpture" offers a new model for civic architecture—one that dissolves the division between art, ground, and building.