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.

Rebuild Penn Station, cont.

Archinect has reported Richard Cameron’s proposal to rebuild Penn Station in the original 1910 style of Charles Follen McKim, linking to Clem Labine’s excellent announcement in Traditional Building. Make sure you check out the mostly positive comments after reading “The … Continue reading

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5th Ave., 8 BR, city view

A friend who used to be a big wheel in Providence development circles, Lee Juskalian, keeps tabs through me (and others) on development around here (though he has lived in California for years). Lee, who now travels and surfs, has … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Development, Providence, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

BIG kicks Foster off 2 WTC?

The idea that the developers of the 2 WTC megalith – the last major skyscraper of the World Trade Center rebuild – might send Sir Norman Foster packing delights me. The idea of booting the architect even as his tower … Continue reading

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Classical cataclysm in Nepal

The death toll from earthquakes in Nepal have reached well into the thousands. Coverage of rescue efforts has understandably taken priority over news of the terrible cultural cost of the disaster. The Nepalese capital of Kathmandu and other ancient centers … Continue reading

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Build McKim’s Penn Station

Traditional Building has published an important essay, “Rebuilding McKim’s Penn Station,” by the magazine’s eminence gris, Clem Labine, announcing a major plan to reverse one of America’s most egregious civic mistakes. The plan, by architect Richard Cameron, of Atelier & … Continue reading

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It’s a Wonderful Wall

Here’s a wall that satisfies all of my demands for a fine façade. Hats off to Michael Rouchell, the New Orleans architect who sent the picture of the Emek Theater, in Istanbul, to the TradArch list. He added a comment … Continue reading

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Follies at the CNU in Dallas

The big buzz at the annual meeting (the “congress”) of the Congress of the New Urbanism, under way in Dallas, is how lame Dallas Morning News architecture critic Mark Lamster was. Anyone familiar with his writing cannot have been surprised. … Continue reading

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For Rhode Islanders only

The trailer for Woody Allen’s movie Irrational Man, filmed on location in Rhode Island, is out. Here it is, released by Sony Picture Classics. Release date is July 24. Let’s see how many places we Rhode Islanders can identify! (Don’t … Continue reading

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A dream to soothe the breast

Who has not claimed to have said that architecture is music frozen in time? Perhaps music is architecture floating into our ear. Anyway, I was just now introduced to the French composer Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924). A blogger on music whose … Continue reading

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Boston’s spooky new T entry

An undercover source in deep infrastructure sent me a surreptitiously snapped photo of the new T entrance at Government Center the other day. The photo was too hot to handle, too ugly even to look at, so I left it … Continue reading

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