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Tag Archives: Urbanism
Cleveland, fair and square
My first visit to Cleveland revealed a city rich in history and in historical architecture, far beyond what I had expected. The downtown and beyond feature many more large, old, lovely buildings than Providence. For me and perhaps for readers … Continue reading
It’s truly a beautiful world
Like everyone else, people I know send me stuff online that they get from people they know. Lee Juskalian, who used to work on development in Providence until moving to California a couple of decades ago, occasionally sends me photographs, … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Photography
Tagged Animals, Earth, Nature, photography, Planets, Plants, Urbanism
7 Comments
‘Ask Dr. Downtown’ revisited
In my last post, “Modern Diner, USModernist,” I promised USModernist talk host George Smart (aka Mr. Modernism) to send him an example of my old “Ask Dr. Downtown” columns, from when I did a column of architecture criticism every Thursday … Continue reading
R. Crumb & Klaus’ urbanism
Klaustoon’s Blog has been on my blog roll for years. His intricate sketches satirize the inside baseball among the modern architects, such as one he did on the Pritzker Prize of 2015, which I discussed in “Klaustoon pricks Pritzkers.” I … Continue reading
For one- or two-way streets?
On a recent sojourn in (and above) Manhattan, Steve Mouzon sparked a Facebook conversation about the merits and demerits of one- and two-way streets. It unfolded at such a high level of thoughtfulness about streets (of either ilk) from so … Continue reading
Halloween in Providence
Last night’s Halloween trick-or-treat scene near our little house on Providence’s East Side showcased the charms of our more modest nook of the Blackstone neighborhood. On account of its evident friendliness, our district is usually mobbed by families from other … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Uncategorized
Tagged Angry Birds, Blackstone, Cities, Halloween, Hope Street, Porches, Providence RI, Trick or Treat, Urbanism
2 Comments
Europe as museum for rich?
The late Walter Laqueur, who died last week after a long career cataloguing the sins of communism, terrorism and the Holocaust, was quoted in his New York Times obituary asserting that the “possibility that Europe will become a museum or … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Urbanism and planning
Tagged Bistros, Cities, Fane Toiwer, Modern Architecture, New York Times, Paris, Providence, Roger Scruton, Sam Roberts, Urbanism, Venice, Walking, Walter Laqueur
7 Comments
L’Apogée, here we come!
This afternoon’s meeting of the Downtown Design Review Committee was cut short when one applicant, the developer of a second ugly building on Canal Street next to the first one now under construction, begged off till next time. In its … Continue reading
We dodged the HQ2 bullet
Providence would have been slaughtered if Amazon had decided to build its second headquarters – HQ2 – in Rhode Island and its capital city. So for the loss of 50,000 well-paid jobs and sundry other benefits, we should not blame … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Development
Tagged Amazon, HQ2, Preservation, Providence RI, Rhode Island, Rhode Island Commerce Corporation, Superman Building, Urbanism
12 Comments
Jan Gehl’s misplacemaking
ArchDaily has interviewed Jan Gehl, the noted Danish designer and theorist of placemaking. The article, “In the last 50 years, architects have forgotten what a good human scale is,” suggests that Gehl’s thinking, for all its merit, has not truly … Continue reading
