Category Archives: Providence

BIMBY: Beauty here, too!

Posted on October 28, 2015 by David Brussat

BIMBY stands for Beauty In My Back Yard. It is a website launched by the Prince’s Foundation for Building Community – Prince Charles’s architectural shop in Great Britain. Even though Britain has tougher official laws against beauty there than we … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Development, Providence, Rhode Island, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Handsome rectangular box?

Posted on October 23, 2015 by David Brussat

I had hoped to remain mum to “Brown’s handsome rectangular box,” as the headline over my friend William Morgan’s piece in the Providence Journal describes the university’s latest foray into the avant garde. Not very far into it, Morgan shrugs, … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Development, Providence, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

“Never fear, Prov. is here!”

Posted on October 20, 2015 by David Brussat

Apropos of apparently nothing in particular beyond the sheer deliciousness of it, the Providence Journal’s longtime food critic Gail Ciampa wrote a piece in today’s paper on movies where Rhode Island scenery shines. “Check it out: Five Hollywood movies that … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Blast from past, Book/Film Reviews, Humor, Providence, Providence Journal, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Architect, bury your mistake

Posted on October 17, 2015 by David Brussat

Yesterday I ran some passages from the late critic Lewis Mumford and thought I recalled having written a column on him years ago after reading a biography. I cannot find it. But here is one column from June 1994 in … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Blast from past, Development, Preservation, Providence, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Downtown living tour, 2015

Posted on October 15, 2015 by David Brussat

This year’s Downtown Living Tour, operated genially, as usual, by Joelle Kanter of the Providence Foundation, is on Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. By shuttle and pedicab – Sol Chariots have become a delightful fixture locally – you can … Continue reading →

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

Portland’s imposing Old Port

Posted on October 14, 2015 by David Brussat

Portland’s Old Port Exchange district was bustling with tourists on Sunday morning as Billy and I drove up and down its streets in search of parking. Finding no place, we ended up touring Congress Street on foot instead, taking too … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Blast from past, Development, I-195 Redevelopment District, Photography, Preservation, Providence, Urbanism and planning, Video | Leave a comment

Portland’s revival booms

Posted on October 13, 2015 by David Brussat

Two decades after my first visit to Portland in 1994, its enviable vitality seems to defy comparison with that of Providence. Portland is not its state capital anymore – not since 1832, when, 12 years after achieving statehood, the capital … Continue reading →

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

Portland’s phoenix resurgent

Posted on October 10, 2015 by David Brussat

Billy, Victoria and I are driving up to Augusta, Maine, for the long weekend to visit friends. We plan to visit Portland on the way or on the way back. The Journal column below reaches back two decades to compare … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Blast from past, Development, Preservation, Providence, Providence Journal, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Frank Gehry’s H.M.S. Foggy

Posted on October 6, 2015 by David Brussat

Not sure why I’ve decided to inflict on readers this old post from October 2015 on the day before the day before Christmas. It came to mind after a reader, intent on humoring me or torturing me, sent me a … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Art and design, Providence | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Monsters at gates of Paris

Posted on October 2, 2015 by David Brussat

A riveting photo essay about public housing primarily for immigrants to France, based on an exhibit of the photography of Laurent Kronental, brings to mind the damage to the world done by founding modernist Le Corbusier. “A poetic vision of … Continue reading →

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