Monthly Archives: January 2018

NYC, drawn from memory

Posted on January 16, 2018 by David Brussat

Stephen Wiltshire’s remarkable ability to draw a city from memory came to my attention several years ago in a segment on 60 Minutes or some such show. A British citizen, he was diagnosed with autism at age 3, but his … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art and design | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Even Soviets hated mods!

Posted on January 14, 2018 by David Brussat

Ann Sussman, the architect/scientist whose neurobiological research has pinned down mental illness as a factor in modern architecture, sent me a video by a Russian cartoonist in 1976. It shows that even amid the official dominance of modernism under Stalin, … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Video | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

The uses of preservation

Posted on January 12, 2018 by David Brussat

“The Uses of Corruption” is an essay by Theodore Dalrymple published in the Summer 2001 issue of City Journal, the quarterly of the Manhattan Institute. Dalrymple is a British sociologist and commentator who argues that Italy is more prosperous and … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Preservation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Save Chicago’s Jackson Park

Posted on January 11, 2018 by David Brussat

The 543 acres of Chicago’s Jackson Park, site of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, are not existentially threatened by plans to slice off 22 of its acres for Barack Obama’s presidential center. However, this park was designed by Frederick Law … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Landscape Architecture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Update on Carpionato plan

Posted on January 10, 2018 by David Brussat

My intention today was to run images of both the 2013 and the 2018 proposals by the Carpionato Group for a development that was originally proposed four or five years ago. But Carpionato politely asked me to withhold the 2018 … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Development | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Today: Carpionato’s 195 plan

Posted on January 9, 2018 by David Brussat

Here is a column I wrote after the Carpionato Group had proposed a magnificent plan for a project in the Route 195 Corridor, taking up three development parcels east of the Providence River. Then the project sort of went away. … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Development | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Trads must step up game

Posted on January 8, 2018 by David Brussat

While channel hopping a couple weeks ago, just before Christmas, I landed on C-Span and discovered to my horror I was watching a live broadcast of the groundbreaking for Frank Gehry’s memorial to Frank Gehry – oops, I mean Dwight … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Try this Brutalist wallpaper!

Posted on January 7, 2018 by David Brussat

“Brutalist wallpaper brings the concrete dream to any room“! Ah, that concrete dream! I must really hand it to Kristen Richards, founder and editor of the indispensable ArchNewsNow.com. She sent me the link. “You’ll love this – not!” she writes, … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Interior Design | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

“Let’s you and him fight!”

Posted on January 5, 2018 by David Brussat

That was my first reaction to this essay by Aaron Betsky criticizing Rem Koolhaas, two icons of modernism. In “The BASEST form of architecture,” Betsky takes aim at Koolhaas’s installation (meaning a temporary gallery) in what may be the world’s … Continue reading →

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

Best snow sculpture? Maybe

Posted on January 4, 2018 by David Brussat

The one above I thought the best because of its architecture. Others on this list are perhaps better, or worse, with or without architecture. Buzzfeed’s headline: “Seriously Cool Snow Sculptures that Will Make You Want Another Storm.” Maybe. Maybe not. … Continue reading →

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