Category Archives: Rhode Island

Update on Parcel 12 hotel

Posted on December 16, 2015 by David Brussat

The civic leadership of Rhode Island and its capital, Providence, is using taxpayer dollars to initiate a series of development projects that may or may not be economically viable but will certainly undermine the city’s beauty – one of the … Continue reading →

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

A pause in Pawtucket

Posted on December 8, 2015 by David Brussat

Last weekend we visited a lamp manufacturer who was having a sale on Victoria’s favorite lamps, by Tracy Glover. We then did the Foundry Sale at the Pawtucket Armory, next to Tolman High School. Both Tolman and the Armory inhabit … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Development, Photography, Rhode Island, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

A boulevard, not a highway

Posted on December 3, 2015 by David Brussat

The next big Providence project for a city that has seen many might be to turn the old Route 6/10 connector into a boulevard. The Providence Journal reports that the state’s transportation authorities seem surprisingly receptive to the idea as … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art and design, Development, Landscape Architecture, Providence, Rhode Island, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Cranston’s Hall Free Library

Posted on November 15, 2015 by David Brussat

Your intrepid correspondent met on Friday at the William Hall Free Library, in the Edgewood neighborhood of Cranston, with Clayton Fulkerson to view his models of ancient temples, now on exhibit there through the rest of this month. The library, … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Landscape Architecture, Photography, Preservation, Rhode Island, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Ancient temples on parade

Posted on November 13, 2015 by David Brussat

Driving up Broad Street in Cranston the other day I passed the William Hall Free Library, designed by George Frederick Hall (no apparent relation) and opened in 1927. Delighted to reacquaint myself with its existence, I promised myself to return … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Photography, Rhode Island | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

WWII Memorial on Vets Day

Posted on November 11, 2015 by David Brussat

Here are some photographs I took of the National World War II Memorial on the mall at Washington in 2011. The memorial was designed by Rhode Island architect Friedrich St. Florian, who won an international design competition in 1997. To … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Development, Photography, Rhode Island, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Rhode Island turning point

Posted on October 30, 2015 by David Brussat

Rhode Island is at a turning point. Going forward it can encourage new development that strengthens its brand of beauty or it can throw away a competitive advantage by allowing developers to build projects that will transform the Ocean State … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art and design, Development, I-195 Redevelopment District, Photography, Preservation, Providence, Rhode Island, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

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

Mumford’s words of warning

Posted on October 16, 2015 by David Brussat

Here is a passage from Lewis Mumford’s essay “The Case Against ‘Modern Architecture’” in the April 1962 issue of Architectural Record: In so far as modern architecture has succeeded in expressing modern life, it has done better in calling attention … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Development, Rhode Island, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 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