Fifty years ago, the greater Boston area, an urban hub famous for its history, built some of the most dramatic modernist buildings in the country. More than any other city, Boston responded to the economic stagnation of the time by completely changing its design perspective. The Carpenter Center, Peabody Terrace, the Prudential Tower, the BU Law School tower, the D/R building, Boston City Hall, and Holyoke Center were all built within a decade and stand within five miles of each other. At the same time, the area was in the midst of a huge population shift with Boston and Cambridge losing a third of their inhabitants between 1950 and 1980. With the help of an influx of designers fleeing Europe or drawn by the universities, the Boston area made the choice to imagine a better city. This series explores the optimism of the modernist movement, the excitement behind it, and what it means today to a city that has largely forgotten the economic plight and the response to it.