Monthly Archives: April 2016

My Jane Jacobs river tour

Posted on April 30, 2016 by David Brussat

Wednesday would be the 100th birthday of Jane Jacobs if she had not died in 2006. Saturday at 1 p.m. is my third tour of Providence’s new riverfront for Jane’s Walk, the international conspiracy to spread her urbanist wisdom around … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Books and Culture, Development, Landscape Architecture, Preservation, Providence, Providence Journal, Rhode Island, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Trump’s towering penis envy

Posted on April 28, 2016 by David Brussat

Trump – the Donald, that is, our president wannabe – owns several tall buildings. I will not attempt here to say how tall or how many. His website shows quite a number, but other sources make it more clear that … Continue reading →

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

Hart’s humanist architecture

Posted on April 27, 2016 by David Brussat

The Lincoln Memorial – The dignity humanity, and success of a man framed in classical virtue, reminding us of how much we’ve forgotten about building monuments. [Sketches by Albrecht Pichler] Robert Lamb Hart has sent me A New Look at … Continue reading →

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Epiphany in Stuttgart

Posted on April 26, 2016 by David Brussat

My brother, his wife Sabrina and her two sons stayed a stretch in Germany for treatment of the two sons’ Lyme disease – successful treatment, by the way. They were in Stuttgart when Tony, a noted philosopher of the mind/body/nature continuum, … Continue reading →

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Scruton, Haussmann, Syria

Posted on April 25, 2016 by David Brussat

The British philosopher and architectural theorist Roger Scruton, whose 1995 book The Classical Vernacular is one of my bibles, has recently written “Rebuilding a new Syria without the divisions” for The Times of London. Syria’s history as a French protectorate … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Book/Film Reviews, Books and Culture, Development, Other countries, Preservation, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

ICAA New England’s gala

Posted on April 24, 2016 by David Brussat

This weekend, the New England chapter of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art celebrated its ambitious new Bulfinch Awards program. For the first time we invited competition entries from across the nation for work performed in New England. This, … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Development, Landscape Architecture, Preservation, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

A modern sculptor’s lament

Posted on April 24, 2016 by David Brussat

The grassy triangular plot of land at the corner of Kennedy Plaza and Burnside Park in downtown Providence – officially Parcel 12 of Capital Center – is unofficially called Bad Sculpture Park. A hotel is going to be built there, … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Humor, Providence, Providence Journal, Rhode Island, Urbanism and planning, Video | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Fascism, modernism paired

Posted on April 21, 2016 by David Brussat

Mother’s milk flowing from her gentle soul, a good friend expressed at lunch yesterday her dismay at the fascist tendencies of modernist architect Philip Johnson. She is no fan of his buildings (there are two in Providence), but she was … Continue reading →

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The reactionary avant-garde

Posted on April 20, 2016 by David Brussat

The epitome of a contradiction in terms, the idea of a reactionary avant-garde is a most appropriate description of what the theorist Nikos Salingaros calls the “cult” of modern architecture. Charles Siegel uses the term in the title of his … Continue reading →

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Your brain on architecture

Posted on April 19, 2016 by David Brussat

Here’s another scientific study about architecture. Look through the methodology and your eyeballs may roll furiously at its conclusion that “contemplative” buildings cause contemplative activity in the brain. Showing pictures of such buildings (old and new) to a dozen architects … Continue reading →

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