Field Report

Thursday, May 1, 2025
South End, Boston

We recently joined David Hacin, FAIA—President and Creative Director of Hacin—on a walking tour of his South End neighborhood. As a longtime resident and architect, Hacin provided first-hand insight into the area’s evolution over the past thirty years, weaving together its historic charm and modern resurgence. From the iconic bow-front townhouses of Union Park to the energetic SoWa Art and Design District, the tour offered a rich narrative of community and transformation.

Ink Block
The tour began in the area once known as the “New York Streets,” now reimagined as Ink Block. Cleared during 1950s urban renewal and later home to the Boston Herald, the site inspired the name of the current mixed-use development. Ink Block includes condos, rentals, retail, and hospitality and serves as a connective hub between the South End, Chinatown, and South Boston through improved access, green space, and urban visibility.

SoWa
The SoWa (South of Washington) district has emerged as a creative hub, although its roots in manufacturing go back decades. Hacin highlighted the legacy of the long industrial buildings once used for instrument and finishes production—structures now home to galleries and studios. A key milestone was Laconia Lofts, a Hacin-designed project of live/work artist studios completed 25 years ago. It was Boston’s first such project since the 1940s and signaled a broader neighborhood shift.

Social Services
Community support has always been central to the South End’s identity. We visited the Pine Street Inn, Boston’s largest homeless shelter, and Project Place, a nonprofit designed by Hacin that provides job training, counseling, and employment opportunities for those experiencing homelessness.

Washington Street Redevelopment
Hacin shared personal memories of Washington Street in the 1980s—then occupied with boarded-up buildings and stray dogs—but also remembers a tight-knit, resilient community. Change began in 1987 with the removal of the elevated Orange Line and continued with the Washington Street Main Streets program in the early 2000s. Improvements included widened sidewalks, proper lighting, street trees, and the introduction of the Silver Line. Peters Park became a vital civic space, featuring the Joe Wexx Dog Recreation Space—Boston’s first official dog park, designed by Hacin.

Immigrant History
Union Park Street and the neighboring blocks were built as an upscale neighborhood in the style of London townhouses, but fortunes shifted when Back Bay became Boston’s favored address with its Parisian inspired wide boulevards and elaborate facades. The South End then became home to waves of immigrants—Lebanese, Syrian, Greek, and Jewish families—who established roots in what had become a more affordable and overlooked part of the city. Landmarks like Holy Cross Cathedral on Washington Street served these communities and still welcome families who return from the suburbs for religious celebrations and festivals.

Tremont Street
We ended our tour on Tremont Street, which Hacin describes as the heart of the South End—a commercial hub and a locus for activism and performing arts. Thanks in part to the United South End Settlements, the area has retained its diversity through the decades of transformation and gentrification. We were lucky to peek inside the Cyclorama, an event space leased to the Boston Center for the Arts for $1 for 100 years. The rotunda building was designed to showcase a panoramic painting of the Battle of Gettysburg in the late 19th century. After serving as a garage and boxing ring, it has returned to its original purpose of showcasing art. The theater complex that surrounds the Cyclorama houses the Boston Ballet, Huntington Theater, and other independent theater groups, and is supported by the Boston Center for the Arts.

Hacin’s impact on the South End spans townhouses, restaurants, historic renovations, public parks, affordable housing, and nonprofit facilities. For more than thirty years, the firm has worked hand-in-hand with the community, playing an integral role in shaping the South End’s unique blend of history, culture, and design.

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Aimee Epstein Norton, AIA
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Hacin | Architecture. Interiors. Design.