Tag Archives: Technology

Songs of electric car silence

Posted on July 6, 2019 by David Brussat

One of the endearing features of electric and hybrid cars is the silence of their engines. So of course that feature is about to meet its maker. U.S. and E.U. regulators are calling for noisemaking electric engines for safety reasons. … Continue reading →

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

The sinister self-driving car

Posted on March 7, 2018 by David Brussat

The Atlantic has a very interesting article, “How Self-Driving Cars Will Threaten Privacy,” by Adrienne LaFrance. It actually ran a couple of years ago, and looks forward to the convenience of life with a self-driving car. The car will listen … Continue reading →

Posted in Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Hooked on bridges, are ya?

Posted on July 30, 2017 by David Brussat

Well, here’s a treat for you. This collection of 29 “Stunning Bridges From Around the World” has some real beauts, plus a few bummers thrown in to help you appreciate the beauts a little more. The group, from the website … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Photography | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Mehaffy on “gentrification”

Posted on June 14, 2017 by David Brussat

All change is bad. Take gentrification. Gentrification is when rich people suddenly take a liking to a poor part of town, move in, raise property values, and force longtime residents – that is, the poor – to move out. Right? … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Development, Providence | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Behold the GPS landscape

Posted on February 27, 2017 by David Brussat

In his recent essay in New York Magazine, “I Used to be a Human Being,” on how social media almost killed him, Andrew Sullivan wrote: Our oldest human skills atrophy. GPS, for example, is a godsend for finding our way … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Books and Culture | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Self-driving auto-da-fe?

Posted on July 9, 2016 by David Brussat

Auto-da-fé has come to mean, in common lexicon, the burning of a heretic. Give it more time and the phrase will mean self-immolation. Let me push it along a bit. The recent first death in an accident involving a self-driving … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The driverless car fiasco

Posted on May 27, 2016 by David Brussat

Driverless cars are fast becoming the next big thing, with timelines for their arrival collapsing at breakneck speed. They remind me of the Minions. Craaashhh! The website grist.org has an article by Katie Herzog called “No One Wants Driverless Cars … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Art and design, Development, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

“Up from Ugliness” at NYT

Posted on July 17, 2015 by David Brussat

Here is what I wrote about a New York Times column before learning it was published not recently but in 2011. Sigh. Well, the points do remain valid. * * * Ross Douthat, a regular columnist at the New York … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Art and design, Development, Preservation, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

In defense of AutoCAD!

Posted on April 2, 2015 by David Brussat

My post on CAD – which I wish I’d called “CAD or cad?” – has drawn some comment on TradArch from the technique’s defenders. Among the most eloquent and entertaining is Nathaniel Walker’s assertion that computer aided design is just … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art and design, Humor, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment