Category Archives: Architecture

Lost Prov to debut in Boston

Posted on February 6, 2018 by David Brussat

After a dozen or so events last fall to promote my book Lost Providence, I thought maybe I could relax and live, if not like a king then maybe a duke or earl, off my royalties. Ha ha! Those familiar … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Lost Providence | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Stern’s 250 W81st tops out

Posted on February 5, 2018 by David Brussat

Robert A. M. Stern’s latest Manhattan apartment building at 250 West 81st St., on a corner of Broadway, recently topped out. That means the top of the building’s steel structure of girders has been achieved. It is 209 feet tall, … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Development, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

When is a folly not a folly?

Posted on February 4, 2018 by David Brussat

What’s in a name? I’ve always loved a folly, but some follies are not as useless as their definition suggests. The London Times has an article about follies called “It’s not bonkers to be fond of a folly,” by Norman … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Rhode Island | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

“White tower with curves”

Posted on February 1, 2018 by David Brussat

Providence awaits its “white tower with sculptured curves.” That’s how developer Jason Fane, of New York City, now envisions his “iconic” building of 46 stories (no pics yet) as described to Providence Journal reporter Mark Reynolds in “Land sale gets … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 20 Comments

Shaping a Canal St. ethos

Posted on January 29, 2018 by David Brussat

Even as a new apartment tower arises on Canal Street, another of similar size and design, just south of it along the eastern edge of the Providence River, faces a harder slog through the city’s development process. It may be … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Development, Preservation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Modern architecture is crazy

Posted on January 28, 2018 by David Brussat

Among the most recent revelations of science in the service of architecture is that three of the most eminent founders of modern architecture suffered from mental illness. Le Corbusier was on the autism spectrum while Walter Gropius and Ludwig Mies … Continue reading →

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Two attacks on the East Side

Posted on January 27, 2018 by David Brussat

These two really ugly new buildings on Providence’s storied East Side reveal a thoughtlessness and lack of consideration on the part of two highly respected private schools. People walking or driving by Moses Brown or the Lincoln School must wonder … Continue reading →

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Don’t maul the Mall, cont.

Posted on January 26, 2018 by David Brussat

The good news out of Washington is that the Fine Arts Commission has expressed reservations about the latest iteration of the Bjarke Ingels Group plan to renovate the Mall near the Smithsonian’s crenelated, betowered headquarters. Good, but not good enough. … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Landscape Architecture | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Architecture’s deadly lingo

Posted on January 24, 2018 by David Brussat

The model above illustrates an invitation to a lecture at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design called “Architecture Before Speech: A Conversation.” I thought it must be a discussion of how humans built early habitation prior to the development of spoken … Continue reading →

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At last, the old state arsenal

Posted on January 23, 2018 by David Brussat

Christopher Martin, who edits the indispensable blog Quahog.org (a quahog is a clam), notes that on my Lost Providence book page I bemoaned my inability to locate a more substantial image of the arsenal attacked by Thomas Wilson Dorr at … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments