Category Archives: Urbanism and planning

Beethoven’s architecture

Posted on December 17, 2015 by David Brussat

Beethoven’s birthday was yesterday. He would have been 245 years old. Today is the anniversary of his baptism, the day after his birth. A vagueness of timing, however, did not fit into the architecture of his music. Goethe called architecture … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art and design, Books and Culture, Urbanism and planning, Video | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

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

Where eagles darechitecture

Posted on December 15, 2015 by David Brussat

This startling proposal of a supertallsuperthin residential tower showed up on TradArch the other day, sent by David Rau, who objects to the machined element of its ornament. His email set off a long debate about natural and unnatural materials … Continue reading →

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

Speed bumps on Blackstone?

Posted on December 14, 2015 by David Brussat

Speed bumps punish the innocent for the sins of the guilty. Most people do not speed down Blackstone Boulevard. I know. I’ve been behind many of them in my time. People who obey the law are the ones who suffer … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art and design, Landscape Architecture, Providence, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Brown attacks College Hill

Posted on December 13, 2015 by David Brussat

Four excellent old houses disappeared, poof!, from the Brown campus in recent weeks. In “New campus for Brown engineering?” I protested their proposed demise in a column in 2014. Now the design for what is to replace them has been … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Development, Preservation, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Henry Hope Reed at 100

Posted on December 12, 2015 by David Brussat

Henry Hope Reed died three years short of his 100th year. He was born in 1915, but the fact that I overlooked his 100th birthday on Sept. 25 doesn’t mean it cannot be celebrated in a sufficiently timely manner today. … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Books and Culture, Preservation, Urbanism and planning | Leave a comment

London’s fate, black & white

Posted on December 9, 2015 by David Brussat

The British photographer Lewis Bush, using the technique of double-exposure, has been shooting scenes of highrise construction in London that might (at his suggestion) bring to mind the eternal night of scenes from the film Blade Runner. He describes his … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Development, Other countries, Photography, Preservation, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 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

Is this tactical urbanism?

Posted on December 7, 2015 by David Brussat

Here is a street sign that seems to epitomize the fatuousness, and perhaps the corruption, of municipal bureaucracy. Warning signs just like this have been popping up in the middle of streets in Providence for the past year or so. … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Providence, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Who’ll stop Branson hotel?

Posted on December 5, 2015 by David Brussat

David Rau sent this nice photograph to the TradArch list in an email titled “Paris in New York.” He writes: A string of Second Empire buildings along Broadway in the 20s. At center is the Ace Hotel (interiors by Roman … Continue reading →

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