Category Archives: Architecture History

WWII Memorial on Vets Day

Posted on November 11, 2015 by David Brussat

Here are some photographs I took of the National World War II Memorial on the mall at Washington in 2011. The memorial was designed by Rhode Island architect Friedrich St. Florian, who won an international design competition in 1997. To … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Development, Photography, Rhode Island, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

To guide or not to guide?

Posted on November 11, 2015 by David Brussat

Above is a photograph of construction under way for apartments in the Cherry Creek North district of Denver. Is the glass-and-steel structure to the right part of the project or does it just abut the project? Either way, it casts … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Development, Preservation, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Zum! Zum! Zum! Zumthor!

Posted on November 10, 2015 by David Brussat

The forces of architecture in Los Angeles are clashing over the latest proposal, by Swiss architect and Pritzker prizewinner Peter Zumthor, for the new LACMA. What is the LACMA? A lengthy critique of an even lengthier critique of Zumthor’s design … Continue reading →

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Eviscerating Edinburgh

Posted on November 8, 2015 by David Brussat

The iconic photograph of Edinburgh, above, testifies to what Scotland’s capital and leading city have to lose in a recent rush to development. The United Nations agency that oversees its World Heritage Cities program, UNESCO, has been asked to remove … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Development, Other countries, Preservation, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Morgan on Cram’s All Saints

Posted on November 7, 2015 by David Brussat

I direct readers to William Morgan’s splendid review in Design New England of the restoration of Ralph Adams Cram’s All Saints Church, in Dorchester, Mass. In part, I suppose, this post makes up for (and yet does not apologize for) … Continue reading →

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“Rightsizing” Providence

Posted on November 6, 2015 by David Brussat

The King’s Cathedral, a church in Olneyville whose motto is “Where Everyone Is Royalty,” and its leader Bishop Jeffrey Williams hosted the inaugural session of this year’s “Beyond Buildings” symposium of the Providence Preservation Society. “Beyond Buildings” rubs me wrong, … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Development, Preservation, Providence, Urbanism and planning, Video | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Nat’s natural advocacy op

Posted on November 5, 2015 by David Brussat

The American Museum of Natural History, in New York City, has announced plans to build an addition that would fill up the lovely garden space known as Theodore Roosevelt Park, where Billy, Victoria and I sojourned for half an hour … Continue reading →

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Misconstruing “starchitect”

Posted on November 3, 2015 by David Brussat

Kriston Capps’s piece for CityLab, “Leave Starchitects Alone,” is filled with so much hooey that I am embarrassed to be inflicting it on my readers. It is part of the continuing effort to tar opposition to modern architecture as partisan … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Books and Culture, Development, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Walker: “Babylon electrified”

Posted on November 2, 2015 by David Brussat

Nathaniel Robert Walker, whose essay on food and architecture many readers here recall fondly, has sent me another essay, this one entitled “Babylon Electrified: Oriental Hybridity as Futurism in Victorian Utopian Architecture.” The title may sound daunting but, as with … Continue reading →

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Haunting if not haunted

Posted on October 31, 2015 by David Brussat

Now this is more like it. Here, courtesy of Mental Floss, are “26 Hauntingly Beautiful Photos of Abandoned Homes Across America,” houses that look haunted, that may be haunted. They are merely abandoned, and too bad! They are more the … Continue reading →

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