Monthly Archives: March 2014

Is beauty conservative?

Posted on March 30, 2014 by David Brussat

No. Certainly not in the political sense. Beauty, by which I mean architectural beauty in traditional and classical design, is as alluring to liberals as it is to conservatives. Because political conservatives have been more skeptical of modern architecture and … Continue reading →

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Blast past: Deep skinny on Parcel 9

Posted on March 29, 2014 by David Brussat

Here is a column I wrote in 1999 about a year after the design for Parcel 9 was denounced  by Mayor Vincent A. “Buddy” Cianci Jr. This predates any notion that GTECH would turn a sad situation into a continuing … Continue reading →

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Among the Tudors

Posted on March 29, 2014 by David Brussat

My oldest and dearest friend from growing up in D.C. recently urged me most vociferously to read Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall, published in 2009. It is the story of the years leading up to Henry VIII’s battle with Rome over … Continue reading →

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A new stage for Emerson College

Posted on March 29, 2014 by David Brussat

I spent a year in Boston at Emerson College in 1973-74 when it was still on Beacon Street. After I left Boston I heard that Emerson was planning to move out to the suburbs, or rather to Lawrence, Mass. Then, … Continue reading →

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(Repost) Waterplace wig-out

Posted on March 29, 2014 by David Brussat

A couple more examples of initial design proposals for buildings in Waterplace Park should suffice to nail down the veracity of the idea that a perverse hand was directing the Capital Center Commission and its design review panel in the … Continue reading →

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My alma mater

Posted on March 28, 2014 by David Brussat

Guess. More tomorrow.

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(Repost) Waterplace wig-out

Posted on March 28, 2014 by David Brussat

A couple more examples of initial design proposals for buildings in Waterplace Park should suffice to nail down the veracity of the idea that a perverse hand was directing the Capital Center Commission and its design review panel in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Providence, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

More best lost buildings

Posted on March 27, 2014 by David Brussat

A correspondent regrets that my list in this morning’s column (“Providence’s 10 best lost buildings”) did not contain the Albee Theater on Westminster Street. I think he might have meant the Nickel Theater, which was demolished to make way for … Continue reading →

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Providence’s 10 best lost buildings

Posted on March 27, 2014 by David Brussat

Providence has no Penn Station, no lost building whose absence wounds deeply to this day. Union Passenger Depot, designed by Thomas Tefft and completed in 1848, was replaced by Union Station in 1898, arguably its equal in beauty. The Depot’s … Continue reading →

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Past blast: Lost house found

Posted on March 25, 2014 by David Brussat

Here, a blast from the past to whet readers’ whistles for my upcoming column listing the best lost buildings in downtown Providence. This, however, is about a lost house on College Hill, whose ghost I lived next to for six … Continue reading →

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