A Modest Proposal for Smith Street –– Architecture Critic Morgan

A Modest Proposal for Smith Street –– Architecture Critic Morgan

Providence has a blessedly rich skyline of buildings and hills, of churches and skyscrapers. But the single outstanding landmark is the Rhode Island State House. Not only is it one of the handsomest pieces of architecture in the nation, it rightly dominates the city from its commanding site atop Smith Hill.

The State House hardly needs re-introduction to its citizens. After a century and a quarter, it remains a paradigm of Beaux-Arts classicism and a symbol of the time when Rhode Island was an industrial giant and major political influence. With its respectful distillations of the genius of Michelangelo and Christopher Wren, architect Charles McKim's brilliant composition remains one of the most impressive of all the American capitol buildings.

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Aside from it architectural munificence and political symbolism, the State House acts a visual fulcrum for the city. Approaching the city, the capitol is an anchor, a beacon, a landmark, and a constant reference point.  While some of these viewpoints are more foreshortened than others, one of the grandest approaches to the capitol is down Smith Street from the west.

 

 

While not the most prosperous of neighborhoods, the half mile of Smith Street from the intersection of Chalkstone Avenue to the Capitol is a fascinating mélange of architecture: an Art Deco post office, a Victorian school, a Georgian revival church, plus houses of various time periods.

 

 

Such a potential grand boulevard offers a colorful mosaic of churches, restaurants, bars, ethnic groceries, stores, fast food joints, and bodegas. Not least of all is the nearly century-old New York System Weiners with its fabulous neon moniker.

Smith Hill is as close to the State House as is College Hill, yet it has some positive elements that need reinforcing. It definitely could use an infusion of capital and commitment. But let's start with the west end of this half mile of history.

The junction of Chalkstone Avenue and Smith Street is most in need of some kind of inspired urban intervention. Right now is just a wide, dangerous intersection.

Many squares in Providence are named for veterans. If this automotive rodeo zone has a name, let's use it. If not, it needs one, as it is easier to rally around a project if it has a strong identity. This crossroads could use some serious traffic calming, perhaps transforming it into a roundabout. 

 

 

This element could be a fountain, a sculpture, an arch, a light show, or an overhead pedestrian bridge soaring above the fray. It could be designed by a national competition, a class from RISD, famous landscape architects, or a by a neighborhood or school group. What is important is to seize upon such a creative intervention as the focus for the rejuvenation of Smith Hill.

 

 

 

William Morgan was trained at Dartmouth and Columbia; he has taught at Princeton, Louisville, and Brown. The author of more than a dozen books on architecture, his writing has twice been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.