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.

Monty Python’s skit on architects

As a reward for making it through the last few posts I offer this skit, from YouTube, of Monty Python making fun of architects by speaking truth of them, perhaps – since humor does after all require at least a … Continue reading

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

Sad, glorious history of the Fogg

Here, before I unveil a bit of the sad Fogg history, is an intriguing comment from Eric Daum, whose lengthy and erudite essay on the Gloria Dei Swedish Evangelical Church, in Providence, graced this blog several weeks ago: I love … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Preservation | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Shoe slips on other foot

Michael Rouchell sends to TradArch a wonderful sketch of the new addition to the Villa Savoye, Le Corbusier’s pathbreaking modernist house of 1931 in suburban Paris. As intended, the addition raises interesting questions. Modernists are wary of additions to their work in … Continue reading

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Column: The secret to making great streets

The secret to great streets is that there is no secret, that great streets were once the norm, that making them is easy, and that we can have them again, even in America, if we want them. This is the … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Book/Film Reviews, Other countries, Preservation, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Proposed for Benefit Street

Yesterday I posted about several projects in Providence, including an excavation of a front yard at 43 Benefit, the Joseph Jenckes House. I talked to Jason Martin of the city’s planning office and he sent me PDFs of the project, … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Preservation, Providence, Uncategorized, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Screams art museum”!

It sure does. That’s a direct quote from Thomas Lenz, head of Harvard Art Museums, intended as praise. The top comment after Harvard Magazine’s article about the Renzo Piano addition to the Fogg Museum of Art was “Is this really the … Continue reading

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Two to watch in Providence

While some people in Providence are upset that the owner of a big house at 200 Hope Street, by Russell Warren, across from the Wheeler School, is to be broken up into apartments, and with no intent to alter the … Continue reading

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Hyperphotography of Jean-Francois Rauzier

Consider this an ad, gratefully posted, for the photographic work of Jean-Francois Rauzier, who once gave me permission to use his “Versailles” (above) with a column. Here is some of his wonderful “hyperphotography,” a sort of detailed architecture montage of … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Art and design, Humor, Photography | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Excuse my bro’ bias, but …

Here is a comment from my brother Tony. It is a remarkable insight about architecture that might otherwise be embedded (that is, hidden) in an exchange between him and me after my post on Aaron Betsky: Dave, yes, cat’s out … Continue reading

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Aaron Betsky sees the light?

It was a remarkable admission to appear under the byline of an architecture critic of the stature of Aaron Betsky, in Architecture Magazine, the mouthpiece of the American Institute of Architects. His piece is called “A Place for Grief and … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Art and design, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments