Monthly Archives: June 2021

Max building fail in Miami

Posted on June 25, 2021 by David Brussat

Aside from expressing sorrow and dismay, it is too early to say anything definitive about the beachfront building collapse in Surfside, Fla., north of Miami. The 12-story Champlain Towers condominiums opened in 1981 with 136 apartments. About half of the … Continue reading →

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

The architecture of ballet

Posted on June 20, 2021 by David Brussat

On Father’s Day we took in “Emergence,” a maskless program by Festival Ballet Providence celebrating the ongoing state of unlockingdown in which American society, at long last, finds itself. It was an excellent show. To my mind, the spare setting … Continue reading →

Posted in Art and design | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Bad language/bad buildings

Posted on June 14, 2021 by David Brussat

There is a difference between language and architecture. Language, to riff off the saying attributed to Talleyrand, aims to disguise the absence of thought; whereas architecture aims to express the thoughtlessness of fatuous design. The critic Theodore Dalrymple, a retired … Continue reading →

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

Get rid of all speed bumps

Posted on June 9, 2021 by David Brussat

I doubt that social-justice warriors are on the warpath against speed bumps. Speed bumps are a prime example of punishing the innocent for the sins of the guilty. But punishing the guilty for the sins of the guilty is rational, … Continue reading →

Posted in Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Stick by our “stuck bridge”

Posted on June 3, 2021 by David Brussat

As usual, city authorities, including Mayor Elorza, are trying to find new ways of screwing up Providence by throwing non-existent money at it. In this case, they want to take a perfectly good old 1908 bridge, stuck engagingly in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Preservation | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments