Category Archives: Urbanism and planning

Victory in Charleston

Posted on November 19, 2014 by David Brussat

On the heels of a major setback for modernism’s assault on Paris – its city council voted narrowly against it on Monday – comes an even bigger victory against a similar assault in Charleston, S.C., where Clemson University has withdrawn … Continue reading →

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

Character versus reputation

Posted on November 19, 2014 by David Brussat

Last night’s City Plan Commission meeting over the fate of the Granoff estate pitted the Blackstone Neighborhood Association’s lawyer, Bill Landry, against the Granoff’s lawyer, Tom Moses, a former director of the city’s planning office. Does the law require more … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Development, Preservation, Providence, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Good news from Paris!

Posted on November 18, 2014 by David Brussat

Bravo! The city council of Paris has voted narrowly to reject the proposal for a skyscraper in the city center. Le Tour Triangle, designed by Herzog & de Meuron, lost an 83 to 78 vote. Mayor Hidalgo, a Socialist, immediately … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Development, Other countries, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

A city’s steepled horizon

Posted on November 17, 2014 by David Brussat

Shot these photos after penning a strategy for the beautification of Providence that ran last Monday, Nov. 10, at GoLocalProv.com (where I now do a weekly column). The basic thrust of the plan requires the demolition of the city’s 10 … Continue reading →

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Girding against the Granoffs

Posted on November 11, 2014 by David Brussat

A neighborhood meeting I had thought might blow up in anger last night instead displayed a steely determination to resist a sneaky subdivision of the Granoff estate behind a stone wall at Blackstone Boulevard and Rochambeau Avenue. Last week’s meeting … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Development, Landscape Architecture, Preservation, Providence, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Bulfinch awards Wednesday

Posted on November 8, 2014 by David Brussat

Coming up Wednesday is the ceremony at the Massachusetts Statehouse for the Fifth Annual Bulfinch Awards. The winners are known. You can may see their entries here. But you may applaud them on that evening from 6 to 9 p.m. … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art and design, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Where the good guys live

Posted on November 7, 2014 by David Brussat

My post “Lucas villain ship to Chicago” sparked a lively back and forth on the TradArch and Pro-Urb listservs about the work of those who create urbanism for the movies. Was Blade Runner filmed in a house designed by Frank … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art and design, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Legal on Blackstone Blvd.

Posted on November 6, 2014 by David Brussat

Even the Blackstone neighborhood of Providence can be relied on to prove that no place in the city is absolutely stereotypical. I didn’t realize the extent to which this was so until yesterday, when I went, ahem!, “jogging” up and … Continue reading →

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

Bowling trophy architecture

Posted on October 29, 2014 by David Brussat

Read “Top Seven Reasons Behind the Shanghaiing of New York (#Dubai-on-Hudson),” architect and urban designer John Massengale’s astute analysis of the linkage between Big Finance and Big Architecture. His assessment is depressing, because it looks impregnable. He uses an illustration … Continue reading →

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Potemkin justice for Russia?

Posted on October 29, 2014 by David Brussat

Far be it from me to endorse anything proposed by the regime of Vladimir Putin, but permit me to embrace the classical judicial complex to be built in St. Petersburg. As the blogger Andrew Cusack points out, the Russian architect … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Development, Other countries, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , | 1 Comment