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.

Park or party at the Facade

The convention celebrating the 125th birthday of, and all things relating to, H.P. Lovecraft hosted a party in the parking lot behind the naked façade, next to the Arcade, that is all that remains of the Providence National Bank Building. … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Books and Culture, Development, Photography, Preservation, Providence, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Green eggs and metaphor

A old Washington chum, Stevenson Hugh Mields, one of the most original unrecognized humorists of our time, sends me his reaction to the WWI memorial competition: I want to revise my entry. Instead of a pyramid of 1,000,000 artillery shells, … Continue reading

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Lovecraft at the Facade

Fans of H.P. Lovecraft’s tales of horror, most of which are set in Providence and elsewhere in New England, will want to be downtown at “The Facade” tonight at 7 for an event hosted by NecronomiCon Providence – the conference … Continue reading

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Finalists for WWI memorial

The jury in the design competition for a World War I memorial near the White House in Washington, D.C., has narrowed more than 350 entries down to a final five. One of them, arguably two, are classical, and already the … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Art and design, Landscape Architecture, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Guiding hand in Worcester

The city of Worcester, Mass., has adopted a set of design guidelines for developers and business owners seeking the city’s assistance to rehab old buildings or construct new ones in New England’s second-largest city. The purpose of City of Worcester … Continue reading

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

Psychitecture? Dig it, baby!

Psychitecture is one of those coinages enabled by the word architecture. The word psychotecture springs immediately to mind, and there’s a blog called Architorture, which is brilliant, except that it is by a coed, Celina, at Cal Poly San Luis … Continue reading

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

Better hotel, but no cigar

I have no way of knowing whether the folks over at the Procaccianti Group have been listening to my critiques of their eight-story extended-stay hotel proposal on the site of the Fogarty Building, but their latest version, above, is much … Continue reading

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

New classical in ArchDaily!

ArchDaily.com has run a piece praising, if generally misunderstanding, six examples of new classical architecture. One applauds, and yet one would rather that it had appeared in Architect, the mouthpiece of the American Institute of Architecture. That would make it … Continue reading

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Fairly Rhode Island

Above is a shot of Woodville, a village in Richmond, R.I., not all that far from the five-day Washington County Fair, which concluded today. We had hoped to pop in on a few villages like Woodville, Shannock, Kenyon, maybe even … Continue reading

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Water taxis for the stadium?

Belated news has it that PawSox participation in a parking garage planned for the state nursing center at South Street Landing has been dropped from the deal being negotiated for a new PawSox stadium in Providence. That opens the way … Continue reading

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