Bunker Hill Community College

Built on the site of the state prison designed by Charles Bulfinch in 1802 (demolished 1951), the Bunker Hill Community College retains somewhat of a penitentiary-like appearance in its defensive use of vertically ribbed concrete blocks and small horizontal windows. An example of the international experiment labeled the New Brutalism, the college strongly asserts control of the former industrial landscape between Charlestown and Cambridge. Despite the formidable character of its exterior, certain welcoming elements are noteworthy. The path from the subway station to nearby sections of Charlestown passes through the campus, making it an important part of the the local scene. A loose conglomeration of five separate sections, the campus is organized along a second-level pathway that lacks clarity of purpose. Despite the wish to block out the noise and chaos of the surrounding highways and industrial activities, the campus needs to connect more fully, visually and physically, with its surrounding environment. When the new North Point Development on forty-seven acres nearby in Cambridge is completed from 2008 on, the neighborhood for Bunker Hill Community College will become residential and commercial in a way that was never expected when this complex was built.