Category Archives: Blast from past

Film of foreign cities, c. 1920

Posted on January 15, 2015 by David Brussat

Here is an amazing series of clips filmed around 1920, apparently during the travels of a U.S. Navy fleet to various port and other cities around the world. When the sailors get out of the way (as they do quite … Continue reading →

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Mayors and modernism

Posted on January 7, 2015 by David Brussat

Here is a column I wrote back on May 22, 2008, just after Boris Johnson’s election as mayor of London. At the time there was good news coming from the mouths of mayors in Italy and Czechoslovakia as well. Rome … Continue reading →

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“Modernism in Vienna”

Posted on December 31, 2014 by David Brussat

Here’s the column on my 2005 trip to Vienna linked to in my last post: Modernism in Prague and Vienna June 16, 2005 IN VIENNA AND PRAGUE, built before the divorce of art and architecture, where buildings are encrusted with … Continue reading →

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Ornament and Crimehaus

Posted on December 31, 2014 by David Brussat

Recently, after several contributors to a TradArch discussion of Adolf Loos and his famous building in Vienna, Andres Duany pointed out that the windows in the upper floors don’t align with the building’s ground-floor features. Earlier comments had referred to … Continue reading →

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Patrick Conley’s waterfront

Posted on October 19, 2014 by David Brussat

Here is the column I refer to in my last post, “The lady on the waterfront“: Pat Conley’s educational wharf Sept. 29, 2005 STATE PIER No. 1 might be called the Ellis Island of the Ocean State. It was the … Continue reading →

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Parcel 12 revisited

Posted on October 10, 2014 by David Brussat

The Carpionato Group has sent me two images of its 2006 design for a proposed hotel at the northeast corner of Kennedy Plaza that fell through. It is of interest because a new hotel proposal, by First Bristol Corp. of … Continue reading →

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Henry Reed in Providence

Posted on September 26, 2014 by David Brussat

Here, as part of this blog’s Blast from the Past feature, is a column from more than a decade ago when Henry Hope Reed visited Providence. The tourmaster got a tour from yours truly. Tomorrow, Philadelphia will host a symposium … Continue reading →

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‘World Made By Hand’

Posted on July 31, 2014 by David Brussat

My column about Don Powers’ presentation at Boston’s Traditional Building Conference a couple of weeks ago, which comes amid a lengthy set of threads about real or fake building materials on the TradArch listserv, reminded Steve Mouzon (who also spoke) … Continue reading →

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Greater Kennedy Plaza

Posted on July 15, 2014 by David Brussat

Here is a column I wrote last year about the nice proposal being frog-marched out of the picture: A greater Kennedy Plaza, yet again April 25, 2013 On Monday morning, my bus was at least 20 minutes late. Tired of … Continue reading →

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Postcard from Providence 1997

Posted on July 15, 2014 by David Brussat

Here is the 1992 column mentioned in today’s post “Let’s ruin Kennedy Plaza” in which I suggest merging the plaza with Burnside Park to form a Central Park for Providence. I also placed the bus hub under “Kennedy Park.” On … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Blast from past, Preservation, Providence, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , | 4 Comments