Tag Archives: Providence Public Library

Is architecture charming?

Posted on October 20, 2018 by David Brussat

Although it says nothing of architecture, an essay by Joseph Epstein on charm causes me to wonder whether architecture can be charming. His essay, “Life’s Little Luxury,” in The Weekly Standard, is discursive, that is, it rambles round, making its … Continue reading →

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Crashing into looking glass

Posted on February 18, 2018 by David Brussat

I’m always on the lookout for evidence of the flaws of modern architecture. So I was pleased to learn through an article in Fortune magazine that employees at Apple’s new round glass spaceship-like headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., keep walking into … Continue reading →

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“Lost Prov” at Rochambeau

Posted on September 25, 2017 by David Brussat

This evening at 7, at the Rochambeau Library, readers are invited to look and listen as the author of Lost Providence explains why the library serves as a fitting example of a phenomenon the book so ardently regrets. No, the … Continue reading →

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‘Lost Prov’ show at PPL Wed.

Posted on September 19, 2017 by David Brussat

Tomorrow the Lost Providence road show will appear at the Providence Public Library for a slide lecture at 6:30 p.m. The real show here, however, is the exterior of the library on Washington Street, which opened in 1900, the balustrade … Continue reading →

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Plan to goof up Prov library

Posted on March 12, 2017 by David Brussat

The 1954 Moderne addition to the Providence Public Library’s original Beaux-Arts building, completed in 1900, already has much to atone for. Not the building itself – its architects and, more, the PPL board that canceled a classical addition (below) in … Continue reading →

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Tale of two library entries

Posted on August 2, 2016 by David Brussat

Here is last month’s blog post for Traditional Building magazine. It applauds a recent Palladio Award winner, HBRA Architects of Chicago, for reopening a library entrance at Northwestern University that was closed in 1970 after a Brutalist new library was … Continue reading →

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Adele C-T at PPS in Prov.

Posted on January 20, 2016 by David Brussat

Adele Chatfield-Taylor will speak at tonight’s annual meeting of the Providence Preservation Society. It will be at 5:30 p.m. this evening in the Providence Public Library. Last night, trying to finally decide whether to attend or to train up to … Continue reading →

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

Column: Roses and raspberries for 2013

Posted on January 9, 2014 by David Brussat

From amid the doldrums of economic lethargy, good news and potential roses for 2013 arose last year in downtown Providence, where the Arcade is being redeveloped, as are four buildings once owned by Providence Gas. Dr. Downtown suspects that readers … Continue reading →

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“Wrong Way” Corrigan Public Library

Posted on December 29, 2013 by David Brussat

Dale Thompson has retired after 25 years as executive director of the Providence Public Library. I make no comment on her accomplishments, except to note that over that span she – and the library’s board – oversaw the renovation of … Continue reading →

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