Hulking opinions

Gotta give The Boston Globe credit for upholding the Journalese Law of Hulking. That’s the law that requires all parking garages to be described as hulking. In a story Jan. 24, 2019, about a planned 43 story office tower that will be the future home of State Street Corp., The Globe reports not once, but twice (in the text and a cutline), that the building will replace Boston’s “hulking” Government Center garage.

Of course, since Globe editors allow reporters to be architecture critics, the story could have said the classic Brutalist garage was designed by internationally acclaimed architect I.M.Pei, and it was such an ingenious design, envisioning its future in 60 years, that it could be dismantled easily, like Lincoln Logs or Lego blocks. Or the story could just as accurately commented that the new building, as proposed in an architect’s rendering, is just another glass tower, a hulk on steroids, as exciting as a great aunt’s kiss.

File under: Opinions as facts.

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