Category Archives: Preservation

Save NYC’s Rizzoli bookstore

Posted on January 21, 2014 by David Brussat

I don’t see many petitions I’m inclined to sign but I signed one just a few moments ago. It was a petition to save the building that houses the publisher Rizzoli’s flagship store in a glorious old building on West … Continue reading →

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Saved: The George C. Arnold Block

Posted on January 11, 2014 by David Brussat

I am leery of the government taking buildings by eminent domain – that is, offering a take-it-or-leave it price, supposedly “fair market,” to a building owner, who, if he doesn’t take it will have the taking done for him by … Continue reading →

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Deport the Portajohn Building

Posted on January 9, 2014 by David Brussat

Again Malcolm Millais, of Portugal, author of Exploding the Myths of Modern Architecture (2009), has sent me an uplifting essay, this time from Atlantic Cities, the urban blog, or section, of The Atlantic magazine. The essay, “Should Portland Save a … Continue reading →

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“Wrong Way” Corrigan Public Library

Posted on December 29, 2013 by David Brussat

Dale Thompson has retired after 25 years as executive director of the Providence Public Library. I make no comment on her accomplishments, except to note that over that span she – and the library’s board – oversaw the renovation of … Continue reading →

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Column: Garden suburb as “Paradise Planned”

Posted on December 19, 2013 by David Brussat

I had planned to take the bus to work on Tuesday morning, lugging the new book “Paradise Planned: The Garden Suburb and the Modern City” in my trusty Penguin bag, hauling it in from our house in the suburbs — … Continue reading →

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Column: Small future for tall buildings in D.C.

Posted on December 15, 2013 by David Brussat

Like much in the District of Columbia, the Hotel Dupont Plaza has undergone change. For one thing, it is now called the Dupont Circle Hotel. But it looks much as when it was completed half a century ago. Beige brick … Continue reading →

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Column: The rise and fall of Guastavino tile

Posted on December 14, 2013 by David Brussat

About 600 buildings in the United States, including 200 in New York, 29 in Boston, 22 in Washington and 7 in Rhode Island, feature a tile vault system perfected by a native of Valencia, Spain, brought by him to America … Continue reading →

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