Category Archives: Development

Architect, bury your mistake

Posted on October 17, 2015 by David Brussat

Yesterday I ran some passages from the late critic Lewis Mumford and thought I recalled having written a column on him years ago after reading a biography. I cannot find it. But here is one column from June 1994 in … Continue reading →

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Mumford’s words of warning

Posted on October 16, 2015 by David Brussat

Here is a passage from Lewis Mumford’s essay “The Case Against ‘Modern Architecture’” in the April 1962 issue of Architectural Record: In so far as modern architecture has succeeded in expressing modern life, it has done better in calling attention … Continue reading →

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Downtown living tour, 2015

Posted on October 15, 2015 by David Brussat

This year’s Downtown Living Tour, operated genially, as usual, by Joelle Kanter of the Providence Foundation, is on Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. By shuttle and pedicab – Sol Chariots have become a delightful fixture locally – you can … Continue reading →

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Portland’s imposing Old Port

Posted on October 14, 2015 by David Brussat

Portland’s Old Port Exchange district was bustling with tourists on Sunday morning as Billy and I drove up and down its streets in search of parking. Finding no place, we ended up touring Congress Street on foot instead, taking too … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Blast from past, Development, I-195 Redevelopment District, Photography, Preservation, Providence, Urbanism and planning, Video | Leave a comment

Portland’s revival booms

Posted on October 13, 2015 by David Brussat

Two decades after my first visit to Portland in 1994, its enviable vitality seems to defy comparison with that of Providence. Portland is not its state capital anymore – not since 1832, when, 12 years after achieving statehood, the capital … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Development, Photography, Preservation, Providence, Rhode Island, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Portland’s phoenix resurgent

Posted on October 10, 2015 by David Brussat

Billy, Victoria and I are driving up to Augusta, Maine, for the long weekend to visit friends. We plan to visit Portland on the way or on the way back. The Journal column below reaches back two decades to compare … Continue reading →

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

Paying for Berliner Schloss

Posted on October 9, 2015 by David Brussat

Audun Engh of INTBAU kindly noted, after reading my last post, that the figures next to architectural elements and statuary in drawings of a Berliner Schloss façade near the end of the Extrablatt PDF represented not the cost of those … Continue reading →

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Berlin Palace, Penn Station

Posted on October 9, 2015 by David Brussat

Germany is rebuilding the Berlin Palace, the Berliner Schloss, at an expected cost of €590 million or $665 million, a half or a third of the estimated price of rebuilding Penn Station in New York, which itself is considered understated … Continue reading →

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Gaming the Renaissance

Posted on October 8, 2015 by David Brussat

A fascinating interview in ArchDaily of Colombian architectural historian Maria Elisa Navarro, of McGill University, who advised creators of the video game “Assassin’s Creed II,” opens up new vistas for the classical revival. Millions of young people play these video … Continue reading →

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Authenticity in placemaking

Posted on October 7, 2015 by David Brussat

As part of its 30th anniversary celebration, the Providence arts collaborative AS220 gathered several expert “placemakers” under the deep atrium sky of the Callendar, McAuslan & Troup Building (1873, 1892). Called the Peerless Building now after the last in a … Continue reading →

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