Monthly Archives: January 2020

The real Minette de Silva

Posted on January 30, 2020 by David Brussat

Sometimes it seems like open season on female architects as long as they are in cahoots with the roving eye of Le Corbusier, one of the founding fathers of modern architecture. There is the recurrent hullaballoo over Eileen Gray, whose … Continue reading →

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Bad Mad Men

Posted on January 28, 2020 by David Brussat

See them (the bad mad men) lurking in the background? Please don’t remove the foreground (the bad mad, often angry, women)! So here’s Dan Bishop, production designer for Mad Men, describing (I think in Dwell magazine, as my source seems … Continue reading →

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Gone fishin’; back soon, II

Posted on January 26, 2020 by David Brussat

On Tuesday I go under the knife for an aortic valve replacement, and I deeply thank all who have wished me well, both the first time (the operation was originally scheduled for Dec. 17) and this time. Nobody wants his … Continue reading →

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Birds versus the glass box

Posted on January 25, 2020 by David Brussat

The Wexford Innovation Center, completed last year in Providence’s I-195 corridor dedicated to technology, has been killing birds. No, they are not horrified to death by its ugliness; rather, they are disoriented by its reflective plate-glass windows, which birds think … Continue reading →

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Daum: Four days in Berlin

Posted on January 22, 2020 by David Brussat

This essay was written by Eric Daum, founder of the firm Eric Inman Daum, Architect, who traveled with his wife, Beth Niemi, to Berlin in November. Beth had been to East Berlin in 1986, and this essay is accompanied by … Continue reading →

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Driehaus for Thai architect

Posted on January 18, 2020 by David Brussat

The 2020 Driehaus Prize for Thai architect Ong-ard Satrabhandhu recalls my dinner today. I have just returned from a restaurant called Sawadee, where I continued my quest for an acceptable pad Thai after the closure, last month, of my favorite … Continue reading →

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The future of Providence

Posted on January 15, 2020 by David Brussat

Dire. That’s a good word for the bad future of Providence if the erosion of its historic character continues at its current pace. In “Say no to ugly buildings,” an Oct. 28 oped for the Providence Journal, I listed the … Continue reading →

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Sir Roger Scruton, RIP

Posted on January 12, 2020 by David Brussat

Death took Roger Scruton today. He was the world’s deepest thinker on architecture and aesthetics, which were embedded in the conservatism of his broader philosophy. Scruton embraced tradition, holding that “the tried and true” are a stronger foundation than novelty … Continue reading →

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Architecture reform school

Posted on January 10, 2020 by David Brussat

(Oops, I think I meant “Reform architecture school.”) ArchNewsNow, compiled by the inimitable Kristen Richards, is a thrice-weekly compendium of news and opinion on architecture from around the world. Each collection of articles includes one or more features generated specifically … Continue reading →

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Why villains love modernism

Posted on January 8, 2020 by David Brussat

The title of the CNN website’s feature article is actually “Why movie villains love modern architecture,” but my headline asks a more pertinent question. It’s not just movie villains but actual villains whose architectural taste flies in the face of … Continue reading →

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