This calendar lists Boston By Foot's annual Spring Lecture & Field Trip Series. This program is a requirement for new docents and is open to Boston By Foot members and the general public. Many senior guides who have already attended this lecture series come back every year to hear them again.
Guides in training must attend all lectures, discussion groups, and tours. Guides in training must also complete four written assignments of three to five pages in length, pass a final exam, and conduct a practice tour. All Boston By Foot guides lead a minimum of six 90 minute tours each season.
While there are no course requirements for auditors, each auditor is invited to participate fully in all course activities. An auditor may enroll for the entire series or a single session.
| Saturday April 12, 2008 |
10:00 am | Colonial Boston |
| Frederic C. Detwiller, AIA Preservation Planner, New England Landmarks | ||
| 1630-1776. The settling of the Shawmut Peninsula by the Puritans and their development of a successful mercantile economy produced a densely populated town of Colonial and Georgian homes, buildings and churches. Field Trip: Historic Downtown Area | ||
| Lecture meets at the Boston Architectural College, 320 Newbury Street, Boston. [map] | ||
| Saturday April 19, 2008 |
10:00 am | Federal Boston |
| David Fixler Principal, Einhorn Yaffee Prescott, Architecture & Engineering | ||
| 1785-1820. Charles Bulfinch emerges as the architectural leader of the Federal style with important contributions such as the Massachusetts State House, the Tontine Crescent and the Colonnade. Beacon Hill develops as a neighborhood for the affluent featuring many of Bulfinch's works and that of his followers. Field Trip: Beacon Hill | ||
| Lecture meets at the Boston Architectural College, 320 Newbury Street, Boston. [map] | ||
| Saturday April 26, 2008 |
10:00 am | Victorian Boston |
| Edward W. Gordon President, New England Chapter of the Victorian Society in America | ||
| 1850-1900. With great influence from Paris, the Back Bay land-making project enables the wealthy moving up from the South End to build large mansions as well as providing great structures for art, learning and worship. The Victorian period ushers in a variety of architectural styles featuring the works of H.H. Richardson, C.F. McKim, and Cummings & Sears. Field Trip: Copley Square and Back Bay | ||
| Lecture meets at the Boston Architectural College, 320 Newbury Street, Boston. [map] | ||
| Saturday May 3, 2008 |
10:00 am | Contemporary Boston |
| Polly Flansburgh, Hon. BSA/AIA President, Boston By Foot, Inc. | ||
| Albert Anthony Tappé, FAIA Principal, Tappé Associates, Inc. | ||
| 1900-present. Follow the progression of 20th and 21st century architecture through the modern and post-modern office buildings, government buildings, condos, skyscrapers, convention centers and hotels of Boston. Field Trip: Government Center & the financial district | ||
| Lecture meets at the Boston Architectural College, 320 Newbury Street, Boston. [map] | ||
| Saturday May 10, 2008 |
10:00 am | Subterranean Boston |
| James Lambrechts, PE Assistant Professor, Wentworth Institute of Technology | ||
| Under the city is a dense network of pipes, conduits, sewers and tunnels that serve the utility and transportation needs of a growing city. In 1987, Boston began the largest public works project in U.S. history to submerge an aging elevated highway amidst existing roads, structures, subways, railroads, utilities, businesses and homes, and in the process transformed the downtown landscape into a shining example of 21st century urban renewal. Field Trip: the Big Dig, Kennedy Greenway and downtown infrastructure | ||
| Lecture meets at the New England College of Optometry, 424 Beacon Street, Boston. [map] | ||
| Saturday May 17, 2008 |
10:00 am | Final Footwork |
| For guides-in-training. Written exam followed by a demonstration tour. | ||
| Lecture meets at the New Old South Church, 645 Boylston Street, Boston. [map] | ||