Tag Archives: Skyscrapers

“Paris Without Skyscrapers”

Posted on May 29, 2022 by David Brussat

There is an infinity of reasons why Paris should not build skyscrapers. Each street, each building, amounts to such a reason. You could say each citizen of Paris, each citizen of the world is a reason. But one reason I … Continue reading →

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Your “average life altitude”

Posted on October 21, 2021 by David Brussat

Several days ago I was chatting with a friend and the topic of past residences came up. I recalled a column I’d written in January 2009 for the Providence Journal in which I’d unveiled what I called my “average life … Continue reading →

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Tall buildings all fall down

Posted on August 30, 2021 by David Brussat

Is there something off-kilter about the photo above from a video sent to me yesterday by architectural theorist Nikos Salingaros? Yes, there is. At first I thought it was a video of Pruitt-Igoe, the St. Louis public housing project, all … Continue reading →

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

New England’s “Windy City”

Posted on March 9, 2020 by David Brussat

Boston is the Windy City of New England partly because of its proximity to the North Atlantic but also its funnels of street gusts caused by its dreadfully metastasizing skyscrapers. Wind tunnels are raising eyebrows (and skirts) in the Hub, … Continue reading →

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Hudson Yards as Dildoville

Posted on October 6, 2019 by David Brussat

The other day a correspondent sent me, under the title “Beyond parody,” an item from Architect’s Newspaper headlined “Design firm turns Hudson Yards towers into sex toys.” This family blog must of course issue a firm “No comment.” The late … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Humor | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Art of the Olive Oyl skyline

Posted on July 19, 2019 by David Brussat

This amazing (and scary) shot of Manhattan snapped (if you can say that about photos these days) from a helicopter hovering over Central Park was taken the other day by Miami architect Steve Mouzon. He and others may very well … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Development | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Ban glass and steel in NYC

Posted on April 29, 2019 by David Brussat

That’s really what New York City’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, said. He called for a “ban” on glass-and-steel skyscrapers. But that is not what he actually meant. That idea would never fly in Manhattan. The mayor’s handlers are already walking … Continue reading →

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Update: Vandals versus Paris

Posted on April 14, 2018 by David Brussat

Mary Campbell Gallagher, founder and president of the International Coalition for the Preservation of Paris and U.S. liaison to SOS Paris, has issued a shot over the bow of the vandals at the city’s gates. Her shot, in the form … Continue reading →

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

Our pushy American tongue

Posted on June 27, 2017 by David Brussat

As a proud owner of one of the several editions of H.L. Mencken’s The American Language, I was tickled to see him cited in an essay about how, after a battle of centuries, American English has conquered English English. The … Continue reading →

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AD’s 24 ugliest skyscrapers

Posted on May 4, 2017 by David Brussat

Architectural Digest has posted a list of the 24 ugliest skyscrapers in the world. Bully for AD. The building on top is in Bangkok. Is it the ugliest or the 24th ugliest? The editors do not say. I suspect that … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Humor | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments