Author Archives: David Brussat

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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. 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.

Preserve Mineral Spring Ave.

Here is a column I wrote precisely 17 years ago. At the end is a mini-column relating to an early version of what turned out to be the GTECH building. *** Preserve Mineral Spring Avenue April 1, 1999 TWO YEARS … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Development, Landscape Architecture, Preservation, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dame Zaha, rest in peace

I have had many bad things to say about the architect Zaha Hadid, but she did not deserve to die this young. Her architecture inspired her colleagues around the world, and she was a model for rising female architects. Zaha … Continue reading

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Development, Other countries, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Peter Thornton’s Providence

Tomorrow evening at City Hall, some of the buildings of Providence that I love and have photographed over the years will be on display as buildings loved and painted by the artist Peter Thornton of our fair city. His show … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Landscape Architecture, Photography, Providence, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

R.I. “Cooler & Warmer,” eh?

The Ocean State’s new slogan, just announced today, is “Rhode Island: Cooler & Warmer.” What does it mean? Is it about our temperature? Our climate? Is it about the waters of our Narragansett Bay? Is it about how our economy … Continue reading

Posted in Art and design, Development, Humor, Providence, Rhode Island | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

And these are the winners!

Winners have been announced in the 2016 eVolo magazine skyscraper design competition, and they are real doozies. eVolo, which I’d never heard of, exists to discuss “the most avant-garde ideas generated in schools and professional studios around the world,” and … Continue reading

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Development, Humor, Landscape Architecture, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Steampunk vid of New York

Came across this film, “The Old New World,” of New York and bits of Boston and Washington, D.C. (the Capitol), in about 1931, on the Kuriositas website. It is the Old New World Project run by Alexey Zakharoff. It is … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Blast from past, Old Video, Photography, Urbanism and planning, Video | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Sleeping girl, sleeping father

My friend Philip Jameson, the photographer, saw my post of sad sculptures and sent this shot he took in Athens of the “Sleeping Girl,” lightly brushed by sun. Philip’s fond belief is that the sculptor was the girl’s father, and … Continue reading

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Sadness etched in stone

The sculptures linked here as “15 utterly incomparable sculptures of the past and present” may or may not be utterly incomparable but are unutterably beautiful, some perhaps more fervently so than others. Most or maybe all evoke sadness, melancholy or … Continue reading

Posted in Art and design, Photography | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Big Dig redux in Prov?

My impression of the proposed 6-10 connector alternative to rebuilding the aging highway was to replace the highway with a surface boulevard – a concept I cheered last December in “A boulevard, not a highway.” Imagine my surprise reading in … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Development, Landscape Architecture, Providence, Rhode Island, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Brussels under dark skies

The world stands with Brussels now that it has come under the ire of ISIS. The beauty of Brussels makes it a prime target for terrorist uglies. I have been to Bruges but not to Brussels. The elegance of the … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Photography, Preservation, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment