Monthly Archives: June 2015

Cellini: Pearls before duchess

Posted on June 30, 2015 by David Brussat

In the Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1572) he discusses fighting and money a lot. Designing the settings for jewelry – his craft as a goldsmith and sometime sculptor – is the topic to which, after fighting and money, he has … Continue reading →

Posted in Art and design, Books and Culture, Humor, Other countries | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Helsinki Gugg goes glug glug

Posted on June 29, 2015 by David Brussat

After all that jumping up and down, with 1,715 entries from around the world, the competition to design Guggenheim Helsinki has coughed up a winner, by Paris-based Moreau Kusunoki Architectes, of decidedly modest design, “an indistinct jumble of pavilions faced … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Art and design, Development, Other countries, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Ugly Belgian House blog!

Posted on June 28, 2015 by David Brussat

I just spent some good quality time with the Ugly Belgian Houses blog. Its originator, who self-identifies only as “@hannes_BHC,” has only this to say to explain the blog: “Because most Belgian houses suck. Even mine. Seriously. My English sucks … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Development, Humor, Other countries, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

A Pritzker for Graves?

Posted on June 27, 2015 by David Brussat

A curious piece in ArchDaily.com wonders “Why Michael Graves Should Have Won the Pritzker.” After reading it I felt so whipsawed back and forth that I had to read it again to see if it really said what I thought … Continue reading →

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Klaustoon: Pimp my Warsaw

Posted on June 27, 2015 by David Brussat

It looks like Warsaw, which during Poland’s communist era restored the beauty of central Warsaw after the wreckage left by the Nazis, is selling itself the rope with which to hang itself. Is this what Poland jettisoned communism for? At … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Development, Humor, Other countries, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

“Now that’s resiliency!”

Posted on June 25, 2015 by David Brussat

Michael Mehaffy, an architectural theorist from Portland, Ore., who often collaborates with mathematician and fellow theorist Nikos Salingaros on treatises combining issues of design with those of science, has sent a lovely photograph he just snapped yesterday of the tallest … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Other countries, Photography, Preservation | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Newport and its discontents

Posted on June 25, 2015 by David Brussat

The Providence Journal has published an AP story called “Spat over Newport’s Vanderbilt family mansion, The Breakers, gets public and nasty.” The story concerns a proposed welcome center at The Breakers, but is really about how the Preservation Society of … Continue reading →

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How to make cities better

Posted on June 25, 2015 by David Brussat

I spent the early morning hours today wondering what I could do to make cities more beautiful. Then I got up, went to my computer, and found this marvelous video of 14 minutes, “How to Make an Attractive City,” made, … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Development, Urbanism and planning, Video | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Shots of China, Bhutan

Posted on June 24, 2015 by David Brussat

Monday I was invited for a sail out of the Bristol Yacht Club with Michael Gerhardt, recently the temporary director of the Providence Athenaeum, and his friend Ken Gaus. The day was lovely and the wind was low – at … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Books and Culture, Landscape Architecture, Other countries, Photography, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

St. Florian does Parcel 12

Posted on June 23, 2015 by David Brussat

Disappointment has generally reigned over the proposal by First Bristol to erect a hotel on Parcel 12 in downtown Providence. It has neither enough traditional chops nor the unabashed modernist ugliness to emerge from the slough of suburban schlock. But … Continue reading →

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