Tag Archives: New Urbanism

Kunstler vs. infinite suburbia

Posted on November 4, 2017 by

James Howard Kunstler, best known for his 1993 book The Geography of Nowhere, which condemns suburbia, may be the hardest urban policy analyst to pigeonhole ideologically. Anyhow, I revere Kunstler not for his supposed nonpartisanship but for his coinership of … Continue reading →

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Market town, New Zealand

Posted on June 18, 2017 by

Not so long ago, I wrote a blog post and received a comment in reply from “leveveg.” (I am not sure that’s his name, or even whether he’s a he.) Anyway, I visited his Norway-based website, dedicated to sensible urbanism, … Continue reading →

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“Within Walking Distance”

Posted on June 2, 2017 by

Philip Langdon’s new book Within Walking Distance, published by Island Press, uses six examples of walkable communities to show how they are made. No, unfortunately they do not arise spontaneously, at least not anymore, not since the postwar era, in … Continue reading →

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Fire trucks in Celebration

Posted on March 19, 2017 by

It seems that citizens of the town of Celebration, originally developed by Disney near Orlando, Fla., have been unsafe in their houses since 1996, when it first opened. The fire department says it must ban parking on side streets and … Continue reading →

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And the race is on!

Posted on February 13, 2017 by

Providence. Friday, February 10. 7:45 a.m. This is a completely absurdist concept for a blog post, but my cab to Green Airport, outside of Providence, will (I hope) pick me up in 45 minutes. So here, to be brief, are … Continue reading →

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Chace plans downtown digs

Posted on February 7, 2017 by

When it was announced several years ago that Providence developer Buff Chace would purchase the Journal Building and the parking lot across from it on Fountain Street, he expressed the hope of erecting a new building on the latter site. … Continue reading →

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Walker: “Babylon electrified”

Posted on November 2, 2015 by

Nathaniel Robert Walker, whose essay on food and architecture many readers here recall fondly, has sent me another essay, this one entitled “Babylon Electrified: Oriental Hybridity as Futurism in Victorian Utopian Architecture.” The title may sound daunting but, as with … Continue reading →

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Authenticity in placemaking

Posted on October 7, 2015 by

As part of its 30th anniversary celebration, the Providence arts collaborative AS220 gathered several expert “placemakers” under the deep atrium sky of the Callendar, McAuslan & Troup Building (1873, 1892). Called the Peerless Building now after the last in a … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Art and design, Books and Culture, Development, Preservation, Urbanism and planning, Video | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Outpost of beauty at I’On

Posted on April 17, 2015 by

Northeast of Charleston, over the Ravenel Bridge across the Cooper, in the town of Mount Pleasant, is the curiously named I’On, named for a historic personage of South Carolina. It is worthy of the name – quaint, charming, beautiful, historic … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Development, Urbanism and planning, Video | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Trading TradArch trash talk

Posted on April 14, 2015 by

The gloves came off at TradArch on Sunday, not in the least a day of rest but one on which a host of disputes were engaged. Nothing was resolved, or was likely to be resolved. Each time a voice rang … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , | 19 Comments