The Industrial Trust Bank Building arises, circa 1927. This is a photograph I wish I had published in my book Lost Providence. It shows how a tall new building can be inserted into a city skyline.
Just as the Providence Journal has published its magnificent collection of old Providence and Rhode Island photographs, it is time to go out and get (if you don’t have it) my book Lost Providence. The two books would work well as a Christmas gift package, and they also work hand-in-glove as an example of how the rivalry between traditional and modern architecture has played out in one medium-sized American city. The book I have been blogging about much of late, Making Dystopia by James Stevens Curl, is a history of modern architecture in the 20th century. It would also be an excellent companion on this topic. I will be reviewing the newspaper’s book, Rhode Island Memories: The Early Years, a Pictorial History, very soon.
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About David Brussat
This blog was begun in 2009 as a feature of the Providence Journal, where I was on the editorial board and wrote a weekly column of architecture criticism for three decades. Architecture Here and There fights the style wars for classical architecture and against modern architecture, no holds barred.
History Press asked me to write and in August 2017 published my first book, "Lost Providence." I am now writing my second book.
My freelance writing on architecture and other topics addresses issues of design and culture locally and globally.
I am a member of the board of the New England chapter of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art, which bestowed an Arthur Ross Award on me in 2002.
I work from Providence, R.I., where I live with my wife Victoria, my son Billy and our cat Gato.
If you would like to employ my writing and editing to improve your work, please email me at my consultancy, dbrussat@gmail.com, or call 401.351.0457.
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- Nikos Salingaros, mathematician at the University of Texas, architectural theorist and author of many books.
Architecture Here and There 
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