Category Archives: Architecture

Lucas villain ship to Chicago

Posted on November 5, 2014 by David Brussat

It’s hard to imagine how distant filmmaker George Lucas of Star Wars fame must be from his project for a museum displaying his collection of “narrative art.” The phrase “billions and billions and billions,” made famous by the astronomer Carl … Continue reading →

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Intruder at Gugg party

Posted on November 3, 2014 by David Brussat

On Halloween I posted a link to all 1,700-plus entries, from 77 nations, in the international design competition for a proposed Guggenheim Museum in Helsinki. I scanned reams of thumbnails, hoping to find among them one that struck me as … Continue reading →

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‘Our Vanishing Legacy’

Posted on November 2, 2014 by David Brussat

Making the revival rounds of historical organizations in New York City is a fascinating film not shown in decades. Originally released on Sept. 21, 1961, “Our Vanishing Legacy” was the first documentary promoting historic preservation in the city. This was … Continue reading →

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Spookitecture! Oh my!

Posted on October 31, 2014 by David Brussat

Today is the perfect day to post images of more than 1,700 entries for the proposed Guggenheim Helsinki museum, generated by an international competition, that have been released to the public. The exercise reminds me of a phenomenon that goes … Continue reading →

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Traditional or modernist?

Posted on October 31, 2014 by David Brussat

A reader has sent me an article called “Before and After: A Charred Wood Cottage on a $45k budget,” by Michelle Slatalla, from Issue 42 of the online journal Dark Shadows. My correspondent, who enjoys claiming that my usual modernist … Continue reading →

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Bowling trophy architecture

Posted on October 29, 2014 by David Brussat

Read “Top Seven Reasons Behind the Shanghaiing of New York (#Dubai-on-Hudson),” architect and urban designer John Massengale’s astute analysis of the linkage between Big Finance and Big Architecture. His assessment is depressing, because it looks impregnable. He uses an illustration … Continue reading →

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Potemkin justice for Russia?

Posted on October 29, 2014 by David Brussat

Far be it from me to endorse anything proposed by the regime of Vladimir Putin, but permit me to embrace the classical judicial complex to be built in St. Petersburg. As the blogger Andrew Cusack points out, the Russian architect … Continue reading →

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Hard to build unnatural park

Posted on October 28, 2014 by David Brussat

The parks committee of the Route 195 Redevelopment District Commission met yesterday afternoon to hear WaterFire generalissimo Barnaby Evans urge, late in the design process, that the western end of the proposed pedestrian bridge be raised to let the river … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Development, Landscape Architecture, Providence, Rhode Island, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

A landscape urbanism primer

Posted on October 28, 2014 by David Brussat

Architect Marc Szarkowski, responding to news that the so-called landscape urbanists are helping to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the famous British gardener Lancelot “Capability” Brown (1716-1783), offers this chart on how to design a park from the landscape-urbanist perspective. … Continue reading →

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The fickle finger of Frank

Posted on October 27, 2014 by David Brussat

The greatest architect in the world flipped the bird at a journalist last week during a press conference in Spain. He later apologized. The best photo of the event is above, from The Guardian, but the best story is by … Continue reading →

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