Monthly Archives: April 2017

Architectural Revival on FB

Posted on April 30, 2017 by David Brussat

“In an age of ugliness, a work of beauty is an act of defiance.” I recently discovered an amazing website called Architectural Revival. It is on Facebook, and is associated with ArchitectureMMXII, which recently felt the whip of publicity when … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art and design | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

My Jane’s Walk next week

Posted on April 29, 2017 by David Brussat

Jane Jacobs’s 101st birthday is coming up on Thursday, May 4, so my Jane’s Walk tour along the Providence waterfront, starting at Crawford Street Bridge near Hemenway’s, will be on Saturday, May 6. Providence’s river walks were part of a … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

ID this painting! Is it Miami?

Posted on April 28, 2017 by David Brussat

The painting above is considered a capriccio – a drawing of an ideal but imaginary collection of buildings by themselves or within a designed rustic landscape. I ran across it the other day looking for something in my iPhoto library. … Continue reading →

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

25 million books in limbo

Posted on April 27, 2017 by David Brussat

The latest Atlantic Monthly (as it was once called) has a fascinating piece called “Torching the Modern-Day Library of Alexandria,” by James Somers. It chills me to realize that but for a judge’s diktat, 25 million books – not pages, … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Books and Culture | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Architecture into politics

Posted on April 26, 2017 by David Brussat

In his Dezeen essay “To confront populism, all architects should become classicists,” Phineas Harper suggests that the architectural profession should compromise its aesthetics and embrace classicism in order to build social housing that is often blocked by NIMBY forces when … Continue reading →

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

A tale of two PPS events

Posted on April 25, 2017 by David Brussat

Over the course of four days the Providence Preservation Society hosted two events, one about Cathedral Square, which I’ll discuss first, and the other about the Jewelry District. The first event, held at the Department of Planning and Development’s offices … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Preservation, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Corbusier on Courvoisier

Posted on April 24, 2017 by David Brussat

This hilarious Barney & Clyde cartoon was sent to me by a correspondent in Washington, Arnold Berke, a contributing editor of Preservation magazine. My reaction to the cartoon? If only! If only Le Corbusier had suffered from overindulgence in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Humor | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Christo laundry, wacko RISD

Posted on April 21, 2017 by David Brussat

The Jewelry District Association, in Providence, reports that Christo is going to cross the Providence River and line India Point Park with laundry, pegged on a giant laundry line. In my book, that crosses an important boundary, as does RISD’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art and design, Humor | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Ugly by accident or design?

Posted on April 20, 2017 by David Brussat

Christopher Woodward, the director of London’s Garden Museum, wrote “Why Are So Many New Buildings Ugly?” for its website. He had read British critic Stephen Bayley’s 2013 book Ugly: The Aesthetics of Everything, and describes an exchange Bayley had with … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art and design | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

No, not halfway to Houston

Posted on April 19, 2017 by David Brussat

Yesterday’s post, “Prov’s halfway to Houston,” generated some blowback in my own mind, especially when, later in the day, I came across two reports that lifted my heart and my hopes about Providence and its future. Maybe “halfway” to Houston … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Providence, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments