Monthly Archives: April 2014

Column: The Dean and The Sportsman

Posted on April 10, 2014 by David Brussat

Word in 2012 that the Sportsman’s Inn, on Fountain Street in downtown Providence, half a block from The Journal, was to become a boutique hotel was not altogether welcome. The likelihood of a cheesy, hip-wannabe hotel with a gauche modernist … Continue reading →

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Beauty and the river

Posted on April 9, 2014 by David Brussat

This lovely photo appeared in today’s Journal, taken by staff photographer Bob Breidenbach. It shows a reflection in the Woonasquatucket River of the Waterplace Luxury Condominiums as a class of touring students strolls the riverwalk at left, passing from beneath the gently arched Exchange Street … Continue reading →

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More from “Wolf Hall”

Posted on April 8, 2014 by David Brussat

  Here’s another passage from Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall, the pageant of Anne Boleyn’s investiture as Henry VIII’s queen: And looking down on them, those other Londoners, those monsters who live in the air, the city’s uncounted population of stone … Continue reading →

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Past blast: Confusion of the design reviewers

Posted on April 8, 2014 by David Brussat

As an enticement to read Thursday’s column about the new Dean Hotel, on Fountain Street in downtown Providence, I offer a blast from the past. In 2006 the city permitted a developer to pull down the building on Fountain next … Continue reading →

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SF rejects free museum

Posted on April 6, 2014 by David Brussat

John King, the architecture critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, occasionally displays reasonable judgment, which is considerably more often than most architecture critics. But in his piece for Metropolis defending the city’s rejection of a free, $700 million museum to be … Continue reading →

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Taki’s take on New York

Posted on April 5, 2014 by David Brussat

Here is a piece from The Spectator (of Britain) by Taki, the London socialite of Greek extraction who has written the magazine’s “High Life” column since 1977. In this essay he ruminates filmographically about New York and how it has … Continue reading →

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Heritage thought experiment

Posted on April 5, 2014 by David Brussat

Alan Davies, a columnist in Melbourne, Australia, who often writes about architecture and planning issues, recently devoted an interesting column to a thought experiment: What if all the old buildings along Melbourne’s main streets – heritage buildings as they are … Continue reading →

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Column: A bit late to cry for London’s skyline

Posted on April 3, 2014 by David Brussat

It’s hard to work up much sympathy for London and its citizens, who have suddenly learned that they may expect 236 more skyscrapers on their skyline. A petition of opposition has been signed by, at last count, 70 nabobs of … Continue reading →

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Time Lapse advance alert!

Posted on April 1, 2014 by David Brussat

Sheila Lennon, Journal uber-blogger, speaks this Thursday. Details below. What is depicted in the photo above? This is a trick question because it is a trick photograph, one that I found on Tuesday afternoon rifling through the Journal photo archives … Continue reading →

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Good news for Providence!

Posted on April 1, 2014 by David Brussat

Here is great news for the city from Mayor Taveras and the Jewelry District Association! Tip o’ the cap to Lewis Dana for this timely revelation!  

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