Category Archives: Development

Buffing the downtown fabric

Posted on March 4, 2015 by David Brussat

The expected purchase by Arnold C. “Buff” Chace of the Providence Journal’s headquarter’s building – not the old Journal building of 1906 but the “new” one of 1934, designed by noted Motor City architect Albert Kahn – is extraordinarily good … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Development, Preservation, Providence, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Perfect critique, then … pfft!

Posted on March 3, 2015 by David Brussat

There is almost nothing that I could disagree with or add to in “Empty Gestures: Starchitecture’s Swan Song,” a critique by Peter Buchanan in the Architectural Review. Nothing, that is, except that after so much striking perception, Buchanan does not … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Development | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Criticism of criticism of …

Posted on March 2, 2015 by David Brussat

That’s the title of a famous H.L. Mencken essay called “Criticism of Criticism of Criticism” about the convolutions of critical theoretics. An article by Mark Minkjan in one of my favorite blogs, Failed Architecture, is called “ArchDaily and Architecture Criticism.” … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Development | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

PawSox to Providence?

Posted on February 25, 2015 by David Brussat

There once was a team in Pawtucket. To consider the merits of moving the Boston Red Sox Triple-A team to Providence, one must first swallow the vile pill of stealing the team from neighboring Pawtucket, which needs economic stimulus more … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art and design, Development, Providence, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Another battle in Charleston

Posted on February 21, 2015 by David Brussat

A developer in Charleston proposes to rip down an ugly modernist tower of 14 stories, built in 1949, and replace it with three mostly four-story buildings that reflect the city’s historic architecture. You’d think preservationists there would favor that. Instead, … Continue reading →

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Lurking behind this facade

Posted on February 16, 2015 by David Brussat

Behind this stern but elegant classical façade – in Bucharest! – lurks one of the most astonishing and effective mixtures of the old and the new that I have ever seen. And the fact that it is a bookstore, restored … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art and design, Books and Culture, Development, Other countries | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

‘The Hidden Light of Objects’

Posted on February 14, 2015 by David Brussat

The fragility of culture, even of culture wrought in the hardness of masonry, is one of the themes of the ten short stories in Mai Al-Nakib’s first book, The Hidden Light of Objects. The second story, “Echo Twins,” is set … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Books and Culture, Development, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Save the Yale Club!

Posted on February 12, 2015 by David Brussat

The title above could as easily have been “Save the Roosevelt Hotel!” or for that matter “Save Grand Central Terminal!” “Save the Chrysler Building!” might also be apt. Or it could be “All is lost!” … “Or maybe not!” could … Continue reading →

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Architecture in the crosshairs

Posted on February 3, 2015 by David Brussat

Steve Hansen captures valuable territory in the recent Bingler, Pedersen, Betsky style-wars skirmish. His essay “Architecture Should Be Functional, Not Merely Daring,” is on the website Sourceable.com. But while Hansen puts some good wood upside Aaron Betsky’s head, he ignores … Continue reading →

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Grr! Paul Rudolph cat fight

Posted on February 2, 2015 by David Brussat

Goshen, N.Y., is up in arms again as the city enters a new phase of combat over saving the Orange County Government Center (1967), designed by iconic modernist Paul Rudolph in the Brutalist style. Most of the public wants it … Continue reading →

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