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Category Archives: Development
Diamant on trad in Europe
Below is a guest column by Michael Diamant, a connoisseur of architecture living in Stockholm and founder, in 2012, of the website New Traditional Architecture. He is expected to participate in the annual meeting of the Traditional Architecture Gathering set … Continue reading
Wrong building, wrong place
A friend just sent me William Morgan’s piece at GoLocalProv.com, published today, about the proposed Corso Building, which was approved by the city in 2019 but has recently been downsized from twelve to nine stories. I repled, “I totally agree … Continue reading
Mandating beauty in Britain?
How thrilling to read that Great Britain’s housing ministry has just issued a proposal to bring beauty and the public more to the forefront of planning and design decisions on the Sceptered Isle. Is this a “mandate” for beauty? Certainly … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Development
Tagged Beauty, Donald Trump, Executive Order, Housing Ministry, Joe Biden, Nicholas Boys Smith, Robert Jenrick, Roger Scruton, Tradition, UK
2 Comments
Russia’s artful classicist – Da!
Historian James Stevens Curl, the author of Making Dystopia (2018), the most comprehensive critical history of modern architecture, has sent me a marvelous video of the classical work of the Russian architect Mikhail Filippov. His work has been described as … Continue reading
Don’t trifle with this building
Opened in 1823 to a design by Thomas Hamilton, Edinburgh’s Old Royal High School has a stern and foreboding look. But surely a grin can be detected among its colonnades: It has recently dodged the bullet of redevelopment as an … Continue reading
On the Moynihan Train Hall
News of the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Train Hall opening across 8th Avenue from Penn Station in Manhattan is rivaled only by news about the closure of The Vessel, the ridiculous tower of art at nearby Hudson Yards, because of its … Continue reading
Why historic preservation?
I just got through watching the Providence Historic Preservation Commission grant conceptual approval to the renovation and expansion of a charming little Italianate cottage on Williams Street, just off the city’s historic Benefit Street. It was a most depressing event. … Continue reading
Tulip survives London nip
Rowan Moore, architecture critic of The Guardian in the U.K., writes that the proposed 1,000-foot Tulip, designed by Sir Norman Foster as a fancy tourist observation deck, should be denied planning permission by the London authorities (“The Tulip’s towering vanity … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Development
Tagged Dezeen, London, Mayor Khan, Norman Foster, Rowan Moore, The Guardian, The Shard, The Tulip
2 Comments
Kennedy Plaza is still at risk
Efforts by the city and state governments to make Kennedy Plaza ugly have not yet succeeded in making it fail. But the attempt to ruin the central public square of Providence is ongoing. The plaza’s beauty has diminished greatly since … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Development
Tagged Arup, Bill Warner, Kennedy Plaza, Providence RI, RIDOT, River Relocation Project, Transit Planning, Urban Planning, Waterplace Park
6 Comments
Goofy new RW Park “gateway”
Leafing through the November issue of Providence Monthly, I was dismayed to stumble across a short piece, “Gateway to Change,” by Elyse Major, illustrating a gaudy new portal and visitors center planned for the Broad Street entrance to the city’s … Continue reading
