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Boston Globe

Drawing attention to architecture

So how to envision and present a building in that period between imagined and built? In addition, how to make a proposed building seem most attractive — to review panels and clients and the general public, too? That's where Frank M. Costantino, Copley Place, The Architects Collaborative, 1984. Courtesy of Frank M. Costantino Advertisement 'Frank M. Costantino: Visionary Projects' offers more than 70 examples of his architectural drawings and studies, variously executed in watercolor, graphite, and ink. The eminence of the firms that commissioned Costantino — they include Robert A.M. Stern, Architects; Kallman McKimmell & Wood; Cesar Pelli and Associates; The Architects Collaborative; William Rawn & Associates — attests the artist's own eminence. The show runs at the Boston Athenaeum through May 3. Costantino's long been a go-to guy for architectural firms wanting to show how a design will look. The earliest work on display dates to 1984, an aerial perspective of Copley Place. The most recent, from 2022, is of a building currently in construction, the tower going up over South Station. Costantino's work takes place during that architectural stage, which can sometimes last years, where this least immutable of arts, when finished, is at its most mutable, when proposed. His watercolors and sketches provide an appealing reminder — appealing both visually and conceptually — of how provisional a design can be before it's set in (literal) stone, or some other building material. Frank M. Costantino, exterior tree study II, Seiji Ozawa Hall, William Rawn & Associates, 1991. Courtesy of Boston Athenaeum The show has been mounted in honor of the artist having donated more than 200 of his works to the library. The Athenaeum is a suitable repository, since so much of that work relates to well-known Boston sites. Among those in the show are the Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center, a proposed renovation of the Old State House, a reimagining of the Esplanade (yes, that's a Ferris wheel), 222 Berkeley St., and Seiji Ozawa Hall. Ozawa Hall isn't in Boston, but Tanglewood qualifies as Boston on vacation. As a reminder of how provisional provisional can be, there are Costantino renderings of a project that went unbuilt, a tower at 90 Tremont St. Advertisement Frank M. Constantino, Dartmouth Street Plaza & Lagoon, watercolor study, for Esplanade 2020. J. Shields, 2011. Courtesy of Boston Athenaeum The Athenaeum's Lauren Graves has curated the show with impressive alertness to visitors. In addition to a glossary of architectural terms being displayed, magnifying glasses are available for those wishing to attend closely to small details. The art repays such attention. Constantine Manos, "The first snow of winter, Public Garden," c. 1976. © Constantine Manos/collection Boston Athenaeum Around the corner from the Costantino show are two display cases containing a total of 22 items. Those items, which include photographs, prints, a pair of statuettes, and, mostly, books, make up 'Best in Show: Dogs in the Collection at the Boston Athenaeum.' Sometimes the canine presence is hard to miss. Note the two dogs frolicking in the foreground of the late Constantine Manos's photograph 'The first snow of winter, Public Garden.' Sometimes it's easy to miss, but that makes dog discovery all the more delightful. Look closely at the photograph of the fighting men of Company H, First Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers, from the Civil War. They're not all men: 103 of them are, but there's an additional face captured by the camera. It belongs to a dog named Egypt. It would appear that paws, as well as feet, were Advertisement FRANK M. COSTANTINO: VISIONARY PROJECTS BEST IN SHOW: Dogs in the Collection at the Boston Athenaeum At Boston Athenaeum, 10½ Beacon St., through May 3 and April 26, respectively. 617-227-0270, Mark Feeney can be reached at