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.

Why not resod the old sod?

Unsurprisingly, there have been proposals to demolish and replace the Houses of Parliament along the Thames in London. The excuses are a perceived need for greater openness, to be supplied by glass of course, or for more accommodation of the … Continue reading

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What’s next for the Frick?

The news reported by the New York Times’s architecture writer, Robin Pogebrin (“Frick Museum Abandons Contested Renovation Plan“), leaves me with mixed emotions. Over time, my skepticism grew regarding the traditional addition proposed for the Frick. The house was designed … Continue reading

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For readers in Portugal

Readers in Portugal and elsewhere who are enjoying my post about the Coach Museum in Lisbon might also enjoy the post published after it on styles of the two horse-racing trophies won yesterday, and the two previous posts: “7 brides … Continue reading

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A tale of two trophies

American Pharoah won the Triple Crown today, the first horse in 37 years to sweep the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes, and only the 12th to do so in the history of the Sport of Kings. What, … Continue reading

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Lisbon’s coach catastrophe

Malcolm Millais, author of the explosive Exploding the Myths of Modern Architecture (2009) sends sad news from Portugal. Lisbon’s delightful and elegant Coach Museum, long the nation’s most popular museum, had been housed in a perfectly lovely building of impeccable … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Blast from past, Other countries | Tagged , , , | 69 Comments

7 brides for 7 buttheads

A breathtakingly gargantuan amount of balderdash was published by the New York Times today in “Seven Leading Architects Defend the World’s Most Hated Buildings.” The architects have all talked to Alexandra Lange. The first is the hardest sell – the … Continue reading

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Development, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Allan Greenberg’s classicism

While the contagion of “global architecture” today dilutes the individual character of our cities, turning them into bland collections of interchangeable buildings, we now have voices offering a fresh choice: classical architecture based on local traditions and ideals. With the … Continue reading

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Parsing historic and historical

Many older cities greet drivers with highway signs that say, for example, “Entering Historic Providence.” The capital of Rhode Island was founded in 1636, and the state’s youngest municipality, West Warwick, celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2013. Every city and … Continue reading

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

Enigmatic at Bletchley Park

My ongoing investigation of the alleged widespread dislike of Victorian architecture at some point in the past – which I dispute – led me to this passage from Enigma, by Robert Harris, a novel about the quest to decipher the … Continue reading

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Garden party in Providence?

Enjoyed giving a tour of Providence to Gibson Worsham and family this morning, before the rain set in. My son Billy and I awaited the Worshams, Gibson and Charlotte, of Richmond, and their son Steve (“Bubba”), a first-year grad at … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Photography, Providence | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments