In the financial services capital, two insurance buildings dominate the Boston skyline. Hancock Tower and the Prudential Center are structures that demonstrate the uneven change and urban development that occurred in this city during the 19th century. Located in the back bay, these buildings work with the directionalities of their adjacent streets and the cultural history of the structures around them. The foundation of Boston was composed in such a way as to designate and organize space. This creates the tension and contrast present between the two structures. The iconography of these structures on the city is important. It represents a sense of the past as well as the utility of the built environment in a changing society. Although these structures dominate much of the skyline, they interact differently with the public. There is a physical boundary that separates features and the interactions the company can actively have with them. This essay will focus on the structural purpose as it relates to the form following function of these skyscrapers and how they each demonstrate a design aspect that characterizes Boston through a visual perspective. The Prudential Center is the second tallest structure in Boston. Located in the back bay and easily accessible by public transportation, the complex serves as a market for hundreds of boutiques and shops. This structure is a network of buildings and interior walkways that work as a unit to provide a highly interactive circulation system. This center addresses the public directly, to the extent that it guides them through the majority of connected structures. Individuals are allowed to travel throughout the center and to the middle of paper......in its vast entirety suitable for a commercial or community center. But until then, it will simply dominate the horizon as a commercial and private company. Works CitedRubin, Elihu. Insuring the city: the prudential center and the post-war urban landscape. New Haven: Yale UP, 2012. Print. Beagle, Jonathan. Boston: A Visual History. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge, 2013. Print. “Famous Properties: Boston's Iconic Skyscraper. » Journal of Property Management July-August. 2004: 8. Academic OneFile. Internet. April 29, 2014.O'Connor, Mickey. “Storm in a Bean Pot.” Architecture March 2001: 126. Academic OneFile. Internet. April 29, 2014. “Pei, IM (1917-). » Encyclopedia of World Biography. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Academic OneFile. Internet. April 29, 2014. Luberoff, David. “A better public square.” Technological review May-June 1984: 80+. Academic OneFile. Internet. April 29. 2014.