Author Archives: David Brussat

Unknown's avatar

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.

Scruton’s lonely candlestick

Roger Scruton’s 1995 collection of essays, The Classical Vernacular: Architectural Principles in an Age of Nihilism, begins with an essay, “Reflections on a Candlestick,” in which he describes an objet d’art sitting in a Brutalist conference room: My eye came … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Architecture Education, Art and design | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Shubow on Gehry’s finger

Justin Shubow, president of the National Civic Art Society, in Washington, has a new gig writing a column at Forbes.com. Shubow, who will remain at the NCAS, has directed the society’s vigorous defense of the Nation’s Capital against the proposal … Continue reading

Posted in Architects, Architecture | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Hell and Helsinki

The 1,715 entries to the international design competition for a Guggenheim museum in Helsinki have been winnowed down to six, an entirely predictable six. I must admit I have not finished my cruise through the original entries. I have informed … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Art and design, Other countries, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Trad clearinghouse?

Originally posted on Architecture Here and There:
How about a clearinghouse for traditional projects? Prompted by a conversation this morning with the Washington, D.C., architect and planner Nir Buras, I am thinking of starting a new blog, associated with this…

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Don’t maul the Mall

The National Mall in Washington has been undergoing renovation of its famous grass and the soil underneath. Decades of marches, concerts and festivals, not to mention the constant tramp, tramp, tramp of millions of tourists yearly on this hallowed ground … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Art and design, Preservation, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Scoop on poop at Burj

Not sure I want to touch this with a ten-foot pole, but inquiring minds want to know, I’m quite certain, despite my cautionary note, what the process of defecation entails at the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa skyscraper in … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Another sharp eye . . . ?

Here’s a comment that just came in to the TradArch list by Andrès Duany. He helped found and has been the most active leader of the New Urbanism movement. Today, after winning the Driehaus Award of 2009, he is writing … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

A sharp eye into classicism

Bruce Donnelly, an urban planner and design theorist from Cleveland, had two very interesting posts on the TradArch list yesterday. In the first passage, he is referring to comments from others about how classical architects can learn from modern architecture. … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Nod of the Royal Oak

Originally posted on Architecture Here and There:
As a board member of the New England Chapter of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art, I am greatly pleased to learn that the ICAA has received the 2014 Heritage Award of…

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Thanks for this parade!

Thanks for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, that’s what I say. I have been watching it this afternoon, and after a while it occurred to me that NBC had placed every one of its cameras so that the backdrop for … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Art and design, Preservation, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , | 5 Comments