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Construction of the John Hancock building in
the historic Back Bay was completed in 1977. Before construction even
began, there was great concern that the 60 story tower would upset the
architectural appearance of the district, but the final result was a very
beautiful structure that added ambience to the area. Nearby buildings
reflect off the glass like a mirror, which showcases the design of older
buildings, and can be described as a prominent symbol of old and new Boston.
But this beautiful tower has an interesting history. Just
after construction began in 1973, the heavy glass windows began to fall out
of
the building during high winds. About 65 of the approximate 10,000
glass panes were smashed into the street below. The sidewalk was
actually roped off to prevent injury to pedestrians. As a temporary
repair, large pieces of plywood were placed in the resulting empty window
frames, and were quite visible from far away. The building had the
appearance of a checker board, or of a computer punch-card for those
who remember the early days of data processing.
The building was quickly nicknamed The Plywood Palace. Extensive engineering research and testing was done to determine the cause
of the failures. I believe it was eventually discovered that the solder
around the window frames was bonding too rigidly to the mirror coating on the
glass, which caused cracks and eventually the entire pane to fall out.
For many years, many Bostonians used self-deprecating humor that was
inspired by the early history of the tower. For instance, if you lived in an unimpressive
apartment located on a street beginning with "P," you would just replace the word "Plywood" with that street name. The Putnam Palace is an example of local humor that was prompted by the
original window problems in the
building.
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