Category Archives: Architecture

Haussmann’s urban removal

Posted on February 2, 2017 by David Brussat

Preservationists and architects should be enemies: the preservation of any old building postpones work designing a new building to replace it. Baron Haussmann’s demolition and rebuilding of much of old Paris in the third quarter of the 19th century created … Continue reading →

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

Modernist fundamentalism

Posted on February 1, 2017 by David Brussat

Soon after I posted “General Motors’ America” yesterday, I yearned for a deeper understanding of the reason why GM so avidly embraced modernist concepts of design and planning. So it was good to receive from architectural theorist Nikos Salingaros a … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

General Motors’ America

Posted on January 31, 2017 by David Brussat

How did modern architecture boot classical architecture from its control of the design and planning establishments in America so quickly? After all, it took only about 30 years from the time modernist design hit the streets and the time, about … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Elusive ‘why’ of preservation

Posted on January 29, 2017 by David Brussat

The Hotel Pennsylvania, in Manhattan, is said to be at risk of demolition again and of replacement by a building sympathetic to the current Penn Station. The old hotel, designed by McKim, Mead & White and opened in 1919, is … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Preservation | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Bobby Burns’ Edinburgh

Posted on January 28, 2017 by David Brussat

Aside from a quick nip past Scotland’s poor modernist parliament building, this video of Edinburgh focuses on the delights of the architecture of the Athens of the North. The narrator’s gentle brogue lifts the heart, even becomes a sort of … Continue reading →

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Atayants’s classical Russia

Posted on January 27, 2017 by David Brussat

The Russian classicist Maxim Atayants’s winning entry in a 2014 competition to design a new judicial quarter in St. Petersburg for the supreme court to be relocated from Moscow was, according to architectural blogger Peter Keller, revoked a year ago. … Continue reading →

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

Whoa! Driving in N.Y., 1928

Posted on January 26, 2017 by David Brussat

This video is a riot, even though I’m sure “Driving Around NYC – 1928” was mostly if not all staged. Still wild and crazy stuff, including Harold Lloyd taking Babe Ruth to Yankee Stadium. Anybody know who, just before that, … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Humor, Photography, Uncategorized, Video | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Is it art or art-I-choke?

Posted on January 25, 2017 by David Brussat

Not difficult to answer that question. The victim is the Château de Rentilly, not far from Paris. The article about this transformation is “Old French Château Gets a Shiny Modern Makeover as New Art Space,” on ifitshipits- here.com (if it’s … Continue reading →

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Joe Paolino buys a hospital

Posted on January 24, 2017 by David Brussat

A shout-out from this corner to former Mayor Joe Paolino for buying the moribund St. Joseph Hospital, on Broad Street in South Providence, as a combination – so I gather – homeless shelter and SRO hotel. I’m not sure exactly … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Development, Providence | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The 2017 Bulfinch winners

Posted on January 23, 2017 by David Brussat

The jury has spoken: Here are the winners of this year’s annual Bulfinch Awards program of the New England chapter of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art. The winners in 11 categories were selected from among 67 entries, including … Continue reading →

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