74

Villa Victoria

Tremont Street at Shawmut Avenue, West Dedham and West Newton streets
John Sharratt Associates, Inc., 1972–82

Villa Victoria is a rare example of true participatory architecture, where the residents of a Puerto Rican neighborhood collaborated with urban planners and architects in the building process. Backed by local church officials, the dedicated community leaders challenged the Boston Redevelopment Authority's renewal plan.

The entire complex of about six hundred units is accessible to the urban grid, yet apart from it. Immediately noticeable on West Newton Street is the modernity of the town house at a corner; its sharply pitched roof leads to tree-lined streets with a variety of house types. A monochromatic color scheme dominated by yellow, russet, and ochre is applied to the stucco, and is pleasantly offset by the brick work, the gardens, and the greenery, all set against massive apartment blocks – six-story buildings and a high-rise for the elderly. Still, the three- and four-story row houses constitute the principal design scheme. But the aggregate on the whole is so distinct – in part due to the alterations initiated by users – that it forms an entity that strikes a discordant note in the fabric of the South End. Whereas some critics praise the development as an urban village, the row houses more nearly approach suburban tracts.