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.

Remember to save Alamo

The Houston Chronicle’s article “The Alamo is forgettable. A controversial new plan could change that,” by Texas Architect’s Alyssa Morris, describes a proposal to “remember” the Alamo by tinkering with its site in San Antonio. But her description of the … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Preservation | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

D.C. classical tours return

Washington, D.C., is among the nation’s if not the world’s most walkable big cities, and this year the town’s leading advocate for beauty, the National Civic Art Society, returns with a new slate of its walking tours. Moreover, because the … Continue reading

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

A “McMansion Hell” blog

Kate Wagner, who writes a blog called McMansion Hell, hates McMansions, and so do I. But I revere Kate Wagner’s ability to tell the difference between a McMansion and a mansion. They are different. I sometimes wonder whether the word … Continue reading

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

The apotheosis of Ong-ard

On Friday the top of my post “AD’s 24 ugliest skyscrapers” featured the Elephant Building, in Bangkok. Shortly after, Leon Krier left a comment informing me that the building’s architect, Ong-ard Satabrandhu, had had a Road to Damascus experience after … Continue reading

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My Jane’s Walk, tomorrow

Originally posted on Architecture Here and There:
Jane Jacobs in 1961, leading fight for West Village at Lions Head restaurant, in NYC. Jane Jacobs’s 101st birthday is coming up on Thursday, May 4, so my Jane’s Walk tour along the…

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AD’s 24 ugliest skyscrapers

Architectural Digest has posted a list of the 24 ugliest skyscrapers in the world. Bully for AD. The building on top is in Bangkok. Is it the ugliest or the 24th ugliest? The editors do not say. I suspect that … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Humor | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Inside Drabble’s developer

Margaret Drabble’s 1977 novel The Ice Age is supposedly about Britain and its existential angst during the ’60s and ’70s, but I just started reading it. For a few pages near the outset, at least, it concerns the career of … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Development | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Rampant peeping-Tomism

With all the glass residential towers going up with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the hotshot cities of the world, the global market for binoculars and telescopes must be going haywire. But not everyone wants to be caught in the two-ring circus … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Humor | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Living beyond the Chrysler

With the new looser height restrictions in Manhattan’s Midtown East, it looks as if people with condos atop new towers soon to be built will be able to look down their noses from the clouds above the crown of the … Continue reading

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Architectural Revival on FB

“In an age of ugliness, a work of beauty is an act of defiance.” I recently discovered an amazing website called Architectural Revival. It is on Facebook, and is associated with ArchitectureMMXII, which recently felt the whip of publicity when … Continue reading

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