Speaking as a resident of Boston and the neighborhoods near city hall, that plaza is such a contrast from the rest of the area. Everywhere around it has shops, alleys, and interesting things to see, whereas that plaza was an endless sea of bricks. They've dressed it up better now, but it still feels more like a missed opportunity than a useful civic space.

The one nice thing about the plaza is that when protesters show up there is no questioning their sincerity. You know they're not there for the fun of it.

Think of buildings that are near universally praised for their beauty. Notre Dame, Sydney Opera House, Sagrada Familia, Empire State Building.

What do they all have in common? A sense of humanity. Why would we build a civic building that lacks that very thing?

To drag the humanity in a different direction.

Notre Dame and other great architecture is inspired by great archetypes, it's a well crafted expression of those archetypes to the extent it's possible in stone and concrete. Simply looking at it drags us closer to the ideas behind it.

But not everyone agrees with that direction. There is a large number of people who would rather take humanity in a different direction, and they build this oppressive architecture of bland geometric forms.