Category Archives: Architecture

Film of foreign cities, c. 1920

Posted on January 15, 2015 by David Brussat

Here is an amazing series of clips filmed around 1920, apparently during the travels of a U.S. Navy fleet to various port and other cities around the world. When the sailors get out of the way (as they do quite … Continue reading →

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Survey: Your preferred row

Posted on January 15, 2015 by David Brussat

Matthew Johnson, writing in ArchDaily of the furor aroused by the recent Bingler/Pedersen oped in the New York Times, the response by Aaron Betsky as mouthpiece of the American Institute of Architects, and the tart wrap-up of the brouhaha by … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Development, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Brewer rocks in Fayetteville

Posted on January 13, 2015 by David Brussat

Gary Brewer of RAMSA designed a beautiful new wing for an old academic building, the Honors College (imagine that!) at the University of Arkansas, in Fayetteville a while back and I am remiss to have allowed readers to wait so … Continue reading →

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Milwaukee ex-mayor on 195

Posted on January 13, 2015 by David Brussat

I am gratified to post the comment of former Milwaukee Mayor John Norquist, who revitalized the city’s downtown in the 1990s before spending a decade, I think, as president of the Congress for the New Urbanism. Responding to my post … Continue reading →

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By the book on the 195 land

Posted on January 13, 2015 by David Brussat

The front page of the Providence Journal today shows an architect with a pasteboard rendering of the new student housing he has proposed for the Route 195 Redevelopment District. It could have been swiped right from the 195 commission’s Toolkit … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Development, Preservation, Providence, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Providence’s ‘renaissance’

Posted on January 12, 2015 by David Brussat

The scalawag bugbear of an agitator Mary Ann Sorrentino on Sunday deplored downtown Providence in her Journal oped, “Walking through our moribund ‘renaissance’ city.” She describes strolling through town describing its former delights to her granddaughter. You can see the … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Development, Preservation, Providence, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Film of Charleston in 1934

Posted on January 12, 2015 by David Brussat

Here is a film of Charleston, S.C., taken three years after the city passed its landmark preservation law, first of its kind in the world. Its streets today are much more as they were then than in the recently posted … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Old Video, Preservation, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

News on teaching beauty

Posted on January 9, 2015 by David Brussat

The American College of the Building Arts, in Charleston, S.C., has announced it will be moving from an historic jail in that city to an old trolley barn. The ACBA instructs students and pros in the almost lost arts, crafts … Continue reading →

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Kismet, but not in Mecca

Posted on January 8, 2015 by David Brussat

Originally posted on Architecture Here and There:
Mecca, Saudi Arabia, in 1951. (mic.com) Poster for 1955 musical “Kismet.” (stevelensman.hubpages.com) Makkah Clock Tower Hotel. (evaser.com) Clock Tower Hotel on chart of tallest buildings. (aaviss.com) The Kaaba at Mecca. (universalfreepress.com) Mecca in…

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Nathaniel Robert Walker: Architecture and food

Posted on January 8, 2015 by David Brussat

My friend Nathaniel Walker, who got his doctorate at Brown last spring and now teaches architectural history at the College of Charleston, has contributed this essay. * * * From the Ground Up: How Architects Can Learn from the Organic and … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art and design, Humor | Tagged , , , , | 94 Comments