Category Archives: Blast from past

Blast past: A Warren warning

Posted on April 29, 2014 by David Brussat

During Saturday’s preservation conference in Warren, while listening to speaker Mark Fenton remind us that Warren fended off a Walgreens long ago, I was reminded of a column I wrote in 1997 about how the megadrugstore tried to plop one of its pug-uglies … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Blast from past, Preservation, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Blast Past: Biltmore nose job

Posted on April 12, 2014 by David Brussat

As mentioned in my last column about the Dean Hotel, the Biltmore almost received a sockdologer right in the kisser back in 2003. I condemned it as a “nose job for the Biltmore” in a column back then, and it … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Blast from past, Preservation, Providence | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Past blast: Confusion of the design reviewers

Posted on April 8, 2014 by David Brussat

As an enticement to read Thursday’s column about the new Dean Hotel, on Fountain Street in downtown Providence, I offer a blast from the past. In 2006 the city permitted a developer to pull down the building on Fountain next … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Blast from past, Providence, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Blast past: Deep skinny on Parcel 9

Posted on March 29, 2014 by David Brussat

Here is a column I wrote in 1999 about a year after the design for Parcel 9 was denounced  by Mayor Vincent A. “Buddy” Cianci Jr. This predates any notion that GTECH would turn a sad situation into a continuing … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Blast from past, Providence, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Past blast: Video homage to Penn Station

Posted on February 10, 2014 by David Brussat

Tonight I watched a PBS “The American Experience” presentation on the rise and fall of Pennsylvania Station, which I will preview for Thursday’s column and which will broadcast to the public next Tuesday. To gin readers up for that, enter … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Blast from past, Book/Film Reviews, Old Video, Preservation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

How vulnerable is Gehry’s Ike?

Posted on February 5, 2014 by David Brussat

The industry journal that rules on Capitol Hill is not the Washington Post but Roll Call. Here it publishes “It’s Time to Bury Gehry’s Eisenhower Memorial Design,” an assessment of the prospects for Frank Gehry’s not just ridiculous but sinister … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Blast from past | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Honey, I’m home (after 70 years)!

Posted on February 5, 2014 by David Brussat

Nazis occupy Paris. Lady fed up and leaves for south of France. Never returns but keeps paying rent. Dies at 91. Nobody goes into her apartment until recently, when it was found untouched since her departure 70 years before. A … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art and design, Blast from past, Other countries, Preservation | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Blast from the past: America’s got architecture!

Posted on January 30, 2014 by David Brussat

In my weekly column, called “Architecture critic, heal thyself!” and posted this morning, I referred to the elephant in architecture’s living room. That is the fact that most Americans prefer traditional to modern architecture. Among other evidence for this is … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture Education, Blast from past | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Past blast: Review of Versaci’s “new old” house book

Posted on January 27, 2014 by David Brussat

My blog on how to resolve the difficulty of finding an old house to buy mentioned Russell Versaci’s prefab houses, but I was unable to access my review of his book from 2008. Here it is, reprinted courtesy of The … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture Education, Blast from past, Book/Film Reviews, Preservation | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Blast from past: Middle way in architecture?

Posted on January 16, 2014 by David Brussat

I here inaugurate a “Blast from the past” feature based on my newly discovered ability to find posts from my lapsed Providence Journal blog, also called Architecture Here and There. I have created a page called Archives From My Old … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Blast from past, Providence | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment