Monthly Archives: March 2017

Plan to goof up Prov library

Posted on March 12, 2017 by David Brussat

The 1954 Moderne addition to the Providence Public Library’s original Beaux-Arts building, completed in 1900, already has much to atone for. Not the building itself – its architects and, more, the PPL board that canceled a classical addition (below) in … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Preservation, Providence | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Oops! Wrong shot of hotel

Posted on March 11, 2017 by David Brussat

Thursday’s Providence Journal story, “Icon? Eyesore? Demolition to begin of Fogar- ty Building in downtown,” about the demise of the Fogarty Building and its replacement by a new hotel had the wrong picture of the hotel design. It shows the … Continue reading →

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Swallow up R.I., circa 1862

Posted on March 11, 2017 by David Brussat

The British writer Anthony Trollope, born in 1815, wrote over forty novels plus various nonfictional accounts, including a two-volume North America, published in 1862 and based on a nine months’ sojourn here. In 1823, his mother, Frances Trollope, wrote a … Continue reading →

Posted in Books and Culture, Rhode Island | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

TB: Ode to a Tuscan column

Posted on March 10, 2017 by David Brussat

Here is February’s post for my blog at Traditional Building, titled “Ode to a Tuscan column.” It chews on some erudite – some might say persnickety – conversation about how to transform the entablature of a Tuscan column into the … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art and design | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Arthur Ross Awards, 2017

Posted on March 9, 2017 by David Brussat

Back in 2013 I visited Chicago to attend the celebration of that year’s Driehaus Prize laureate, Thomas Beeby. Amid the festivities was a large landscape in oil that included work by all of the first ten Driehaus recipients, commissioned by … Continue reading →

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A lovely 3 minutes in Rome

Posted on March 8, 2017 by David Brussat

Here is a video of Rome, with some clips from Pisa and Vatican City, sent to me by Big Geek Daddy. Actually, they sent a video of Barcelona, but it was marred by too much focus on special effects, though … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art and design, Video | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Good ideas for 6/10, I-195

Posted on March 7, 2017 by David Brussat

Perhaps this comes too late to affect either the Route 195 corridor project (now renamed the Innovation & Design District) or the plan to rebuild the Route 6/10 connector. The former has been advanced (if you can call it that) … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Providence, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Fate of the Fane skyscrapers

Posted on March 5, 2017 by David Brussat

Got my paper this morning and was startled to read the headline “Trio of towers never stood a chance” on the front page. The story in the Providence Journal, by Kate Bramson, seemed to indicate that the project had been … Continue reading →

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City devitalization in France

Posted on March 4, 2017 by David Brussat

Towns and small cities in France have experienced in recent years something similar to what happened to towns and cities in America during the last half of the 20th century. In France they call urban renewal and suburban sprawl by … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Preservation, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

The design of the spectacle

Posted on March 3, 2017 by David Brussat

When you have a pair of glasses you like, why can’t you keep them? The optical-industrial complex has a say in the matter. Frame styles change so swiftly that getting a new pair of glasses means finding a new you. … Continue reading →

Posted in Art and design, Humor | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments