Category Archives: Architecture History

Newport and its discontents

Posted on June 25, 2015 by David Brussat

The Providence Journal has published an AP story called “Spat over Newport’s Vanderbilt family mansion, The Breakers, gets public and nasty.” The story concerns a proposed welcome center at The Breakers, but is really about how the Preservation Society of … Continue reading →

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How to make cities better

Posted on June 25, 2015 by David Brussat

I spent the early morning hours today wondering what I could do to make cities more beautiful. Then I got up, went to my computer, and found this marvelous video of 14 minutes, “How to Make an Attractive City,” made, … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Development, Urbanism and planning, Video | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Shots of China, Bhutan

Posted on June 24, 2015 by David Brussat

Monday I was invited for a sail out of the Bristol Yacht Club with Michael Gerhardt, recently the temporary director of the Providence Athenaeum, and his friend Ken Gaus. The day was lovely and the wind was low – at … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Books and Culture, Landscape Architecture, Other countries, Photography, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

St. Florian does Parcel 12

Posted on June 23, 2015 by David Brussat

Disappointment has generally reigned over the proposal by First Bristol to erect a hotel on Parcel 12 in downtown Providence. It has neither enough traditional chops nor the unabashed modernist ugliness to emerge from the slough of suburban schlock. But … Continue reading →

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Modernist GMO architecture

Posted on June 21, 2015 by David Brussat

Yesterday evening I had the pleasure of appearing on WPRO’s Coalition Radio with Pat Ford and David Fisher (6 p.m. Saturdays, 630 AM and 99.5 FM). I was preceded on the air by Elizabeth Guardia of Right to Know RI, … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Books and Culture, Rhode Island | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

See Paris while it lasts

Posted on June 21, 2015 by David Brussat

Many years ago I marveled at the Art Deco building that houses La Samaritaine department store along the Seine. And I recall eating at the café behind the giant letters on top. That end of the building will survive, at … Continue reading →

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Flemish “park” on Bellevue

Posted on June 16, 2015 by David Brussat

I was invited by Arthur Mark, chairman of the Bill Warner Bridge Coalition, to a “meeting” in Newport of the U.S. affiliate of the Royal Society of the Arts, an organization based in London. Arthur is a Fellow, and so … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Landscape Architecture, Rhode Island | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Propriety of prose and vase

Posted on June 13, 2015 by David Brussat

Laura Heery sent me a few pages from Essays on the Nature and Principles of Taste, by Archibald Allison, published in 1832. Her communication arose from a discussion on Pro-Urb last month over the relationship of style to character in … Continue reading →

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Kimmelman warns on Frick

Posted on June 9, 2015 by David Brussat

Michael Kimmelman, in his “Critic’s Notebook,” has a generally sensible response to the question of what next for the Frick now that its proposed classical expansion has been withdrawn. After wandering around for a while and making some sensible suggestions, … Continue reading →

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Why not resod the old sod?

Posted on June 9, 2015 by David Brussat

Unsurprisingly, there have been proposals to demolish and replace the Houses of Parliament along the Thames in London. The excuses are a perceived need for greater openness, to be supplied by glass of course, or for more accommodation of the … Continue reading →

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