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.

Anacostia waterfront in D.C.

I grew up in Washington, D.C., and probably gained my affection for classical architecture from its grand public spaces. I went off to college and upon my return found a striking new waterfront along the Potomac River, parallel to M … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

100 mill for a new archives?

The committee seeking a new home for the Rhode Island State Archives left wiggle room on whether to erect a new building for that purpose across Smith Street from the State House. It seemed from yesterday’s discussion in the Library … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

Attack on Wickenden St.

Thayer Street lost its character over the past two or three decades, as Providence and Brown shrugged their shoulders when “the Main Street of Brown University” saw its carriage trade and mom & pop shops ousted in favor of a … Continue reading

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Framing the classical revival

Here is a post written in May of 2014. Of the major efforts within the past decade to oppose modernist urban projects or to support traditional alternatives, mentioned below, most have failed. The Gehry Eisenhower memorial opened in 2020 largely … Continue reading

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In London, a laudable ruling

In London a developer has been ordered to tear down a completed 23-story residential building in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, in the southeast of London, because it deviates too far from the original proposal. Residents of 204 flats will … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Development, Preservation | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Orr’s gateway to heaven

Traditional Building, edited by Nancy Berry, may not take the longest to get through, but of the magazines I subscribe to, it is the one I long for the most whenever it comes out. I closely peruse all of the … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Landscape Architecture | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The soggy PVDFest mess

I’d like to put in a bid for downtown as the site for the next PVDFest. Mayor Smiley moved this year’s event out of downtown to the waterfront along the Providence River. Downtown is where festivals such as PVDFest should … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Urbanism and planning, Video | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Farewell to McCoy Stadium?

We attended the farewell fireworks for McCoy Stadium last night, dubbed “The Final Inning.” Did not get there in time to secure the wrist bands that would have assured us a seat on the playing field to watch the fireworks. … Continue reading

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World cities shot from the sky

Even before I started writing weekly about architecture in the Providence Journal (every Thursday), I had a collection of big, coffee-table books of various cities photographed from the sky. I would leaf through them by the hour. The books are … Continue reading

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Put archives in Shepard Bldg.

Almost nobody has noticed that a perfect match mates two of Rhode Island’s most critical needs. With URI moving out of the Shepard Building, why not move the state archives there instead of erecting a new and inevitably ugly building … Continue reading

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