Category Archives: Blast from past

Trying to like this building

Posted on January 25, 2016 by David Brussat

Capital Properties has proposed and the Capital Center Commission has apparently approved the design above for the parcel next to the almost supernaturally ugly Capital Cove, on land at Canal and Smith streets along the Moshassuck River. Here is what … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art and design, Blast from past, Development, Providence, Providence Journal, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Bill & Hugh, together again

Posted on January 17, 2016 by David Brussat

Here is my July 20, 1995, column from The Providence Journal about my father and his best friend, who both were city planners. The images are photographed from an old copy of the column, so I apologize if the expressions … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Blast from past, Development, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

City planning now and then

Posted on January 16, 2016 by David Brussat

My friend Steve’s father Hugh Mields and his friend William K. Brussat (my dad) were city planners. Steve, who is both a philatelist and a fenestration cleanliness engineer, recently sent me an envelope postmarked Washington, D.C., Oct. 2, 1967, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Blast from past, Development, Humor, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Rise and fall of Haverhill

Posted on January 9, 2016 by David Brussat

John Massengale sent to the Pro-Urb listserv a 45-minute documentary, “Woolworth’s: Remembering Haverhill’s Shopping District,” produced just last year by Historic New England. He said it was more than you might want to know about the northern Massachusetts shoe-manufacturing town … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Blast from past, Development, Preservation, Urbanism and planning, Video | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Garage design in Providence

Posted on January 5, 2016 by David Brussat

So the most shovel-ready modernist abomination in Providence is apparently about to begin construction. Maybe it’s not too late to redesign the garage so that it fits into its setting. It is right next to a neoclassical power plant being … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Blast from past, Development, Providence, Rhode Island, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Roses and raspberries, 2015

Posted on January 4, 2016 by David Brussat

If the objective were to build beauty, the past year has served Providence poorly. Since the fault is mainly in the office of the new governor, Gina Raimondo, Providence’s mayor, Jorge Elorza, can be absolved of some of the blame, … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Blast from past, Development, Preservation, Providence, Providence Journal, Rhode Island, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Your best lost building here!

Posted on November 17, 2015 by David Brussat

The other day I received an email from Edward Mack, an editor at The History Press, an imprint of Arcadia Publishing. You all know their books. The regional literature shelves of your local bookstore are struggling even now under the … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Blast from past, Books and Culture, Development, Preservation, Providence, Providence Journal, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

Zum! Zum! Zum! Zumthor!

Posted on November 10, 2015 by David Brussat

The forces of architecture in Los Angeles are clashing over the latest proposal, by Swiss architect and Pritzker prizewinner Peter Zumthor, for the new LACMA. What is the LACMA? A lengthy critique of an even lengthier critique of Zumthor’s design … Continue reading →

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Into London’s age of grit

Posted on October 24, 2015 by David Brussat

It suddenly occurred to me that, having done a post on the beautiful Renaissance digital imagery of the video game “Assassin’s Creed II” – it was called “Gaming the Renaissance” – I should check out “Assassin’s Creed I.” I just … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Blast from past, Book/Film Reviews, Other countries, Urbanism and planning, Video | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

“Never fear, Prov. is here!”

Posted on October 20, 2015 by David Brussat

Apropos of apparently nothing in particular beyond the sheer deliciousness of it, the Providence Journal’s longtime food critic Gail Ciampa wrote a piece in today’s paper on movies where Rhode Island scenery shines. “Check it out: Five Hollywood movies that … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Blast from past, Book/Film Reviews, Humor, Providence, Providence Journal, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment