Category Archives: Architecture

Nordstrom’s absquatulation*

Posted on October 10, 2018 by David Brussat

Providence and its renaissance will survive the departure, announced yesterday, of Nordstrom from the Providence Place mall. Many local commentators are pulling their hair out in shock and dismay. Relax. Losing Nordstrom is a gut check, but hardly fatal. It’s … Continue reading →

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Europe as museum for rich?

Posted on October 7, 2018 by David Brussat

The late Walter Laqueur, who died last week after a long career cataloguing the sins of communism, terrorism and the Holocaust, was quoted in his New York Times obituary asserting that the “possibility that Europe will become a museum or … Continue reading →

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Big vote tonight on Edge II

Posted on October 4, 2018 by David Brussat

Edge College Hill II, the follow-on to the nearly complete Edge I residential tower on Canal Street, goes before the Providence City Council today for a huge wad of city cash. Under a tax stabilization agreement (TSA) up for final … Continue reading →

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Humanities in Providence

Posted on October 3, 2018 by David Brussat

Two of my favorite buildings will host humanities events on Thursday and Friday of this week. If you are attending the silent auction sponsored by the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities tomorrow, you will see the Masonic Temple, now … Continue reading →

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Shubow to U.S. arts board

Posted on October 1, 2018 by David Brussat

In a truly exciting appointment, President Trump has placed one of the nation’s most talented advocates for beauty on the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts. Justin Shubow, who heads and will continue at the National Civic Art Society during his … Continue reading →

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Architecture’s Three Stooges

Posted on September 30, 2018 by David Brussat

Theodore Dalrymple, a British physician, psychiatrist and theorist of society, culture and design, has written a review of James Stevens Curl’s new book Making Dystopia for the New English Review. Dalrymple calls the book “essential, uncompromising, learned,” and especially devastating … Continue reading →

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MVRDV’s Seoul Moby Dick

Posted on September 26, 2018 by David Brussat

First I would like to petition for the creation of a mnemonic device for the name of the Dutch firm MVRDV. You can’t even get it right when you’re looking at it! Okay. So here’s a paragraph from Jesus Diaz’s … Continue reading →

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Science and architecture

Posted on September 24, 2018 by David Brussat

Some perverse mental hiccup recently tricked my mind into picturing the Stata Center, designed by Frank Gehry and completed in 2004 to house the science department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Woe was me, briefly, until my natural defensive … Continue reading →

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Pillar to post at the Hall

Posted on September 21, 2018 by David Brussat

Looking over two photographs of columns at the William Hall Free Library, in Cranston, R.I., where I will be speaking at 3 p.m. tomorrow (Saturday), I noticed that each has the same style of column capital, but there are notable … Continue reading →

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My talk at Hall Free Library

Posted on September 18, 2018 by David Brussat

This Saturday at 3 p.m. I will give an illustrated lecture at the William Henry Hall Free Library to celebrate the Hall library and the amalgamation, half a century ago, of six independent neighborhood libraries as the Cranston Public Library … Continue reading →

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