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.

Appetite for Andreozzi

If you have an appetite for lovely houses in grand style, visit on Thursday evening a show of work by Barrington architect David Andreozzi. Not only is Dave a fellow board member of the New England chapter of the Institute … Continue reading

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Kennedy Plaza reminder

Wednesday’s tour of Kennedy Plaza and panel discussion of its future, sponsored by the New England chapter of the Congress for the New Urbanism, is described below: Vision for Greater Kennedy Plaza: Walkabout and Panel Providence, Rhode Island Wednesday, October … Continue reading

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A Gehryesque critique

This critique of the critique of the Gehry design for a memorial to Dwight Eisenhower, “An Eisenhower Impasse,” by Ned Cramer in Architect, the journal of the American Institute of Architects, is so twisted that it merits the sobriquet Gehryesque. … Continue reading

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A liturgy of beauty

Ah, the sun is edging its way through the clouds here in Providence. Patches of blue can be seen from the window beside the desk of your occasionally dire correspondent. So on to a passage sure to soothe the savage … Continue reading

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S.F.’s Moscone Centergate

It’s been a while since I had a good excuse to take my nickname for Diller Scofidio + Renfro out for a walk. Dildo Scrofulous + Rent Free. And I did bring my pooper scooper! We last heard from the … Continue reading

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A kinder, gentler Zaha

Lightening up on her typical aesthetic slash-and-turn violence, Zaha Hadid has designed a genocide museum and institute south of downtown Phnom Penh to honor the dead of Pol Pot’s savage regime. The commemoration has inspired Guardian architecture critic Oliver Wainwright … Continue reading

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Trad clearinghouse?

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 ol’ Architecture Here and There blog, where … Continue reading

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Parcel 12 revisited

The Carpionato Group has sent me two images of its 2006 design for a proposed hotel at the northeast corner of Kennedy Plaza that fell through. It is of interest because a new hotel proposal, by First Bristol Corp. of … Continue reading

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Bad Scupture Park Hotel?

Originally posted on Architecture Here and There:
Proposed design for Parcel 12 hotel, from 2006, by the Carpionato Group. A new proposal has arisen for Parcel 12, the triangular Capital Center District land at the northeast corner of Kennedy Plaza…

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KP discombobulation

Here is a piece about Kennedy Plaza by Brandon Klayko for archpaper.com. Donald Powers, founder of Union Studio Architects and designer of the very nice master plan, above, for Kennedy Plaza proposed in 2013, was clearly the author’s primary source … Continue reading

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