Author Archives: David Brussat

Unknown's avatar

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. Testimonial: "Your work is so wonderful - you now enter my mind and write what I would have written." - Nikos Salingaros, mathematician at the University of Texas, architectural theorist and author of many books.

Chapter 19, “We hate that”

View of Old Stone Square (1984) from Turk’s Head Building (1913), site of author’s Turk’s Head Club luncheon with Journal publisher Michael Metcalf in 1984. (Photo by author) I decided to go with Chapter 19, “We Hate That” because how … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Lost Providence | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Interface Plan, cont.

View of downtown from north of water feature near State House. (Author’s archives) The second half of Chapter 17, “The Interface Plan,” opens with a continuation of comments on architectural trends in the early 1970s and then describes the Interface: … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The Interface Plan of 1974

The second half of Chapter 17, “The Interface Plan,” from Lost Providence, tells the story of the plan produced by the Rhode Island School of Design students under Prof. Gerald Howes. It was the first plan to open up the … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Lost Providence | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Delay foils NYC megaproject?

rendering of proposed Eighth Avenue facade of Penn Station. (Nova Concepts/Richard Cameron) Crain’s New York, the financial newspaper, reports that Vornado Realty Trust has announced it is delaying its plan to build ten skyscrapers in the near vicinity of Pennsylvania … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Development | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

The College Hill Study, cont.

Here is the second half of Chapter 16, “The College Hill Study,” from Lost Providence. The study’s proposals, released in 1959, would have replaced much of the fabled district’s historical houses with modernist infill, although most of the houses condemned … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Lost Providence | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

The College Hill Study

This is the first half of the second chapter in this series, which reprints segments from Part II of Lost Providence, published in 2017 by History Press. Chapter 16, “The College Hill Study,” looks at how the city intended to … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Lost Providence | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Downtown Providence 1970

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 … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Lost Providence | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Reposting “Lost Providence”

Five years have passed since the publication of Lost Providence, so there is no better time than now to re-introduce my book to readers of my blog. In 2015, the History Press asked me to expand one of my last … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Lost Providence | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Better lights for Providence

Getting into the Wayback Machine, I alight on this blog post from February 6, 2015, called “Better lights for Providence,” atop of which is a beautiful photo of Benefit Street and its lovely, faux-18th century amber lights. I thought that … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Art and design, Blast from past | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Imagine reimagining Capri!

Midjourney AI program renders Capri with few of its manmade features. (Architect) Aaron Betsky, long the essayist of Architect magazine, remains on top of his game at gaming the future of architecture. It has been far too long since I … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments