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.

Brown attacks College Hill

Posted on December 13, 2015 by David Brussat

Four excellent old houses disappeared, poof!, from the Brown campus in recent weeks. In “New campus for Brown engineering?” I protested their proposed demise in a column in 2014. Now the design for what is to replace them has been … Continue reading →

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Henry Hope Reed at 100

Posted on December 12, 2015 by David Brussat

Henry Hope Reed died three years short of his 100th year. He was born in 1915, but the fact that I overlooked his 100th birthday on Sept. 25 doesn’t mean it cannot be celebrated in a sufficiently timely manner today. … Continue reading →

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“Imitation and Innovation”

Posted on December 11, 2015 by David Brussat

Robert Adam has an essay in a volume of Architectural Design published in 1988 on the topic of “Imitation and Innovation,” filled with what I would call architectural pornography of the most extreme pulchritude. I was sent the volume out … Continue reading →

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ICAA chapter fetes 10th

Posted on December 10, 2015 by David Brussat

A lot of water flows under a bridge, however ornate, in a decade. For the New England chapter of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art, its first ten years have seen much success, and its board, on which I … Continue reading →

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London’s fate, black & white

Posted on December 9, 2015 by David Brussat

The British photographer Lewis Bush, using the technique of double-exposure, has been shooting scenes of highrise construction in London that might (at his suggestion) bring to mind the eternal night of scenes from the film Blade Runner. He describes his … Continue reading →

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A pause in Pawtucket

Posted on December 8, 2015 by David Brussat

Last weekend we visited a lamp manufacturer who was having a sale on Victoria’s favorite lamps, by Tracy Glover. We then did the Foundry Sale at the Pawtucket Armory, next to Tolman High School. Both Tolman and the Armory inhabit … Continue reading →

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Bulfinch entries due Dec. 15

Posted on December 7, 2015 by David Brussat

Entries for the sixth annual Bulfinch Awards, sponsored by the New England chapter of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art, are due on December 15. This year’s Bulfinch program expands its ambitions, inviting participants from around the nation who … Continue reading →

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Is this tactical urbanism?

Posted on December 7, 2015 by David Brussat

Here is a street sign that seems to epitomize the fatuousness, and perhaps the corruption, of municipal bureaucracy. Warning signs just like this have been popping up in the middle of streets in Providence for the past year or so. … Continue reading →

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Copyright your building!

Posted on December 6, 2015 by David Brussat

A piece by Amelia Stein in the Guardian, “Does architecture need to be original,” raises some fascinating questions. She covered a symposium in New York that considered how the Architectural Works Copyright Protection Act – a 1990 amendment to U.S. … Continue reading →

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Who’ll stop Branson hotel?

Posted on December 5, 2015 by David Brussat

David Rau sent this nice photograph to the TradArch list in an email titled “Paris in New York.” He writes: A string of Second Empire buildings along Broadway in the 20s. At center is the Ace Hotel (interiors by Roman … Continue reading →

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