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.

Skyscrapers vs. sprawl?

It is conventional wisdom that cities with lots of skyscrapers, such as New York City, are an ecofriendly bulwark against sprawl. Building up, it is said, avoids the need to build out. “Sprawl” is not just suburbia because suburbia can … Continue reading

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

Architecture and emotion

Architecture causes changes in the emotions and feelings of those who see it, use it, live it. Powerfully felt or hidden in the subconscious, our reaction to our environment pleases or displeases, attracts or repulses, according to rules that are … Continue reading

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Poland’s “Crooked Forest”

The curved trunks of this grove of trees known as the Crooked Forest, in Poland, planted in 1930 when the land was in Pomerania, then part of Germany, raises interesting challenges for landscape architects. On the website iflscience.com, Justine Alford … Continue reading

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Evolution of casino design

Evolution of Casino Design by Adam Samson It’s no secret that casino operators employ certain strategies and techniques to keep their patrons spending, from the services that they offer right down to the interior design of the gaming floors. The … Continue reading

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Happy 14th birthday, ANN!

Today is ANN’s 14th birthday, the duoseptennial (neologism alert) anniversary of ArchitectureNewsNow.com – Kristen Richards’s glorious compendium of architectural news and opinion from around the world (at least the Anglosphere). I can think of no better way to commemorate this … Continue reading

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That Providence renaissance

Randal Edgar, deputy editor of the Providence Journal’s editorial pages, has an opinion column today in which he reveals that he is “Still waiting for that R.I. renaissance.” At first I thought he might be writing about the famous Providence … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Development, I-195 Redevelopment District, Preservation, Providence Journal, Rhode Island, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

New blog, old conversation

The following is the first post published on my new blog with Traditional Building and Period Homes magazines. These are monthly and will be posted on this blog a month following their posting at TB and PH. My second post … Continue reading

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“Orchestrate a Renaissance”

Composing a comeback for classical music and classical architecture is the twin purpose, or so it seems, of the Future Symphony Institute, founded in Baltimore by Andrew Balio, the principal trumpet of that city’s symphony orchestra. Its latest project is … Continue reading

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Books and Culture, Preservation, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Krier’s symphony for London

On my first trip to London in 1979 I took in a classical performance of the London Symphony Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall on the Southbank embankment of the Thames. I felt the hall’s demerits as architecture even back … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Books and Culture, Development, Landscape Architecture, Other countries, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Heinrich Kley book trailers!

Here are two book trailers – first I’ve heard of a book trailer! – for The Lost Art of Heinrich Kley, a two-volume set devoted to the work of the German illustrator. The set, published by Lost Art Books, boasts … Continue reading

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