Category Archives: Preservation

“Modern is not a style”

Posted on August 11, 2015 by David Brussat

Modern in Denver, a Colorado design magazine, has posted what I believe is the first installment of a regular column inviting local modernist architects to comment on design issues, with the hope of generating conversation among readers. Hats off to … Continue reading →

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

Shots of Westminster Street

Posted on August 8, 2015 by David Brussat

Victoria, Billy and I adventured to Westminster Street to see a friend, Elaine Ostrach Chaika, speak about her book, Humans, Dogs and Civilization, at a bookstore, Symposium Books. Afterwards, we walked up Westminster to Empire, where we dipped into the … Continue reading →

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

Why can’t we recreate Bath?

Posted on August 4, 2015 by David Brussat

I am cruising through The Architecture of Happiness, wishing I had the time and energy to quote and then rebut its every line. Alain de Botton’s book is a masterpiece, but I have been forced to conclude that it is … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Books and Culture, Preservation, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

“World’s Greatest Buildings”

Posted on August 3, 2015 by David Brussat

Below is an “Infographic” depicting the great structural innovations of architectural history, kindly sent to me by Andrew Sweeny, of Pennywell, a company in Ireland that produces upscale kitchen work surfaces. Sweeny entitles his Infographic “The Greatest Buildings of World … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Books and Culture, Development, Humor, Other countries, Preservation | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Des “passages” de Paris

Posted on July 23, 2015 by David Brussat

In the late 1800s, long after Baron Haussmann supposedly transformed the Paris of rabbit warrens into a Paris of bowling alleys for cannoneers, the protagonist (if you can call him that) of Umberto Eco’s novel The Prague Cemetery (2010) – … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Other countries, Preservation, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Eyesore vs. eyesore

Posted on July 23, 2015 by David Brussat

The Providence Journal ran an editorial yesterday, “Activity vs. eyesore,” that takes a conventional attitude toward economic development that could ensure that Providence’s economy will never be as robust as it ought to be. The editorial supports razing the city-owned … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Development, Preservation, Providence, Rhode Island, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Tiverton pulls plug on “Glen”

Posted on July 22, 2015 by David Brussat

“$100M Glen project dealt blow after residents rally” is the headline on Patrick Anderson’s story in today’s Providence Journal reporting that the Tiverton City Council voted 5 to 2 not to grant its developer, the Carpionato Group, a slew of … Continue reading →

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

“Up from Ugliness” at NYT

Posted on July 17, 2015 by David Brussat

Here is what I wrote about a New York Times column before learning it was published not recently but in 2011. Sigh. Well, the points do remain valid. * * * Ross Douthat, a regular columnist at the New York … Continue reading →

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Redesign this awful garage!

Posted on July 17, 2015 by David Brussat

The proposed garage above is part of a project that is to feature a Rhode Island state nursing school housed in a Beaux-Arts former electric plant. South Street Landing, as the project is known, will also have offices for Brown … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art and design, Development, Preservation, Providence, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Reverend, grace and Grace

Posted on July 15, 2015 by David Brussat

Had a very nice talk by phone with the Rev. Jonathan Huyck, of Grace Episcopal Church, and he assured me not just that nothing was set in cement regarding the design of a proposed new parish hall (possibly of glass), … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art and design, Development, Preservation, Providence, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment