Monthly Archives: October 2021

Mary Campbell Gallagher: RIP

Posted on October 29, 2021 by David Brussat

I was saddened to hear of the passage on Monday, after a year-long illness, of Mary Campbell Gallagher, a leader in the fight against skyscrapers and other modernist architecture in Paris. Mary was best known for her work as liaison … Continue reading →

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

First, kill all the leaf blowers

Posted on October 25, 2021 by David Brussat

Reminiscent of Shakespeare’s line about lawyers, the New York Times used that headline to introduce a guest column, published today, against leaf blowers. ‘Tis the season, right? It does not specify whether we should kill leaf blowers or just the … Continue reading →

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

Your “average life altitude”

Posted on October 21, 2021 by David Brussat

Several days ago I was chatting with a friend and the topic of past residences came up. I recalled a column I’d written in January 2009 for the Providence Journal in which I’d unveiled what I called my “average life … Continue reading →

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

Up Fifth Avenue in early ’30s

Posted on October 17, 2021 by David Brussat

Stumbled upon this delightfully informative, well-paced, almost soporific film of Fifth Avenue, taken from the rear window of a motorcar (if they still used that word in the 1930s), at a steady pace except for stops at traffic lights. You’ll … Continue reading →

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

Two visions of New York City

Posted on October 13, 2021 by David Brussat

Two recent panels held by the Empire Station Coalition discussed rebuilding Penn Station in its original 1910 design and growing opposition to former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Empire Station Complex, which would clog the area around Penn Station with glass-box skyscrapers. … Continue reading →

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

“Symphony of a Great City”

Posted on October 9, 2021 by David Brussat

This video of Berlin made in 1927 – halfway between World War I and World War II – by German filmmaker Walter Ruttman, takes viewers through a day in the life of the metropolis, from morning to noon to night. … Continue reading →

Posted in Old Video, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Blake on Corbu’s “furniture”

Posted on October 4, 2021 by David Brussat

Peter Blake, modernist architect, critic and (eventually) apostate, writes about “functional” modernist furniture in his book Le Corbusier: Architecture and Form (1960), which I’m reading as a sort of launching pad to his book Form Follows Fiasco (the best book … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art and design, Interior Design | Tagged , , , , | 11 Comments