Monthly Archives: January 2019

If modernists ran the NFL

Posted on January 31, 2019 by David Brussat

To rev ourselves up for the Patriots and the Rams in the Super Bowl this weekend, here is what the game of football might be like if it were run by modernists. In “Driehaus prize goes to Culot” I noted … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Humor, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

The mods’ survival explained

Posted on January 29, 2019 by David Brussat

They cut the feedback loop. Nobody has done a better job of explaining the persistence of modern architecture than does Roger Scruton in his review of James Stevens Curl’s new book, Making Dystopia. In his review, Scruton sums up with … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Books and Culture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Driehaus Prize goes to Culot

Posted on January 27, 2019 by David Brussat

Maurice Culot, the Belgian architect and urban theorist who has won this year’s Richard H. Driehaus Prize, is described in an announcement by the University of Notre Dame as being “at the forefront of the creation of the modern traditional … Continue reading →

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

In Waterbury, a sip of Conn.

Posted on January 24, 2019 by David Brussat

Next Wednesday I’ll be visiting Waterbury, Conn., for the first time in a great many years, and even then I did not visit but passed through. For a New Englander (by choice, not by birth) I have relatively little experience … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture History, Preservation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Preservation bombshell!

Posted on January 23, 2019 by David Brussat

In a very interesting article in the February issue of East Side Monthly (not yet up on its website) about Providence Preservation Society director Brent Runyon, titled “The Preserver,” staff writer Robert Isenberg elicits from the great director this description … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Development, Preservation | Tagged , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Kansas City vs. New England

Posted on January 20, 2019 by David Brussat

Today, Kansas City, Mo., hosts the New England Patriots in their battle with the Kansas City Chiefs for the championship of the American Football Conference, at 6:40 p.m., and the right to represent the AFC (N.E. for the third time … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Preservation | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Bad trad and good trad

Posted on January 17, 2019 by David Brussat

Two articles fished from today’s indispensable ArchNewsNow.com, the thrice-weekly free compendium of anglospherical articles on architecture, edited by Kristen Richards, show the use and misuse of classical traditions on opposite sides of the world. Guess which is which, above and … Continue reading →

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

‘A future, or just history’?

Posted on January 14, 2019 by David Brussat

A Sunday Globe story, “A Future, or Just History,” about Boston caught my eye. I was arrested by the headline, whose kicker and subhead only added insult to injury: “Trapped in Time” and “No, Faneuil Hall isn’t ‘Boston’ anymore. But … Continue reading →

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

Showdown on Blackstone

Posted on January 10, 2019 by David Brussat

Next Tuesday’s 4:45 p.m. meeting of the City Plan Commission may tell whether Providence and its citizens can preserve its historical character. A developer wants to demolish the mansion, outbuildings and grounds of the Beresford-Nicholson estate on Blackstone Boulevard, and … Continue reading →

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

Box #1, Box #2 or Box #3?

Posted on January 9, 2019 by David Brussat

The headline refers to the three proposals to build on three parcels along the banks of the Providence River in the I-195 corridor. I missed the I-195 commission’s truncated meeting on this matter just before Christmas. The panel left before … Continue reading →

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