The John F. Kennedy Federal Building is a modernist government complex on the edge of Government Center, adjacent to Boston City Hall Plaza. Designed by the Bauhaus architect Walter Gropius and his firm The Architects Collaborative and completed in the mid-1960s, it consists of two towers and a lower wing arranged around the brick-paved plaza. The building houses regional offices of numerous federal agencies.
As a working federal office building rather than a tourist attraction, the JFK Building is most notable for its architecture and its place in the Government Center urban-renewal landscape that reshaped this part of Boston. Visitors interested in mid-century design can appreciate it from the plaza alongside the adjacent Boston City Hall. Because it is an active government facility, public access is limited and subject to security procedures, so verify any visit or business through official agency channels.
Good to know
- Designed by Bauhaus architect Walter Gropius and The Architects Collaborative
- A 1960s federal office complex beside Boston City Hall Plaza
- An active government building with limited public access and security screening
- Notable mainly for its mid-century modern architecture, not as a tourist site
Getting there
- Address: 15 New Sudbury Street, Boston, MA 02203 (public entrance also at 125 Cambridge Street)
- Neighborhood: Government Center / West End edge
- Nearest T: Government Center (MBTA Green and Blue Lines); Haymarket and North Station are also nearby