Category Archives: Architecture

We dodged the HQ2 bullet

Posted on April 6, 2018 by David Brussat

Providence would have been slaughtered if Amazon had decided to build its second headquarters – HQ2 – in Rhode Island and its capital city. So for the loss of 50,000 well-paid jobs and sundry other benefits, we should not blame … Continue reading →

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Carpionato’s latest 195 plan

Posted on April 4, 2018 by David Brussat

A few days ago I received, at my request, the latest iteration of plans for a large development on the east embankment of the Providence River by the Carpionato Group. The company had made a presentation of its plan to … Continue reading →

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Catesby Leigh on Penn Sta.

Posted on April 3, 2018 by David Brussat

The National Civic Art Society, in Washington, has named the critic Catesby Leigh, one of its co-founders and early board chairmen, as its research fellow for 2018-2019. This salutary honor will enable Leigh to continue studying the phenomenon of monuments, … Continue reading →

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Krier on designer hypocrisy

Posted on April 2, 2018 by David Brussat

Léon Krier, the architectural theorist and master planner of Prince Charles’s new town of Poundbury and of Guatemala’s new town of Cayala, commented on my recent blog post “Före och efter lådmodernism” (“Before and after box modernism”). Krier refers to … Continue reading →

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Nailing art at the Hammer

Posted on April 1, 2018 by David Brussat

Actors Will Ferrell and Joel McHale have helped to produce a hilarious six-minute advertising spot for the Hammer Museum, at UCLA, in which they pretend to be baffled by works of art at the museum’s latest exhibit, “Stories of Almost … Continue reading →

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Före och efter lådmodernism

Posted on March 30, 2018 by David Brussat

“Stockholm före och efter lådmodernism” – “Stockholm before and after modernism” – displays the deadly effect on the urban fabric of the Klara district of Sweden’s capital city after decades of urban renewal and modern architecture. Except for the lonely … Continue reading →

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One of Fallows’s small cities?

Posted on March 29, 2018 by David Brussat

James Fallows, a longtime writer for The Atlantic, gave the keynote address at today’s Power of Place Summit, held every couple of years by Grow Smart Rhode Island, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary. With wife Deborah, Fallows has written … Continue reading →

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James on Ruskin’s Venice

Posted on March 28, 2018 by David Brussat

In addition to narratives of place in his novels, Henry James wrote much about his personal travels, including visits to Venice, to which I’ve had the pleasure of a single blissful visit. The excerpts I’ve taken from his writing on … Continue reading →

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Mittell on Smith’s Bulfinch

Posted on March 27, 2018 by David Brussat

My old friend and former Journal colleague David A. (“D.A.”) Mittell Jr. has written an account of the Duxbury, Massachusetts, firm of Campbell Smith Architects, which won a Bulfinch in the category of residential construction under 5,000 square feet in … Continue reading →

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The 2018 Bulfinch winners

Posted on March 26, 2018 by David Brussat

Winners of the eighth annual Charles Bulfinch awards include the new residential colleges at Yale designed by Robert Stern Architects. That is the most significant project of classical architecture in America in recent years, and possibly for years to come. … Continue reading →

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