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.

More worst buildings of 2017

Metropolis, the magazine dedicated to zany urbanism, has its “Top Buildings of 2017” issue out. The open-mindedness that can occasionally be seen at Metropolis – for example, it publishes essays inimical to modern architecture by Nikos Salingaros and Michael Mehaffy … Continue reading

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Salingaros on Millais’ Corbu

What a pleasure to learn that a friend of mine has reviewed a book written by another friend of mine. Of course, that might not be so great if one friend panned the other. That is not the case here, … Continue reading

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Best trad buildings of 2017

It has taken me a couple of days to round up the best traditional buildings of 2017 – not, I hope, because there are so few. Winners of design contests generally anoint selections from entries for buildings completed as many … Continue reading

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Stuart Little, Gramercy Park

Here is another sketch by Garth Williams from E.B. White’s Stuart Little.  The lovelorn mouse is about to leave the Little residence in search of Margalo, a lady bird who has fled. A pigeon (“the weird pigeon,” my little boy … Continue reading

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Stuart Little’s aerie in NYC

Reading E.B. White’s 1945 masterpiece, Stuart Little, to my little boy, Billy, at bedtime brought the illustration above to my attention last night for the first time in, um, shall we say, several decades. The artist, Garth Williams, drew the … Continue reading

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More worst buildings of 2017

While awaiting my promised post “Best traditional buildings of 2017,” here is “From Manila to Manhattan, These New Buildings Will Define Architecture in 2017,” written by Anna Kats for Artsy, a website dedicated to … well, we’ll let that ride. … Continue reading

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Best worst buildings of 2017

‘Tis the season to wax mirthful about the architecture of the previous year. Here are the favorites of ArchDaily.com, “The Best Architecture of the Year: Most Viewed Projects,” summarized and presumably selected according to popularity among its readership, and then … Continue reading

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Lost Ro Dyland, annotated

On the front page of yesterday’s Providence Journal, under a delightful illustration by Tom Murphy, was “Saint Nick Sails a Retro Route,” a poem by longtime South County editor (ret.) Gerry Goldstein, typically droll and deft of touch. Read it … Continue reading

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Frank Gehry’s H.M.S. Foggy

Not sure why I’ve decided to inflict on readers this old post from October 2015 on the day before the day before Christmas. It came to mind after a reader, intent on humoring me or torturing me, sent me a … Continue reading

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Unmocking mockup at Yale

The other day the U.S. Mail produced for me a gift from RAMSA – Robert A.M. Stern Architects. The New Residential Colleges at Yale: A Conversation Across Time came with an inscription to me from the great architect himself: “To … Continue reading

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