Tag Archives: Providence RI

Christo laundry, wacko RISD

Posted on April 21, 2017 by David Brussat

The Jewelry District Association, in Providence, reports that Christo is going to cross the Providence River and line India Point Park with laundry, pegged on a giant laundry line. In my book, that crosses an important boundary, as does RISD’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art and design, Humor | Tagged , , , , , , | 11 Comments

No, not halfway to Houston

Posted on April 19, 2017 by David Brussat

Yesterday’s post, “Prov’s halfway to Houston,” generated some blowback in my own mind, especially when, later in the day, I came across two reports that lifted my heart and my hopes about Providence and its future. Maybe “halfway” to Houston … Continue reading →

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

Prov’s halfway to Houston

Posted on April 18, 2017 by David Brussat

Those who are running Providence these days should realize that a beautiful city can become an ugly city. It will not happen at once, but it is likely to happen before most people notice it, and too late to be … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , | 11 Comments

GoLocal’s buildings to demo

Posted on March 20, 2017 by David Brussat

In the wake of the decline and fall of the Fogarty Building, in Providence, GoLocalProv.com ran an important list: “Providence’s Fogarty Building Demolished, What Other Buildings Should Go?” It includes a slide show featuring a set of buildings that should … Continue reading →

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

One dry eye at Fogarty wake

Posted on March 17, 2017 by David Brussat

There’s a bar in downtown Providence, a karaoke place at Westminster and Empire, called Finnegan’s Wake. Well, today we held Fogarty’s Wake for the Fogarty Building, who’s demo began Monday. I’ve made a cottage industry of disparaging it in print. … Continue reading →

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

Saving historic pavement

Posted on March 15, 2017 by David Brussat

One of many fascinating narratives in Seven Ages of Paris was author Alistair Horne’s frequent return to the subject of how Paris’s streets evolved from muddy lanes awash in human waste to paved streets with gutters down the middle to … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art and design, Preservation | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Eulogies for Fogarty on tap

Posted on March 13, 2017 by David Brussat

Whether you are glad or sad to see it go, the Fogarty Building finally seems about to ruthlessly collide its chunky members, such as they are, for the last time. Demolition of the empty, forlorn 1967 building in the Brutalist … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Providence | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

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 →

Posted in Architecture, Preservation, Providence | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Oops! Wrong shot of hotel

Posted on March 11, 2017 by David Brussat

Thursday’s Providence Journal story, “Icon? Eyesore? Demolition to begin of Fogar- ty Building in downtown,” about the demise of the Fogarty Building and its replacement by a new hotel had the wrong picture of the hotel design. It shows the … Continue reading →

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Swallow up R.I., circa 1862

Posted on March 11, 2017 by David Brussat

The British writer Anthony Trollope, born in 1815, wrote over forty novels plus various nonfictional accounts, including a two-volume North America, published in 1862 and based on a nine months’ sojourn here. In 1823, his mother, Frances Trollope, wrote a … Continue reading →

Posted in Books and Culture, Rhode Island | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments