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.

The Schwäbisch Hall cure

A German town of some 36,000 in population, Schwäbisch Hall was barely nicked by Allied bombing in World War II, and it shows. The medieval streetscapes in the photos here might well suggest the town as spa or cure for … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Other countries, Photography, Preservation, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

6th annual Bulfinch winners

The New England chapter of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art has announced this year’s winners of its Bulfinch Awards, which honor work in classical architecture, urbanism and allied arts. This year for the first time the chapter invited … Continue reading

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Landscape Architecture, Preservation, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Two agin transforming Prov.

Here are two columns I wrote long ago about the “Transforming Providence” symposium held at RISD Auditorium in November 2000. The first ran before the event, the second after the event. They represent my occasional effort to promote some sort … Continue reading

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Blast from past, Development, Preservation, Providence, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Reinvent” (destroy) Paris

Here is the Reinventing Paris video displaying, in quick succession, the 23 finalists for 23 development sites in a contest sponsored by the municipality under Mayor Anne Hidalgo. The text is in French, and I cannot therefore reconcile why it refers … Continue reading

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

Bevan’s “modest revival”

Last week, in “Zaha Hadid gets RIBA medal,” I wrote that Hadid complained about “a tilt toward tradition in London architecture that only she is able to perceive.” I was wrong. The British critic Robert Bevan sees it, too: a … Continue reading

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Development, Other countries, Providence, Rhode Island, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Heinrich Kley’s “Road Rage”

The sketch above, “Gasoline Stallion,” which these days might be renamed “Road Rage,” is one of my favorites by Heinrich Kley (1863-1945), the German illustrator. It was probably drawn early in the 20th century, when automobiles were beginning to overtake … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Art and design, Books and Culture | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Built in major & minor keys

David Mayernik, who teaches at Notre Dame’s school of architecture and has designed the campus at The American School in Switzerland, overlooking Lake Lugano, recently presented his views on the language of architecture and definitions of the classical and traditional … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Books and Culture, Video | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Zaha Hadid gets RIBA medal

The Iraqi-born architect Zaha Hadid has received the Gold Medal for Architecture from the Royal Institute of British Architects. She spoke to RIBA upon receiving the award and launched a tirade against tradition. Notwithstanding her complaints, London, where she set … Continue reading

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

Photographs of Lviv, Ukraine

David Mittell, whose essay “Why I love Lviv” ran here on January 26, has sent some photographs to illustrate the various conditions of architecture in Lviv, which he characterizes – truly – as one of Europe’s most beautiful unknown cities. … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Landscape Architecture, Other countries, Photography, Preservation, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Schumacher’s Pritzker feint

Patrik Schumacher, who runs Zaha Hadid’s office and involves himself in the modernist discourse, has used his Facebook page to criticize the Pritzker jury’s choice of Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena. His critique mimics his recent, widely condemned, critique of the … Continue reading

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