The site of the Boston Massacre.

You are on the 11th floor of an office building in downtown Boston. 

If you look out the window, you can see the site of the Boston Massacre. It looks like a Stonehenge-type primal monument, an extraterrestrial landing spot: a wide circle of well-worn brass, studded with stars, enclosing a rough mosaic of cobblestones.

Primitive.

People are circling the monument in loose loops, apparently not sure what they should be looking at.

Here's the backdrop to the whole scene: the Old Massachusetts State House.

The Old Massachusetts State House

The Boston Massacre backdrop

What does this have to do with placemaking?

Getting to that ...