Category Archives: Development

Rowan Moore’s confusion

Posted on January 5, 2015 by David Brussat

Rowan Moore’s tart critique in the Observer of London’s newest tower since the hideous Shard – the Walkie-Talkie-Scorchie Building (20 Fenchurch) – is a joy to read. His sallies against the building that no longer burns cars on the streets … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Development, Other countries, Providence, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Another Chelsea Barracks?

Posted on January 3, 2015 by David Brussat

According to Robert Booth’s piece in The Guardian, it appears that the next battle in the style wars of architecture will take place in London’s Hyde Park. Booth’s piece, entitled “Architects’ vision of London takes inspiration from 19th-century Paris,” describes … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Development, Other countries, Providence, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Welcome to Warwick? Ha!

Posted on January 3, 2015 by David Brussat

The city of Warwick has made a big mistake permitting a developer to tear down the Elizabeth Mill near T.F. Green State Airport, in Warwick. Warwickers are always miffed that airline captains say “Welcome to Providence” upon landing in Warwick. … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Development, Preservation, Rhode Island, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

The granularity of cities

Posted on January 2, 2015 by David Brussat

The University of Oklahoma’s Institute for Quality Communities has developed a website that offers superimposed maps of major American cities. The maps cover identical territory in each city, and you can slide a line in the middle to reveal the … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Development, Landscape Architecture, Preservation, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Quack troops invade capital

Posted on December 28, 2014 by David Brussat

A friend and I drove through the swath of redevelopment land where Route 195 used to be. We wanted to view the new street infrastructure. We were yukking it up over the “art” when we had to stop to review … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Development, Humor, Landscape Architecture, Providence, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Between the lines of the NYT

Posted on December 27, 2014 by David Brussat

Steven Bingler and Martin Pedersen, the architect and the writer who called on architects to pay more attention to public taste, do not seem to realize it, and would probably not admit it, but their essay in the New York … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture Education, Development, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Raise the BAR, Duany

Posted on December 23, 2014 by David Brussat

It is extremely encouraging to read in the Charleston Post and Courier that Andrès Duany has been hired to help advise the city on how to improve its Board of Architectural Review. By approving a provocative modernist Clemson building in … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Development, Preservation, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , | 11 Comments

Blackstone blitzkrieg

Posted on December 17, 2014 by David Brussat

The Granoff proposal to split their land at Blackstone Boulevard and Rochambeau Avenue up into 12 lots (the two largest would include their fine old house built in 1915 and owned by the Granoffs since the ’60s) was rejected by … Continue reading →

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

Gentling gentrification

Posted on December 15, 2014 by David Brussat

A stinging rebuke to Australia’s capital city of Canberra, and thence to just about every other city that has embraced the placemaking agenda, comes from Oliver Wainwright in the Guardian, “50 years of gentrification: Will all our cities turn into … Continue reading →

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Browbeating Boston’s brand

Posted on December 13, 2014 by David Brussat

Marty Walsh has taken over as Boston mayor after 20 years of Tom Menino, who used to decide what sort of hat new buildings would wear – most famously, the “tiara” of a glitzy tower called R2-D2, near the Pru. … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Development, Preservation, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments