Monthly Archives: October 2020

Goofy new RW Park “gateway”

Posted on October 30, 2020 by David Brussat

Leafing through the November issue of Providence Monthly, I was dismayed to stumble across a short piece, “Gateway to Change,” by Elyse Major, illustrating a gaudy new portal and visitors center planned for the Broad Street entrance to the city’s … Continue reading →

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

Architecture of the picturesque

Posted on October 26, 2020 by David Brussat

Having just twitted a panel of architects for having “touched on weighty academic matters that would never enter the mind of most citizens,” I beg readers’ pardon for touching on such a matter here. Many classicists blame “the picturesque” for … Continue reading →

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Trads trash mods in new poll

Posted on October 22, 2020 by David Brussat

Now would not seem to be the moment for convergence on a major cultural issue in America. Division is everywhere. And yet a new survey by the Harris Poll, done for the National Civic Art Society, shows an overwhelming public … Continue reading →

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Today: Panel on classical EO

Posted on October 19, 2020 by David Brussat

Today at 2 p.m., a distinguished panel on the proposed White House executive order “Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again” will be held in Washington. The panel, with Justin Shubow of the National Society of Civic Art, Philip Bess of Notre … Continue reading →

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Nix the San Marco bugaboo

Posted on October 16, 2020 by David Brussat

In my last post, “Neighbors win third straight,” I described the latest zoom meeting of the Providence Historic District Commission, which deferred action for a third (actually, a fourth) straight time on proposals to relocate a historic cottage and to … Continue reading →

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Neighbors win third straight

Posted on October 11, 2020 by David Brussat

It may not yet be three strikes you’re out for the developers, but neighbors who want to preserve their little nook of history just off Benefit Street have persuaded the Providence Historic Preservation Commission that a plan to plop modern … Continue reading →

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Online drafting-tool angst

Posted on October 8, 2020 by David Brussat

This is the fourth but not necessarily the last in my brief series on the tools used in architectural drafting. I cannot imagine how artists and illustrators whose work features architecture can do it without technological assistance. Art and the … Continue reading →

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A draftsman in watercolor?

Posted on October 4, 2020 by David Brussat

My wife, Victoria, sent me a Facebook post by Mario A. Pita, a son of Cuban refugees who resides in Arlington, Va., and who enjoys posting artists’ work on their birthdays. The birthday of watercolorist James Holland (1799-1870) fell just … Continue reading →

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Before the London fire, 1666

Posted on October 1, 2020 by David Brussat

An engraver by trade, John Thomas Smith trod this earth two centuries ago (1766-1833), and was also known as “Antiquity Smith.” He etched buildings in London that had survived the Great Fire of 1666, many of which were being demolished … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture History, Art and design, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 11 Comments