Tag Archives: Rhode Island

Pedestrian pedestrian bridge

Posted on October 3, 2014 by David Brussat

A bridge project I’d hoped and prayed was dead has risen to become, for lack of more ambitious possibilities as yet, the likely first part of the Route 195 development project to move forward in Providence. The streets and utilities … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Development, Providence | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Column: Warren speaks truth to preservation

Posted on May 1, 2014 by David Brussat

Ocean State preservationists gathered on Saturday in Warren to celebrate pride in preservation, the theme of the 29th annual conference of the Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission. It rained on their parade but not on Warren’s robust sense of … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Preservation, Providence, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Blast past: A Warren warning

Posted on April 29, 2014 by David Brussat

During Saturday’s preservation conference in Warren, while listening to speaker Mark Fenton remind us that Warren fended off a Walgreens long ago, I was reminded of a column I wrote in 1997 about how the megadrugstore tried to plop one of its pug-uglies … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Blast from past, Preservation, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Time Lapse advance alert!

Posted on April 1, 2014 by David Brussat

Sheila Lennon, Journal uber-blogger, speaks this Thursday. Details below. What is depicted in the photo above? This is a trick question because it is a trick photograph, one that I found on Tuesday afternoon rifling through the Journal photo archives … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Photography, Preservation, Providence | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Providence’s 10 best lost buildings

Posted on March 27, 2014 by David Brussat

Providence has no Penn Station, no lost building whose absence wounds deeply to this day. Union Passenger Depot, designed by Thomas Tefft and completed in 1848, was replaced by Union Station in 1898, arguably its equal in beauty. The Depot’s … Continue reading →

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

Column: The easy way to build on R.I.’s assets

Posted on March 13, 2014 by David Brussat

Almost all cities and states have policies intended to strengthen their economies by building on their assets. Most fail because they reject easy strategies and embrace difficult strategies. Two recent Commentary pieces in The Providence Journal address this issue: “Wise … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Preservation, Providence, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Carpionato proposal for 195 land

Posted on February 23, 2014 by David Brussat

Here are some images from the Carpionato Group’s proposal to redevelop most of the vacant Route 195 land east of the Providence River, in Fox Point. The illustrations, drawn under the direction of architect Neil Middleton of TRO Jung Brannen … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art and design, Providence, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Column: Digging into the Route 195 “Toolkit”

Posted on February 20, 2014 by David Brussat

On Monday evening, breaking only for the Olympic figure skating in Sochi, I plowed through the 139 pages of the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission’s new “Developer’s Toolkit.” LINK_Toolkit(1) My object was to find out what sort of vision the commissioners had … Continue reading →

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

Old videos: Two from 1940s Rhode Island

Posted on February 9, 2014 by David Brussat

Two old film clips of Rhode Island take viewers on tours of the nation’s smallest state – the smallest but not the least significant! The first is a propaganda film focusing on the home front and its values; the second … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Old Video, Preservation, Providence, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Curse of the ‘Creative Capital’

Posted on January 17, 2014 by David Brussat

The rebranding of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation (RIEDC) as the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation (RICC) is complete, and a complete dud. This is the government agency that’s supposed to get the state economy growing again to produce jobs … Continue reading →

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