#lost providence

[davidbrussat]

Providence lost, regained IV

R.I. State House plays Providence City Hall in 2007 film “Underdog.” Editor’s note: This is the final segment of the epilogue of my book, Lost Providence, entitled “Providence Lost, Providence Regained.” Published in 2017, the book is a history of the design of the modern-day capital of Rhode Island, specifically of its downtown. So why is this reprinted segment illustrated by the Rhode Island…

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[davidbrussat]

Providence lost, regained III

Poundbury, a suburb of Dorchester, in southwest England, was built by King Charles (as prince). Editor’s note: This is the third part of the epilogue of Lost Providence, titled “Providence Lost and Regained.” *** 5 a.m. I’m falling apart. My boyfriend is sleeping with a bronzed giantess. My mother is sleeping with a Portuguese. Jeremy is sleeping with a horrible trollop. Prince Charles is…

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[davidbrussat]

Providence lost, regained II

Postcard of Waterman Building (1893), RISD’s first permanent edifice. (RISD VR blog) The Rhode Island School of Design offered its services [a decade ago] to assist the I-195 commissioners in producing a successful design template for the 195 land. To shape its guidance, RISD should touch base with its origins. The school was formed in 1877 to soften and sweeten the local manufacturing process.…

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[davidbrussat]

Providence lost and regained

Rhode Island State Capitol (1901), designed by McKim, Mead & White. (Photo by author) Editor’s note: This is the first section of the epilogue of Lost Providence, entitled “Providence Lost, Providence Regained.” *** The purpose of the D-1 District is to encourage and direct development in the downtown to ensure that: new development is compatible with the existing historic building fabric and the…

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[davidbrussat]

Westminster Street in 1978. Note the faux modernist siding on ground floors, including, at far right, the sheathing on the Old Providence Journal Building, applied in the 1950s prior to the Downtown 1970 Plan. This is the bottom half of Chapter 22, “The Downcity Plan,” from Lost Providence, published in 2017: *** Economist Richard Florida’s 2002 book The Rise of the Creative Class revealed, as if…

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[davidbrussat]

Waterplace and WaterFire

Downtown Providence as seen from northeast, from a spot on College Hill. For some reason, its skyline, which is best seen from the east, is nowhere pictured as viewed from the top of College Street on College Hill. Perhaps because the view of the Industrial Trust is obscured. (photo by N. Millard) The encirclement of Waterplace Park by sterile modernism terribly degrades the experience of…

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[davidbrussat]

Downtown Providence 1970

This image of the proposed Westminster Mall is from Downtown Providence 1970. (Author’s archives) This is the second half of Chapter 15 from Lost Providence. Chapters leading up to “Downtown Providence 1970 Plan” in Part II of the book are: “Cove Basin and the Railroads,” “The World’s Widest Bridge” and “New Courthouse and Old Brick Row.” The subsequent chapters, from which I will select for…

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