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.

“The Monster-Builder” – the trailer

Nikos Salingaros, the University of Texas mathematician and architectural theorist whose thought has influenced Amy Freed – the playwright who wrote “The Monster-Builder” – has sent me a trailer of the play now being performed at the Artists Repertory Theatre … Continue reading

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Old video: Trolley ride in San Francisco, 1906

Here’s video, with music, from YouTube of a trolley ride down San Francisco’s Market Street in 1906, before the earthquake. After the earthquake? Tune in to this blog tomorrow!

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Old video: Wild NYC driving, 1928

Here’s an old video from YouTube of several skits depicting crazy drivers of trolleys, horse trolleys and automobiles plowing helter-skelter through New York, circa 1928. And by the way, was the car guy’s second fare Babe Ruth? My brother informs … Continue reading

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Old video: Puttering down Broadway

Came across several fascinating videos from YouTube of old films shot in various places and sundry moods. I will post them one by one today. Prepare to be fascinated, but buckle your seat belts first! This one (perhaps notwithstanding the … Continue reading

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Priceless. Absolutely hilarious. Nails Gehrymania

Here is a piece by Joe Queenan in the Wall Street Journal a couple of years ago. I am reposting it from my earlier Journal blog, in which I said I’d pay $300,000,000.01 to have written this essay, which seemed … Continue reading

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Britannica on architecture, c. 1911

I dragged out my 11th edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica. My edition is actually the 12th edition, which is the 11th plus an appendix updating, in 1922, various important subjects, many of which had seen their articles in the famous … Continue reading

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Blast from the past: America’s got architecture!

In my weekly column, called “Architecture critic, heal thyself!” and posted this morning, I referred to the elephant in architecture’s living room. That is the fact that most Americans prefer traditional to modern architecture. Among other evidence for this is … Continue reading

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Column: Architecture critic, heal thyself!

Witold Rybczynski’s 18th book, “How Architecture Works: A Humanist’s Toolkit,” opens with a quarrel in its title. By any definition of humanism, architecture has been broken for at least seven decades. The book, published in October by Farrar, Straus and … Continue reading

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Review of “The Monster-Builder”

Michael Mehaffy, of Portland, Ore., and the TradArch list, sends this review from The Oregonian of the new play at the Artists Repertory Theatre there by Stanford University’s playwright-in-residence, Amy Freed. Michael pulls out this interesting quote from the review: … Continue reading

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Past blast: Review of Versaci’s “new old” house book

My blog on how to resolve the difficulty of finding an old house to buy mentioned Russell Versaci’s prefab houses, but I was unable to access my review of his book from 2008. Here it is, reprinted courtesy of The … Continue reading

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