Category Archives: Urbanism and planning

Boogie nights in Providence

Posted on June 15, 2015 by David Brussat

Saturday night saw the culmination of the first annual Providence International Arts Festival, and your roving correspondent was there. With son Billy and superbuddy Maria Ruggieri, we parked and set off down wild Washington Street on our way to WaterFire. … Continue reading →

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BIG copies the future!

Posted on June 12, 2015 by David Brussat

It is alleged that Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), the architect selected to design 2 World Trade Center, has engaged in copying the future. Mary Campbell Gallagher, the redoubtable defender of Paris against skyscrapers via SOS Paris, observes that Ingels’s 2 … Continue reading →

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Ungainly BIG steps skyward

Posted on June 10, 2015 by David Brussat

Rumors of BIG’s taking the 2 World Trade Center job from Sir Norman Foster erupted as news today. Silverstein Properties, the owner of the WTC site, has hired Bjarke Ingels Group and has released a video to instruct the rest … Continue reading →

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Why not resod the old sod?

Posted on June 9, 2015 by David Brussat

Unsurprisingly, there have been proposals to demolish and replace the Houses of Parliament along the Thames in London. The excuses are a perceived need for greater openness, to be supplied by glass of course, or for more accommodation of the … Continue reading →

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What’s next for the Frick?

Posted on June 8, 2015 by David Brussat

The news reported by the New York Times’s architecture writer, Robin Pogebrin (“Frick Museum Abandons Contested Renovation Plan“), leaves me with mixed emotions. Over time, my skepticism grew regarding the traditional addition proposed for the Frick. The house was designed … Continue reading →

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7 brides for 7 buttheads

Posted on June 5, 2015 by David Brussat

A breathtakingly gargantuan amount of balderdash was published by the New York Times today in “Seven Leading Architects Defend the World’s Most Hated Buildings.” The architects have all talked to Alexandra Lange. The first is the hardest sell – the … Continue reading →

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Allan Greenberg’s classicism

Posted on June 5, 2015 by David Brussat

While the contagion of “global architecture” today dilutes the individual character of our cities, turning them into bland collections of interchangeable buildings, we now have voices offering a fresh choice: classical architecture based on local traditions and ideals. With the … Continue reading →

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Parsing historic and historical

Posted on June 4, 2015 by David Brussat

Many older cities greet drivers with highway signs that say, for example, “Entering Historic Providence.” The capital of Rhode Island was founded in 1636, and the state’s youngest municipality, West Warwick, celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2013. Every city and … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Development, Preservation, Providence, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Up, up, up in time and space

Posted on May 28, 2015 by David Brussat

Get on the elevator to the observatorium at 1 World Trade Center and you’re in for the ride of your life. Up, up, up – ascending not just through space but through time. An animated display on the walls of … Continue reading →

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“Disposable Architecture”

Posted on May 27, 2015 by David Brussat

Architect Jenny Bevan, of the Charleston firm Bevan & Liberatos, gave a TED talk called “Our Disposable Architecture” in that fair city on Tuesday. She spoke about sustainability in architecture, essentially pointing out that whatever you may think of this … Continue reading →

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