Art Adventure

Boston City Hall & Matt Damon

1. The City Hall

This week I am in Boston. Of all the places in a city filled with so much to explore, being somewhat of an architecture geek, I gladly chose to visit the Boston City Hall. I first heard about Boston’s City Hall on an episode of the design podcast 99% Invisible, and since then, it’s occupied a solid entry on my bucket list.

Boston City Hall in the distance

Following years of economic turmoil in the 1960s, the municipal government of Boston decided it was time for an undertaking that would signify the revitalization of the city. Along with other concrete buildings around Boston, construction soon began on a new city hall based on the design of Columbia professor Gerhard Kallmann and graduate student Michael McKinnell.

In 1968, as the city hall officially opened in all its brutalist glory, Bostonians were taken aback. For some, the city hall was the pinnacle of modernist architecture, receiving multiple awards and ranking among the “Greatest Buildings,” yet, for others, it was nothing more than a dark depressing eyesore. Ever since, the city hall has been embroiled in controversy, and, for its function as a government building, the debate has become inseparable from politics—its removal backed by campaigns and promises from mayoral prospects of the past, present, and no doubt future.

Boston City Hall close up

After finally having the chance to see the building in person, I was shocked by its scale and, as many would point out, the fact that five decades on, the building still looks as out of place as ever. That said, personally, I remain in the pro-city-hall camp for the building’s Le Corbusier-inspired austerity that brings about the governmental architectural style that has come to symbolize authroity and, to some extent, modern American democracy. Likewise, I also cherish its deep architectural history that has come to serve as a marker for Boston’s rebirth.

However, I speak as someone who does not have to work inside the building or even look at it. Perhaps as the tourist stop, as it was for me, the city hall is symbolic and beautiful, but if I were to have to step into the building every day, I do see how its “alienating” and “cold” aesthetics can have a negative impact on my mental health and energy. Therefore, I sympathize with those calling for its removal, and perhaps it is just this duality that makes the building as intriguing and evocative as it is today.

2. Matt Damon

Walking up to the city hall, I saw groups of people holding placards. Naturally, I thought they were protestors, yet, they also seemed overly calm and organized. Then, walking closer, I saw groups of them line up to board a bus in such a structured and mechanical manner that it left me even more puzzled and confused.

Soon, before I realized, I found myself in a group of people holding up their phones and jostling for position. Reading a notice posted nearby, I realized—I was on a real-life movie set!

A notice reminding the crowd that we may be filmed

Having visited MIT earlier in the day, the movie Good Will Hunting still occupied the back of my mind. Jokingly, I blurted out, “Is Matt Damon in this movie?” Yet, to my surprise, the people around me responded by pointing in the distance and voicing, “He’s literally there!”

And indeed, there he was—Academy Award winner Matt Damon. As someone who grew up with Jason Bourne, truly, it was a special moment. However, as much as it was surreal and amazing, Matt Damon also seemed as normal as ever: just another guy among many doing his job by delivering lines through the many takes apparently needed for this scene.

       

Mr. Damon and Mr. Affleck

At that moment stood two guys, merely ten metres apart, one a movie star and one a curious student. We could not have differed more in life experiences, yet, somehow, just by chance of physical location, I felt connected to Matt Damon, if only for a brief moment.

If not to say more about the Boston connection, besides Matt was also co-star Casey Affleck, wearing a green hoodie and seemingly gesturing at the city hall. Reading up on the news later, supposedly the filming was for a new heist movie called The Instigators (which I will be sure to watch when released).

I have been thinking of one way or another to connect this all to art, yet, the more I reflect, the more I find myself still in awe of the randomness of it all. I guess the moral of the story is: follow where your passion leads you; you never know, you might just find yourself bumping into Matt Damon.