Author Archives: David Brussat

Unknown's avatar

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.

1927 editorial: Prov in 1827

Below is an editorial from the Providence Journal, published in 1927, about the city’s appearance in 1827, two years before the Journal’s founding in 1829. The editorial was found and given to your trusty editor by Bill Whelan, author of … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Lost Providence | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Audrain’s revival in Newport

Last night, after my boffo lecture at Rosecliff (1902, McKim, Mead & White), I strolled down Bellevue Avenue, in the company of the Preservation Society of Newport County’s Lise Dube-Scherr, by another gem of that thoroughfare, the Audrain Building. Its … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Preservation | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Artist-in-chief to Louis XIV

Charles Le Brun (1619-1690) was “premier peintre du roi, director of the Gobelins manufactory and rector of the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture.” He was also an architect. Let’s just say that he wore a number of hats. … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Art and design | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Beauty isn’t so difficult

Originally posted on Architecture Here and There:
I took this from the bridge in the photo above, looking toward the Old Town. How do they do it? Beauty. Other things being equal, people spend their discretionary time in places where…

Posted in Architecture, Lost Providence | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Lost Prov” at Rochambeau

This evening at 7, at the Rochambeau Library, readers are invited to look and listen as the author of Lost Providence explains why the library serves as a fitting example of a phenomenon the book so ardently regrets. No, the … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Lost Providence | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Hometown honey in ol’ D.C.

I grew up along a somewhat downscale edge of the upscale Washington neighborhood of Cleveland Park. The Bureau of Standards was nearby, and so was WTTG Channel 5, a local TV station. Our house, a relatively plain but lovable semi-detached, … Continue reading

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

“Lost Prov” and WaterFire

Today at 4:30, in the brand new WaterFire Arts Center (474 Valley St.), Gene Bunnell, the author of Transforming Providence, and I will each offer a 30-minute presentation on the revitalization of Providence, culminating in Barnaby Evans’s WaterFire Providence. We’ll … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Art and design, Lost Providence | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

C’mon baby build our brand!

In 2015, seeking to demonstrate the depth of my naivete about politics in Rhode Island, I, in my role as citizen, wrote a letter to Governor Raimondo to suggest “a way to help improve the Rhode Island economy that is … Continue reading

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

‘Lost Prov’ show at PPL Wed.

Tomorrow the Lost Providence road show will appear at the Providence Public Library for a slide lecture at 6:30 p.m. The real show here, however, is the exterior of the library on Washington Street, which opened in 1900, the balustrade … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Lost Providence | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Staple this to your earlobe!

I had to buy printer paper so I went to Staples. Four reams of normal printer paper was $21.39, including tax. A $15 “Easy Rebate” was offered to those who would fill out a form online. The form asked for … Continue reading

Posted in Art and design, Humor | Tagged , , , , , , , | 10 Comments