Tag Archives: Providence

Union Studio enchantment

Posted on June 4, 2014 by David Brussat

The sketch above really threw me for a loop a while back, during the evolution of the 257 Thayer St. project, when Gilbane Properties (or Development) gave the flawed original design to Union Studio Architects in downtown Providence. I visited … Continue reading →

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Blast from past: Fogarty

Posted on May 29, 2014 by David Brussat

Today’s column involves a plan to place an extraordinarily bland extended-stay hotel (luxury, of course, and well “branded,” on the site of the Brutalist Fogarty Building, which would be torn down. Haven’t we been here before? Yes, we have! Not … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Blast from past, Development, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Don’t just shrug off horrid hotel plan

Posted on May 29, 2014 by David Brussat

What’s that word these days that articulates a shrug of the shoulders? Meh. The day after Memorial Day, The Journal reported a proposed 170-room “premium-branded upscale extended-stay” hotel for Fountain Street, in downtown Providence. To be razed was the Fogarty … Continue reading →

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

Providence Opera House

Posted on May 28, 2014 by David Brussat

I had the pleasure of foisting my viewpoint upon a captive audience at a recent meeting of the Providence Netopian Club. For the uninitiated, which is surely almost everyone, Rhode Island founder Roger Williams, the father of religious (or “soul”) … Continue reading →

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Blast past: Evolution on Thayer Street

Posted on May 19, 2014 by David Brussat

Here is a column I wrote more than 20 years ago about Thayer Street and the denizens thereof. I don’t even want to begin to start reflecting on the nature of its changes since then. Many readers will have their … Continue reading →

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Life on Thayer Street

Posted on May 18, 2014 by David Brussat

My family dined al fresco on Thayer Street this evening. Thayer is the main street of Brown University on College Hill, in Providence. We arrived, sat down, got out our mobile media, and noticed a party under way on a … Continue reading →

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Gingerly in Brooklyn

Posted on May 14, 2014 by David Brussat

The house above, in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn, is regarded, according to this piece about the gingerbread on Curbed.com, as New York City’s most charmingly adorable “fairy tale” residence. But it has been sitting on the market, watching … Continue reading →

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Beauty isn’t so difficult

Posted on May 13, 2014 by David Brussat

How do they do it? Beauty. Other things being equal, people spend much of their discretionary time in places where it is enough merely to be there to feel pleasure beyond what can normally be felt at home. Building beauty … Continue reading →

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RISD alumni fair, Benefit St.

Posted on May 3, 2014 by David Brussat

Here are some random shots of Benefit Street – Providence’s “Mile of History” – during the annual alumni art fair at RISD (riz’-dee, the Rhode Island School of Design). This was just before my Jane’s Walk, which was loads of … Continue reading →

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Arnold and Alice

Posted on April 24, 2014 by David Brussat

The Arnold Building had a serious fire in, I think, 2007. Its owner, Pat Cortellessa, who once ran for mayor against Buddy Cianci, lacked sufficient insurance to undertake repairs. This past year the Arnold was taken by eminent domain and … Continue reading →

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