Category Archives: Providence

Two to watch in Providence

Posted on March 17, 2014 by David Brussat

While some people in Providence are upset that the owner of a big house at 200 Hope Street, by Russell Warren, across from the Wheeler School, is to be broken up into apartments, and with no intent to alter the … Continue reading →

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Column: The easy way to build on R.I.’s assets

Posted on March 13, 2014 by David Brussat

Almost all cities and states have policies intended to strengthen their economies by building on their assets. Most fail because they reject easy strategies and embrace difficult strategies. Two recent Commentary pieces in The Providence Journal address this issue: “Wise … Continue reading →

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Holl the Horrible

Posted on March 10, 2014 by David Brussat

After describing as “tripe” Hugh Pearman’s piece on Steven Holl’s Seona Reid Building, part of and across the street from the Glasgow School of Art, I feel obliged to say why, as if it were not obvious. The building is not the … Continue reading →

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Brown moves Green

Posted on March 6, 2014 by David Brussat

Brown University moved the Peter Green House, an 1868 Victorian, out of the path of The Walk, a process that is captured in this entertaining video from, I think, 2007. As the comments reveal, Brown sought to erect a number … Continue reading →

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Column: An elegant guide to Brown’s campus

Posted on March 6, 2014 by David Brussat

This week marks 250 years since the General Assembly passed a charter to found Rhode Island College, as it was first called, in the town of Warren, where it was first located. With a change of place in 1770 and … Continue reading →

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Leon Krier’s tale of post-carbuncle London

Posted on March 5, 2014 by David Brussat

Here is Leon Krier’s piece, “Sustainable Architecture and the Legible City,” just published in Britain’s Architectural Review. Krier recalls the atmosphere in London architectural circles after Prince Charles’s speech denouncing an addition to the National Gallery as “a carbuncle on … Continue reading →

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The Carpionato proposal for 195 land

Posted on February 23, 2014 by David Brussat

Here are some images from the Carpionato Group’s proposal to redevelop most of the vacant Route 195 land east of the Providence River, in Fox Point. The illustrations, drawn under the direction of architect Neil Middleton of TRO Jung Brannen … Continue reading →

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Column: Digging into the Route 195 “Toolkit”

Posted on February 20, 2014 by David Brussat

On Monday evening, breaking only for the Olympic figure skating in Sochi, I plowed through the 139 pages of the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission’s new “Developer’s Toolkit.” LINK_Toolkit(1) My object was to find out what sort of vision the commissioners had … Continue reading →

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Old videos: Two from 1940s Rhode Island

Posted on February 9, 2014 by David Brussat

Two old film clips of Rhode Island take viewers on tours of the nation’s smallest state – the smallest but not the least significant! The first is a propaganda film focusing on the home front and its values; the second … Continue reading →

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Curse of the ‘Creative Capital’

Posted on January 17, 2014 by David Brussat

The rebranding of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation (RIEDC) as the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation (RICC) is complete, and a complete dud. This is the government agency that’s supposed to get the state economy growing again to produce jobs … Continue reading →

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