Tag Archives: James Howard Kunstler

A visit to East Greenwich

Posted on December 10, 2016 by David Brussat

The other day I paid a brief visit to East Greenwich, one of Rhode Island’s most lovely towns. Main Street has long been a charming rendition of civic life, ever a pleasure to drive through or, better yet, stop and … Continue reading →

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“Vessel” and Gaillard Center

Posted on October 11, 2016 by David Brussat

Far distant on the spectrum of the architectural firmament from “The Vessel,” whose status as Jim Kunstler’s Eyesore of the Month I touted in a post, “Stairway to nowhere in N.Y.,” earlier today, is the new Gaillard Center, a concert … Continue reading →

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Stairway to nowhere in N.Y.

Posted on October 11, 2016 by David Brussat

Above is “The Vessel,” so-called. Jim Kunstler has selected it for October’s Eyesore of the Month, on his website. “The Vessel” is designed by Thomas Heatherwick, the British architect who specializes in the ridiculous. It is apparently an attempt to mimic … Continue reading →

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Techno-narcissist Kunstler’d

Posted on April 17, 2016 by David Brussat

James Howard Kunstler’s latest Eyesore of the Month, which I reprint from his blog Clusterfuck Nation, had to be the winner of this year’s ridiculous eVolo Magazine architecture contest. And so it was. Only the ugliest and the stupidest entries … Continue reading →

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Preserve Mineral Spring Ave.

Posted on April 1, 2016 by David Brussat

Here is a column I wrote precisely 17 years ago. At the end is a mini-column relating to an early version of what turned out to be the GTECH building. *** Preserve Mineral Spring Avenue April 1, 1999 TWO YEARS … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Development, Landscape Architecture, Preservation, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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

Why we fall back on parks

Posted on August 26, 2015 by David Brussat

My post yesterday after the debate in Providence between proponents of a park or a ballpark along the Providence River, even though the waterfront is “festooned” with parks, elicited this eye-opening response from James Howard Kunstler, the celebrated critic of … Continue reading →

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

My 15 minutes of fame!

Posted on May 6, 2015 by David Brussat

James Howard Kunstler, coiner of the word “crudscape,” author of great books from The Geography of Nowhere to World Built By Hand to The Long Emergency, lecturer extraordinaire, has picked up my denunciation of the new T entry at Government … Continue reading →

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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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Tennessee sky scrape

Posted on August 16, 2014 by David Brussat

Continuing with A History of the Future, here’s what happens to skyscrapers after nobody can afford to keep them juiced. The passage begins in Nashville, with the protagonist’s first view of the former Capital of Country Music. Every American city … Continue reading →

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