US Post Office Garage

_PHYSICAL APPEARANCE_ This two-story building is trapezoidal in plan, almost totally occupying the site. The exterior walls are poured concrete on a pile foundation, scored to suggest panelization, and have streamlined curved corners. It has a steel roof frame and gypsum and concrete roof decks. A base is suggested by slightly projecting the concrete foundation around the building. Some minor deterioration and discoloration is visible, but considering the wear and tear the building must endure, it is in very good condition. Previously stark concrete in color, the building was painted bright yellow in 1983, which can withstand abuse better than a paler color.

The functional nature of the building is expressed on the exterior by window placement and the building is divided into two areas: maintenance and operations. The maintenance area for the storage and repair of vehicles is distinguished by large expanses of steel sash, wire glass windows with operable awning sections and metal louvers. The operations area for the running of the building, dispatch, and inventory control is juxtaposed by utilizing smaller areas of windows. Where the plan places the operations and smaller maintenance areas along the exterior wall, a playful composition of windows is established. A small mezzaine level in the rear adds another dialog by its need of light at an in-between level.

Three features of the garage's program add another layer of intrigue to the total composition of the building. First, the vehicle entry (located at the southeast corner on "A" Street) is defined by sweeping curves indicating the flow of traffic in and out. Gilded aluminum letters above on a thin awning are the only embellishment to the exterior. Within the curved walls are small security windows for the dispatcher and general foreman.

/ARCHITECT Gilbert Stnaley Underwood, Con. Architect STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE Grande å Volpe, Inc. - Contractor The Post Office Vehicle Maintenance Facility is located in an industrial district of South Boston on "A" Street between West First Street and Sobin Park. Manufacturing and warehouse structures, many constructed before 1900 and built of brick, predominate in this area. This building is an important landmark within its urban context by virtue of its striking design and bright yellow coloration. Although less than fifty (50) years old, this building is eligible to the National Register of Historic Places as a rare Boston-area example of the International style.

It is reminiscent of Pre-World War Il structure in Western Europe, the birth place of this style - The International style emerged during the 1920's and 1930's in Germany, Holland, France, etc. Its rallying cry was "ornament is crime." Proponents of this style viewed buildings as space enclosing envelopes. This view fits in well with the functional needs of man organizations-such as the U.S. Post Office-for interchangeable work areas. The Vehicle Maintenance Facility's scored concrete exterior simulating individual panels, and the large glass and steel sash areas are consistent with the style's design tenets based on factory fabricated components. Its emphasis on function- alism, stark simplicity, open planning and usage of mundance components (i.e.

the elevator and ramp) as visible design elements are the hallmarks of the Federal Government's move away from classical tradition to one heralding the modern machine age. Indeed, the International style presented a challenge to Ecole der Beaux Arts trained architects steeped in the Classical stylewhich had been revived during the 1890's and 1900's. This building represents the work of West Coast modernist Gilbert Stanley Underwood (no citation in Withey's Dictionary of AmericanArchitects).