Architect and MIT lecturer Cristina Parreño Alonso will create a public art project in Hyde Square that will offer the community a place to meet and socialize. She was selected after a request for proposals and will work with the community to refine the design and further develop the project.
Cristina Parreño Alonso
Parreño Alonso has been a lecturer in The School of Architecture and Planning at MIT since 2010, according to her website. Originally from Spain, she has a masters and bachelor degree in architecture from the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid (ETSAM) where she graduated with honors.
People may recognize her work that was on display at the Rose Kennedy Greenway in 2015 as part of the Design Biennial Boston project.
http://www.cristinaparreno.com/design-biennial-boston/
Cristina Parreño Alonso's art piece that was on the Rose Kennedy Greenway in 2015.
The Hyde Square public art project is part of a larger city effort to reconstruct and enhance the intersection of Centre Street, Perkins Street, and Day Street. Part of the plan includes increased sidewalk widths, traffic and pedestrian safety improvements, new lighting and landscaping.
"The Hyde Square Public Art Project will offer the Jamaica Plain community a place to meet and socialize with their fellow neighbors," said Mayor Martin Walsh via press release. "We heard the community's desire to have a gathering space for people in the neighborhood, and I look forward to completing this project and fulfilling that wish, while also supporting talented artists in this community."
Alonso's work "revolves around connecting the built form with the existing environment, while taking into account the culture and needs of users, as well as the non-conventional use of materials that encourages user engagement."
The Public Works Department, the city's Boston Art Commission, Hyde Square Task Force, and the Hyde Jackson Square Main Street organization have collaborated to create the Hyde Square public art project.
The public art project will be implemented in conjunction with the reconstruction of Hyde Square this fall.