Category Archives: Architecture

Modern architecture as spin

Posted on December 4, 2019 by David Brussat

An article in the Guardian on the rise and fall of London’s Millennium Dome sums up much of what ails modern architecture. “20 years on, revisiting a very British fiasco,” by Rowan Moore, describes the pitfalls of treating architecture not … Continue reading →

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Imagine all the buildings …

Posted on November 29, 2019 by David Brussat

The other day, flipping through stacks of my old Providence Journal columns seeking a shot of a c. 1750 house in Providence’s old village of Hardscrabble (which I found), I came across a column inspired by a website’s image of … Continue reading →

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The Nightingale sings, so far

Posted on November 26, 2019 by David Brussat

A large square extraordinarily promising brick building arises on the block downtown where hundreds of Providence Journal employees used to park. I just learned today that it will be called the Nightingale Building. Buff Chace, whose work has revived downtown … Continue reading →

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Hardscrabble and Snowtown

Posted on November 23, 2019 by David Brussat

Hardscrabble in 1824 was a poor hamlet of respectable families headed mostly by free black tradesmen, craftsmen and servants in the town of Providence. Blacks and others along Olney Lane (now Olney Street) lived cheek by jowl, however, with prostitutes, … Continue reading →

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Save the Frick Music Room

Posted on November 18, 2019 by David Brussat

Boards of institutions always seem to want to do more for the institution than the institution needs. And whenever a board proposes to do something, it is normally more than is judicious, often a lot more – a unwitting attack … Continue reading →

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Why the folks hate the mods

Posted on November 13, 2019 by David Brussat

Mark Lamster’s The Man in the Glass House continues to offer up examples of Philip Johnson’s dislikeability, many of which amount to reasons why people dislike modern architecture. The following passage comes after Lamster has described how Johnson struck out … Continue reading →

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Lessons of the Berlin Wall

Posted on November 10, 2019 by David Brussat

Yesterday was the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Many lessons have been learned, but this post will not, of course, comment on its geopolitical takeaways. Instead, and briefly, I hope a useful parallel can be drawn … Continue reading →

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Johnson’s risky functionalism

Posted on November 9, 2019 by David Brussat

Philip Johnson, the modernist architect who tricked America into embracing modern architecture, was a nasty piece of work according to Mark Lamster’s book, The Man in the Glass House. But there are some humorous passages whose inclusion reflects Lamster’s ability … Continue reading →

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Philip Johnson’s MoMA flub

Posted on November 6, 2019 by David Brussat

In his recently published biography of modernist architect and impresario Philip Johnson, Dallas Morning News architecture critic Mark Lamster has found so much to dislike in the man that I have been thoroughly enchanted – so far. But I want … Continue reading →

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Caretaker’s cottage is history

Posted on November 4, 2019 by David Brussat

This photograph should shock you. Shot this afternoon, it is what remains of the caretaker’s cottage (or carriage house) at the old Beresford-Nicholson estate on Blackstone Boulevard, in Providence. The address is 315 Slater Ave. It used to front on … Continue reading →

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