Monthly Archives: February 2016

Slice of Camelot lost to fire

Posted on February 29, 2016 by David Brussat

Last Thursday, Newport’s famous Bellevue Avenue lost its Stoner Lodge, across from Château-sur-Mer, to a fire probably caused by an accident resulting from its ongoing extensive renovation. The lodge was sold by the daughter of socialite Noreen Drexel in 2012. … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Preservation | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Glide over St. Petersburg

Posted on February 29, 2016 by David Brussat

This astonishing video, posted on Kuriositas, of Russia’s capital under the czars is called “If You Never Wanted to Visit St. Petersburg, You Will After Watching This.” St. Petersburg recently celebrated its 300th anniversary as a city – it is … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Other countries, Photography, Urbanism and planning, Video | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Glide through Angkor Wat

Posted on February 28, 2016 by David Brussat

The website Kuriositas has a five-minute film of Angkor Wat, the Hindu-turned-Buddhist temple ruins in Cambodia. Filmmaker Tyler Fairbank, based in New York, shot the film using glidecam technology. The ruins seen in “The Temples of Angkor” and originally built … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Blast from past, Other countries, Urbanism and planning, Video | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Nice public comfort stations

Posted on February 27, 2016 by David Brussat

Paris always had great places to take a leak. New York’s public restrooms at Bryant Park, outside of the New York Public Library, also astonish us (today) that so much effort was made to celebrate the accomplishment of our most … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Other countries, Photography, Preservation, Providence, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Tip me over! Faster! Faster!

Posted on February 26, 2016 by David Brussat

A proposed new megatower is planned in China’s Pearl River delta. The city is not named in either the Curbed or the Building Design & Construction articles, perhaps because the city will not exist until the building is finished. It … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Development, Other countries, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Calatrava’s dinosaur

Posted on February 24, 2016 by David Brussat

Next week, starchitect Santiago Calatrava’s dinosaur of a transportation hub will open at Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan. The cost, mostly in federal dollars, was $4 billion for the station and its Oculus, a sculptural – or, really, sepulchral – … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Art and design, Development, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Renovating Castle Lyndon

Posted on February 23, 2016 by David Brussat

Here is a set of passages from William Makepeace Thackeray’s Barry Lyndon, which I am reading for the first time after seeing the movie, directed by Stanley Kubrick in a sort of cinematic slo-mo. The novel is an extended exercise … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Book/Film Reviews, Books and Culture, Humor, Interior Design, Preservation | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Oh, to be in, um, China!

Posted on February 22, 2016 by David Brussat

It seems the People’s Republic of China has finally followed through on its maximum leader’s threat a year and a half ago to bar goofiness from its architecture. I penned a post, “Xi a Chinese visionary?” expressing my pleasure, or … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Development, Humor, Other countries, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Skyscrapers vs. sprawl?

Posted on February 21, 2016 by David Brussat

It is conventional wisdom that cities with lots of skyscrapers, such as New York City, are an ecofriendly bulwark against sprawl. Building up, it is said, avoids the need to build out. “Sprawl” is not just suburbia because suburbia can … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Development, Preservation, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Architecture and emotion

Posted on February 20, 2016 by David Brussat

Architecture causes changes in the emotions and feelings of those who see it, use it, live it. Powerfully felt or hidden in the subconscious, our reaction to our environment pleases or displeases, attracts or repulses, according to rules that are … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments