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.

Atayants’s classical Russia

The Russian classicist Maxim Atayants’s winning entry in a 2014 competition to design a new judicial quarter in St. Petersburg for the supreme court to be relocated from Moscow was, according to architectural blogger Peter Keller, revoked a year ago. … Continue reading

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Whoa! Driving in N.Y., 1928

This video is a riot, even though I’m sure “Driving Around NYC – 1928” was mostly if not all staged. Still wild and crazy stuff, including Harold Lloyd taking Babe Ruth to Yankee Stadium. Anybody know who, just before that, … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Humor, Photography, Uncategorized, Video | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Is it art or art-I-choke?

Not difficult to answer that question. The victim is the Château de Rentilly, not far from Paris. The article about this transformation is “Old French Château Gets a Shiny Modern Makeover as New Art Space,” on ifitshipits- here.com (if it’s … Continue reading

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Joe Paolino buys a hospital

A shout-out from this corner to former Mayor Joe Paolino for buying the moribund St. Joseph Hospital, on Broad Street in South Providence, as a combination – so I gather – homeless shelter and SRO hotel. I’m not sure exactly … Continue reading

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The 2017 Bulfinch winners

The jury has spoken: Here are the winners of this year’s annual Bulfinch Awards program of the New England chapter of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art. The winners in 11 categories were selected from among 67 entries, including … Continue reading

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World’s best new building!

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Best new building in the world! You can tell that Theodore Dalrymple, who wrote “A modern Machu Picchu” for the Salibury Review, is not an architecture critic. There is too much common sense … Continue reading

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St. Vitus’s Rome still lovely

Here is another one of those herky-jerky travelogue videos of a famous city, in this case Rome. Titled “If You Have Never Wanted to Visit Rome, You Will After You See This,” it’s title could be inverted to read “If … Continue reading

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Driehaus prize to Rbt. Adam

It’s unlikely that Robert Adam will soon match the iconic status of Robert Adam. Two centuries separate the two classical architects. But eventually, maybe he will. With the extant Adam’s winning the Driehaus Prize yesterday, he extends his climb to … Continue reading

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Hearing on Hope tower(s)

The I-195 commission gave thumbs up to the Hope Point Tower(s) project yesterday, but its preliminary, Level 1, approval was conditioned in ways that developer Jason Fane might find hard to swallow. They are that the original three-tower concept is … Continue reading

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A dream book of Venice

A book of lovely photographs that capture the spirit of Venice was sent to me a while back by its editor, JoAnn Locktov, after I’d reviewed If Venice Dies, by Salvatore Settis, the Italian art historian. In Locktov’s book, Dream … Continue reading

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