Paul Rudolph’s Blue Cross Blue Shield Building in Boston after completion. Photo by Joseph Molitor.

Paul Rudolph’s 1957 Blue Cross Blue Shield Building in Boston, Massachusetts will be considered for local landmark designation during an upcoming public hearing of the Landmarks Commission. The hearing follows the release by the commission of a study report about the Blue Cross/Blue Shield Building on November 20, 2023.

The report describes the building’s historical and architectural significance with the following:

The building at 133 Federal Street, colloquially known as the Blue Cross Blue Shield Building, is significant for its associations with the urban renewal movement that took place in Boston’s core downtown area in the 1950s and 1960s. It was the first new building to be erected in the Central Business District since the 1920s, and was one of the earliest buildings erected in Boston in the Brutalist style. It is one of three buildings in Boston designed by Paul Rudolph, and it is especially notable as his first tall building and an early prototype of the idiosyncratic design philosophies that would then influence the remainder of his impactful career. Its distinctive form with Y-shaped, precast-concrete piers and columns, large white quartz aggregate, and an innovative engineering and HVAC system hidden within the nonstructural columns were all a direct challenge to the glass curtain wall, and pushed the boundaries of contemporary architectural discourse. The building contributes to Boston’s collection of Brutalist architecture which transformed the city in the 1960s and 1970s, and represents the resulting shift in the design idiom of Boston and the United States from the International style to postmodernism.
The recent threats to Rudolph’s diminishing body of work, combined with the 2009 Boston Landmarks Commission’s survey update of cultural and architectural resources in Boston’s Central Business District which determined that the Blue Cross Blue Shield Building was eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, inspired the petition for designation.
This study report contains Standards and Criteria which have been prepared to guide future physical changes to the property in order to protect its integrity and character.

The report concludes with the following recommendations:

That the exterior of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Building at 133 Federal Street be designated
by the Boston Landmarks Commission as a Landmark, under Chapter 772 of the Acts of 1975,
as amended (see Section 3.4 of this report for Relationship to Criteria for Designation);
That the boundaries corresponding to Assessor’s parcel #0304206000 be adopted without
modification;
And that the Standards and Criteria recommended by the staff of the Boston Landmarks
Commission be accepted.

The study report will be discussed at a public hearing on Tuesday, December 12, 2023 at 4 p.m. Members of the public are invited to attend this hearing and provide comments.

The Paul Rudolph Institute For Modern Architecture and the Paul Rudolph Estate urge everyone to please let the City of Boston know that Paul Rudolph’s Blue Cross-Blue Shield Building should be a landmark!

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP

FIRST - READ the study report prepared by the Landmarks Commission. It documents the history of the building and its significance. It also details the options available to the Commission and the standards used to maintain the building once it is landmarked. You can download a copy of the report HERE.

SECOND - Please LEAVE FEEDBACK about the report on the Landmark Commission’s website. Comments can be anonymous and the city does take notice of the number of comments ‘for’ and ‘against’ the report. We left the following comment, for example: “This report is an excellent and thorough justification for the need to landmark Paul Rudolph's Blue Cross-Blue Shield Building. The architectural and historical significance well presented in the report demonstrate the urgent need for the building to be designated a historic landmark by the Boston Landmarks Commission.” Comments can even be something as simple as “I love this building - please protect it!” You can leave a comment about the report HERE.

THIRD - Please WRITE AN EMAIL OR LETTER urging the Landmarks Commission to designate Paul Rudolph’s Blue Cross Blue Shield Building as a local landmark to blc@boston.gov.

A sample letter is below. If you send a letter or email, please copy it to our email at office@paulrudolph.institute. You can also mail copies to our office at the following address:

The Paul Rudolph Institute For Modern Architecture
246 East 58th Street New York, NY 10022

SAMPLE LETTER

Brad Walker, Chair

Boston Landmarks Commission
20 City Hall Avenue
3rd Floor
Boston, MA 02108
Email: blc@boston.gov

Re: Landmark Designation of Paul Rudolph's Blue Cross - Blue Shield Building

Dear Chair Walker,

I write to you to support the landmark designation of Paul Rudolph’s Blue Cross-Blue Shield Building at 133 Federal Street in the Central Business District of Boston.

One of the first examples of the Brutalist style constructed in Boston, this property reflects Rudolph's ideas about modernism and his response to the increasing use of the glass curtain wall in modern architecture at the time.

I urge the Commission to consider this historic property's architectural value and its special position as one of only three structures designed by Paul Rudolph in the City of Boston.

I therefore ask that the Blue Cross-Blue Shield Building be designated a landmark so that it may be preserved and protected in perpetuity.

Thank you for your attention to this matter and for your support of landmark preservation in Boston.

Sincerely,
Name
Address

FINALLY - PLEASE attend the online public hearing. Here’s how to attend:

WHEN - TUESDAY, December 12th at 4:00 PM.
The Meeting will begin at 4:00pm, with public testimony expected to begin at 5:00pm. Please make sure you join before 5:00pm!

WHERE - This hearing will be held virtually and not in person. To participate, please use one of the following:

Zoom Link - HTTPS://ZOOM.US/J/97276068692
Phone Call - 929-436-2866 and enter meeting ID 972 7606 8692

Thank you for your support of preserving Paul Rudolph's legacy!