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.

Walker: “Babylon electrified”

Nathaniel Robert Walker, whose essay on food and architecture many readers here recall fondly, has sent me another essay, this one entitled “Babylon Electrified: Oriental Hybridity as Futurism in Victorian Utopian Architecture.” The title may sound daunting but, as with … Continue reading

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My haunted reading list

Two days after Halloween and and two days before the 600th anniversary of the battle of Agincourt on Wednesday*, my reading list runneth over with coincidence. Apropos of nothing to do with this blog about architecture – hence the castle … Continue reading

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Haunting if not haunted

Now this is more like it. Here, courtesy of Mental Floss, are “26 Hauntingly Beautiful Photos of Abandoned Homes Across America,” houses that look haunted, that may be haunted. They are merely abandoned, and too bad! They are more the … Continue reading

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Haunted houses in America

GTECH headquarters is certainly the scariest building in Providence, even with the recent relocation there of Capital Grille (from Union Station!), following in the brave footsteps of Ruth’s Chris Steak House. But GTECH is not haunted. It is scary. Not … Continue reading

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Rhode Island turning point

Rhode Island is at a turning point. Going forward it can encourage new development that strengthens its brand of beauty or it can throw away a competitive advantage by allowing developers to build projects that will transform the Ocean State … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Art and design, Development, I-195 Redevelopment District, Photography, Preservation, Providence, Rhode Island, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Sweet breather at the BPL

Took the MBTA up to Boston yesterday evening to a meeting of the New England chapter of the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art. After emerging from the Back Bay stop into Dartmouth Street, there is always the difficult choice … Continue reading

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BIMBY: Beauty here, too!

BIMBY stands for Beauty In My Back Yard. It is a website launched by the Prince’s Foundation for Building Community – Prince Charles’s architectural shop in Great Britain. Even though Britain has tougher official laws against beauty there than we … Continue reading

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

Zaha, FLW & arrogance

Far be it from me to defend Zaha Hadid. Any ammo you can blow up under her reputation might rock her architecture – its reputation if not its actual existence. Let ‘er rip! I have defended Zaha from accusations that … Continue reading

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Into London’s age of grit

It suddenly occurred to me that, having done a post on the beautiful Renaissance digital imagery of the video game “Assassin’s Creed II” – it was called “Gaming the Renaissance” – I should check out “Assassin’s Creed I.” I just … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Blast from past, Book/Film Reviews, Other countries, Urbanism and planning, Video | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Handsome rectangular box?

I had hoped to remain mum to “Brown’s handsome rectangular box,” as the headline over my friend William Morgan’s piece in the Providence Journal describes the university’s latest foray into the avant garde. Not very far into it, Morgan shrugs, … Continue reading

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Development, Providence, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments