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.

Raymond Hood’s Providence

Above is a photo of a photo of a microfilm copy from a front-page story in the March 19, 1916, edition of the Providence Sunday Journal. It shows a proposed new municipal building designed by architect Raymond Hood, who was … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Alexander’s classical tent

Christopher Alexander – well known for his Pattern Language, his four-volume The Nature of Order, and for his research on the natural creation of form in architecture and digital technology – wrote an excellent open letter to members of the … Continue reading

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

Poundbury a tourist mecca?

A day or so ago there were comments on my post about Venice having too many tourists, which led to the question of whether tourists would press a bit less on places like Venice and Paris if new places were … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Henry James’s Roman ruins

As we saw in his novel The Princess Casamassima, Henry James indulges himself in his descriptions of cities. In Daisy Miller, he describes the ruin of the Palace of the Caesars, and the Colosseum, in Rome: A few days after … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Books and Culture | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Coming up: ‘If Venice Dies’

My colleague from my days as a dictationist (1978-81) at the Washington bureau of the Associated Press, Michael Wise, who was a D.C. metro reporter there, is now a publisher, the co-founder, with Ross Ufberg, of New Vessel Press. Wise … Continue reading

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

Modernizing Malta – awk!

This photo from “Totemic elevator” on Geoff Manaugh’s fine blog BLDGBLOG had me fooled for a moment. The shot shows a lovely scene taken along the fortifications of Valletta, the capital of the island nation of Malta in the Mediterraean … Continue reading

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

Battle of the baseball parks

Here’s an engaging romp through the history of baseball stadia in a piece by Los Angeles Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne. “Battle of the ballparks: Cubs vs. Dodgers and the lost history of L.A.’s own Wrigley Field.” About that, let … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture History | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Kafka on China’s Great Wall

Even though I did a post not long ago on the Great Wall of China – linking to magnificent photographs on the website Kuriositas – I lack the knowledge to assess the comments by Franz Kafka on this subject. Kafka … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Books and Culture | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

No fine center for fine arts

Colleen Kelly Mellor asks a fine question on today’s Providence Journal oped page. (Her name is a fine art!) “URI should make its fine arts fine,” her piece suggests. The University of Rhode Island is becoming a high-class institution in … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Art and design | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Facing the faces in facades

Most architects don’t get it. The brain is hardwired to prefer traditional buildings over modernist buildings because building facades with more things going on – windows and doors clearly marked, ornament and detail at a range of scales – make … Continue reading

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