Category Archives: Preservation

BBC on Mont Saint-Michel

Posted on January 30, 2016 by David Brussat

Yesterday, I got an email from the author and director of a documentary on Mont Saint-Michel being produced for BBC France. Denis Sneguirev asked me whether I could provide him with information about the development of the abbey just off … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Books and Culture, Development, Landscape Architecture, Other countries, Preservation | Tagged , , , , , | 11 Comments

Out-of-country Cianci tale

Posted on January 29, 2016 by David Brussat

Buddy Cianci. RIP. Everyone in Providence has a Buddy story, and many will be told fondly following the death of Vincent A. Cianci Jr. yesterday. My Cianci story – this one, at least – involves a trip to Malta as … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Blast from past, Other countries, Preservation, Providence Journal, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Mittell: “Why I love Lviv”

Posted on January 26, 2016 by David Brussat

David A. Mittell Jr., of Boston, has visited Lviv 22 times, some of them while he was on the editorial board of the Providence Journal, where I first met him. He now writes independently, after a stint as editor of … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Other countries, Preservation, Providence Journal, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Brolin on vandalizing Yemen

Posted on January 22, 2016 by David Brussat

I have raised this subject many times as modern architecture works to wipe out indigenous cultures around the world. In his 1976 book The Failure of Modern Architecture, Brent Brolin provides a vivid account of the arrogance of modern architecture’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Books and Culture, Development, Other countries, Preservation, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Adele C-T at PPS in Prov.

Posted on January 20, 2016 by David Brussat

Adele Chatfield-Taylor will speak at tonight’s annual meeting of the Providence Preservation Society. It will be at 5:30 p.m. this evening in the Providence Public Library. Last night, trying to finally decide whether to attend or to train up to … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Development, Preservation, Providence, Urbanism and planning, Video | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

My new blog at TB and PH

Posted on January 19, 2016 by David Brussat

My new blog is now up on the remodeled websites of two leading trade journals, Traditional Building and Period Homes,  published by the Home Group of Active Interest Media. The blog is called Architecture Old and New, a recasting of … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Books and Culture, Development, Preservation, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Hint, hint: Rebuild Penn Sta.

Posted on January 15, 2016 by David Brussat

Michael Kimmelman’s recent piece, “How to Transform Penn Station: Move the Garden,” revives the idea of moving Madison Square Garden into Farley Post Office (supposedly Moynihan Station someday). The Timesman unpacks some excellent ideas but doesn’t mention the one that … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Development, Preservation, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

The “of our time” bugaboo

Posted on January 13, 2016 by David Brussat

I have just concluded Brent Brolin’s Architectural Ornament: Banishment & Return, written in 1985 and republished in 2000. It tells the history of how the meaning of innovation and creativity was lost in the 19th and 20th centuries, leading to, … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Development, Humor, Preservation, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The future of Charleston?

Posted on January 11, 2016 by David Brussat

Say it ain’t so, Joe! Say it ain’t so! Why does such a lovely, lovable city as Charleston seem so eager to commit civic suicide? It would not be easy. Charleston is healthy and strong. But, sadly, it is headed … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Development, I-195 Redevelopment District, Preservation, Providence, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Rise and fall of Haverhill

Posted on January 9, 2016 by David Brussat

John Massengale sent to the Pro-Urb listserv a 45-minute documentary, “Woolworth’s: Remembering Haverhill’s Shopping District,” produced just last year by Historic New England. He said it was more than you might want to know about the northern Massachusetts shoe-manufacturing town … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Blast from past, Development, Preservation, Urbanism and planning, Video | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment