Tag Archives: Capital Center

Capital Ctr. Build-Out, cont.

Posted on December 3, 2022 by David Brussat

Photo shot from balcony of governor’s office in State House. Providence Place at center and right, with Westin towers in rear. GTECH butts in from left center. (Photo by author) To go through my photo library in search of color … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Lost Providence | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Capital Center Build-Out

Posted on November 28, 2022 by David Brussat

View pictures, left to right, Center Place, the Gateway Center, Blue Cross/Blue Shield (to its rear), GTECH and half of Providence Place. The Westin towers are in further distance, behind the mall and GTECH, which distance seems to render smaller … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Lost Providence | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Capital Center Plan

Posted on November 18, 2022 by David Brussat

Here this series of chapters from Lost Providence skips back to Chapter 18, “Capital Center Plan” to describe the origins of the plan, announced in 1978, to revitalize downtown by providing a new business district to rival the old downtown. … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Lost Providence | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Nightmare on Smith Hill

Posted on June 1, 2019 by David Brussat

Last night I had a dream so disturbing that I woke up, got out of bed, and sat at my computer to memorialize it. This was about 5:30 a.m. With minor clarifications and omissions, my memo reads: Dreamed I was … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

State House lawn at risk

Posted on November 12, 2017 by David Brussat

The State House Lawn and Park are identified among a dozen major open spaces across the nation as at risk by the Cultural Landscape Foundation, in Washington, D.C.. The foundation’s Landslide 2017 report “Open Season on Open Space” is concerned … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Preservation | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Death wish in Providence?

Posted on November 9, 2017 by David Brussat

When I saw the image above of Rhode Island’s pitch for Amazon’s HQ2, in today’s Providence Journal (“Envisioning Amazon’s HQ2 in heart of Capital Center“), I thought I imagined Deming Sherman’s head explode. But no, that was my head exploding. … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Development | Tagged , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Towering towers in La Prov?

Posted on November 15, 2016 by David Brussat

A New York development firm with offices in the Rockefeller Center has proposed to build three residential towers, in phases, rising 33, 43 and 55 stories up from the vacant Jewelry District land where Route 195 used to be. All … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, I-195 Redevelopment District, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

A modern sculptor’s lament

Posted on April 24, 2016 by David Brussat

The grassy triangular plot of land at the corner of Kennedy Plaza and Burnside Park in downtown Providence – officially Parcel 12 of Capital Center – is unofficially called Bad Sculpture Park. A hotel is going to be built there, … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Humor, Providence, Providence Journal, Rhode Island, Urbanism and planning, Video | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Two agin transforming Prov.

Posted on February 10, 2016 by David Brussat

Here are two columns I wrote long ago about the “Transforming Providence” symposium held at RISD Auditorium in November 2000. The first ran before the event, the second after the event. They represent my occasional effort to promote some sort … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Blast from past, Development, Preservation, Providence, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Trying to like this building

Posted on January 25, 2016 by David Brussat

Capital Properties has proposed and the Capital Center Commission has apparently approved the design above for the parcel next to the almost supernaturally ugly Capital Cove, on land at Canal and Smith streets along the Moshassuck River. Here is what … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art and design, Blast from past, Development, Providence, Providence Journal, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments