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.

Children and architecture

Andres Duany has sent to TradArch a charming article, “Why Children Need Playhouses,” in the Wall Street Journal. Dale Hrabi describes his ramshackle playhouse behind his boyhood home in Alberta as a place to get away from his parents, how … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Architecture Education, Art and design, Blast from past | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

De Botton contra Ionic Villa

Above is a photo of a Palladian mansion in London’s Regent Park designed by Quinlan Terry, completed in 1990. It is really quite undeniably beautiful. Really? Undeniably? Well, maybe not quite. “We might expect the house,” writes critic Alain de … Continue reading

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

A new design for Parcel 12

The Capital Center Commission’s design-review panel took a look Tuesday morning at a pleasant, forthrightly classical hotel design presented by architect Eric Zuena, of ZDS, in Providence. There’s a lot to like in the new design for an eight-story extended-stay … Continue reading

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Art and design, Development, Providence, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Shubow on WWI memorials

Here is the latest column in Forbes magazine by Justin Shubow, president of the National Civic Art Society, on the design competition for a monument to World War I: “First Look at the World War I Memorial Competition: All the … Continue reading

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Art and design, Landscape Architecture | Tagged , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Why can’t we recreate Bath?

I am cruising through The Architecture of Happiness, wishing I had the time and energy to quote and then rebut its every line. Alain de Botton’s book is a masterpiece, but I have been forced to conclude that it is … Continue reading

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Books and Culture, Preservation, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

“World’s Greatest Buildings”

Below is an “Infographic” depicting the great structural innovations of architectural history, kindly sent to me by Andrew Sweeny, of Pennywell, a company in Ireland that produces upscale kitchen work surfaces. Sweeny entitles his Infographic “The Greatest Buildings of World … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Books and Culture, Development, Humor, Other countries, Preservation | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

De Botton cracks abstract

Among the most cogent defenses of abstraction in art and architecture comes from Alain de Botton’s The Architecture of Happiness, which I am rereading. How does a building speak? How should people read houses? I have long believed that architecture … Continue reading

Posted in Architects, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Books and Culture | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Epson pano photo winners

Here is a dramatic set of swooping shots taken by video of winning 360° panoramic photographs – stills taken in the round – from throughout the world, cities, the wild, geographic formations – it’s all here for your pleasure from … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Landscape Architecture, Other countries, Urbanism and planning, Video | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Boston’s Olympic belly flop

Boston’s Olympic belly flop has sent crocodile tears gushing down this critic’s soaking, heaving cheeks. The city’s withdrawal of its bid to host the 2024 Summer Games leaves your vitriolic correspondent bereft. An endless parade of proposals for modernist Bird’s … Continue reading

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The sculpture of place

Here are shots of the work of Matthew Simmonds, a British sculptor who lives in Pietrasanta, Italy. Beautiful! (Here is his website.) Hats off to Roy Lewis, who sent photos to the TradArch list, eliciting more sent by others. I … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Art and design, Photography | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments