Category Archives: Architecture History

Brown attacks College Hill

Four excellent old houses disappeared, poof!, from the Brown campus in recent weeks. In “New campus for Brown engineering?” I protested their proposed demise in a column in 2014. Now the design for what is to replace them has been … Continue reading

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Henry Hope Reed at 100

Henry Hope Reed died three years short of his 100th year. He was born in 1915, but the fact that I overlooked his 100th birthday on Sept. 25 doesn’t mean it cannot be celebrated in a sufficiently timely manner today. … Continue reading

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“Imitation and Innovation”

Robert Adam has an essay in a volume of Architectural Design published in 1988 on the topic of “Imitation and Innovation,” filled with what I would call architectural pornography of the most extreme pulchritude. I was sent the volume out … Continue reading

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ICAA chapter fetes 10th

A lot of water flows under a bridge, however ornate, in a decade. For the New England chapter of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art, its first ten years have seen much success, and its board, on which I … Continue reading

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London’s fate, black & white

The British photographer Lewis Bush, using the technique of double-exposure, has been shooting scenes of highrise construction in London that might (at his suggestion) bring to mind the eternal night of scenes from the film Blade Runner. He describes his … Continue reading

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A pause in Pawtucket

Last weekend we visited a lamp manufacturer who was having a sale on Victoria’s favorite lamps, by Tracy Glover. We then did the Foundry Sale at the Pawtucket Armory, next to Tolman High School. Both Tolman and the Armory inhabit … Continue reading

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Bulfinch entries due Dec. 15

Entries for the sixth annual Bulfinch Awards, sponsored by the New England chapter of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art, are due on December 15. This year’s Bulfinch program expands its ambitions, inviting participants from around the nation who … Continue reading

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Copyright your building!

A piece by Amelia Stein in the Guardian, “Does architecture need to be original,” raises some fascinating questions. She covered a symposium in New York that considered how the Architectural Works Copyright Protection Act – a 1990 amendment to U.S. … Continue reading

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Who’ll stop Branson hotel?

David Rau sent this nice photograph to the TradArch list in an email titled “Paris in New York.” He writes: A string of Second Empire buildings along Broadway in the 20s. At center is the Ace Hotel (interiors by Roman … Continue reading

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Betsky waxes nostalgic

Aaron Betsky, regular columnist of Architect, mouthpiece of the American Institute of Architects, sees, in “Starchitects: The Next Generation,” the old guard of modern architecture being muscled aside by a new guard, who are winning big commissions and beginning to … Continue reading

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