Category Archives: Architecture History

Nice public comfort stations

Paris always had great places to take a leak. New York’s public restrooms at Bryant Park, outside of the New York Public Library, also astonish us (today) that so much effort was made to celebrate the accomplishment of our most … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Other countries, Photography, Preservation, Providence, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Tip me over! Faster! Faster!

A proposed new megatower is planned in China’s Pearl River delta. The city is not named in either the Curbed or the Building Design & Construction articles, perhaps because the city will not exist until the building is finished. It … Continue reading

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Renovating Castle Lyndon

Here is a set of passages from William Makepeace Thackeray’s Barry Lyndon, which I am reading for the first time after seeing the movie, directed by Stanley Kubrick in a sort of cinematic slo-mo. The novel is an extended exercise … Continue reading

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Book/Film Reviews, Books and Culture, Humor, Interior Design, Preservation | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Oh, to be in, um, China!

It seems the People’s Republic of China has finally followed through on its maximum leader’s threat a year and a half ago to bar goofiness from its architecture. I penned a post, “Xi a Chinese visionary?” expressing my pleasure, or … Continue reading

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Development, Humor, Other countries, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Skyscrapers vs. sprawl?

It is conventional wisdom that cities with lots of skyscrapers, such as New York City, are an ecofriendly bulwark against sprawl. Building up, it is said, avoids the need to build out. “Sprawl” is not just suburbia because suburbia can … Continue reading

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Architecture and emotion

Architecture causes changes in the emotions and feelings of those who see it, use it, live it. Powerfully felt or hidden in the subconscious, our reaction to our environment pleases or displeases, attracts or repulses, according to rules that are … Continue reading

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Happy 14th birthday, ANN!

Today is ANN’s 14th birthday, the duoseptennial (neologism alert) anniversary of ArchitectureNewsNow.com – Kristen Richards’s glorious compendium of architectural news and opinion from around the world (at least the Anglosphere). I can think of no better way to commemorate this … Continue reading

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That Providence renaissance

Randal Edgar, deputy editor of the Providence Journal’s editorial pages, has an opinion column today in which he reveals that he is “Still waiting for that R.I. renaissance.” At first I thought he might be writing about the famous Providence … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Development, I-195 Redevelopment District, Preservation, Providence Journal, Rhode Island, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

New blog, old conversation

The following is the first post published on my new blog with Traditional Building and Period Homes magazines. These are monthly and will be posted on this blog a month following their posting at TB and PH. My second post … Continue reading

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Development, Preservation, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

“Orchestrate a Renaissance”

Composing a comeback for classical music and classical architecture is the twin purpose, or so it seems, of the Future Symphony Institute, founded in Baltimore by Andrew Balio, the principal trumpet of that city’s symphony orchestra. Its latest project is … Continue reading

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Books and Culture, Preservation, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments