Category Archives: Architecture

Scruton’s lonely candlestick

Posted on December 6, 2014 by David Brussat

Roger Scruton’s 1995 collection of essays, The Classical Vernacular: Architectural Principles in an Age of Nihilism, begins with an essay, “Reflections on a Candlestick,” in which he describes an objet d’art sitting in a Brutalist conference room: My eye came … Continue reading →

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Shubow on Gehry’s finger

Posted on December 4, 2014 by David Brussat

Justin Shubow, president of the National Civic Art Society, in Washington, has a new gig writing a column at Forbes.com. Shubow, who will remain at the NCAS, has directed the society’s vigorous defense of the Nation’s Capital against the proposal … Continue reading →

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Hell and Helsinki

Posted on December 4, 2014 by David Brussat

The 1,715 entries to the international design competition for a Guggenheim museum in Helsinki have been winnowed down to six, an entirely predictable six. I must admit I have not finished my cruise through the original entries. I have informed … Continue reading →

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Don’t maul the Mall

Posted on December 2, 2014 by David Brussat

The National Mall in Washington has been undergoing renovation of its famous grass and the soil underneath. Decades of marches, concerts and festivals, not to mention the constant tramp, tramp, tramp of millions of tourists yearly on this hallowed ground … Continue reading →

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Another sharp eye . . . ?

Posted on November 29, 2014 by David Brussat

Here’s a comment that just came in to the TradArch list by Andrès Duany. He helped found and has been the most active leader of the New Urbanism movement. Today, after winning the Driehaus Award of 2009, he is writing … Continue reading →

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A sharp eye into classicism

Posted on November 29, 2014 by David Brussat

Bruce Donnelly, an urban planner and design theorist from Cleveland, had two very interesting posts on the TradArch list yesterday. In the first passage, he is referring to comments from others about how classical architects can learn from modern architecture. … Continue reading →

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Thanks for this parade!

Posted on November 27, 2014 by David Brussat

Thanks for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, that’s what I say. I have been watching it this afternoon, and after a while it occurred to me that NBC had placed every one of its cameras so that the backdrop for … Continue reading →

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Nod of the Royal Oak

Posted on November 27, 2014 by David Brussat

As a board member of the New England Chapter of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art, I am greatly pleased to learn that the ICAA has received the 2014 Heritage Award of the Royal Oak Foundation. The Foundation is … Continue reading →

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Mansion envy, circa 1912

Posted on November 26, 2014 by David Brussat

Frankly, I don’t see anything wrong with the house pictured above (check out the urchins of wealth in Central Park). The mansion at 960 Fifth Ave. and East 77th, in Manhattan, was built in 1910 by Sen. William Clark (D-Mont.), … Continue reading →

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Quoins on the shop floor

Posted on November 24, 2014 by David Brussat

There are many categories of architecture porn. (I hasten to say that’s a good thing.) One of my favorites is long lists in prose of ornamentation. So I was, shall we say, charmed to read architect Joel Pidel’s recent thread … Continue reading →

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