Category Archives: Development

Trump’s towering penis envy

Posted on April 28, 2016 by David Brussat

Trump – the Donald, that is, our president wannabe – owns several tall buildings. I will not attempt here to say how tall or how many. His website shows quite a number, but other sources make it more clear that … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Development, Humor, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Scruton, Haussmann, Syria

Posted on April 25, 2016 by David Brussat

The British philosopher and architectural theorist Roger Scruton, whose 1995 book The Classical Vernacular is one of my bibles, has recently written “Rebuilding a new Syria without the divisions” for The Times of London. Syria’s history as a French protectorate … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Book/Film Reviews, Books and Culture, Development, Other countries, Preservation, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

ICAA New England’s gala

Posted on April 24, 2016 by David Brussat

This weekend, the New England chapter of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art celebrated its ambitious new Bulfinch Awards program. For the first time we invited competition entries from across the nation for work performed in New England. This, … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Development, Landscape Architecture, Preservation, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The reactionary avant-garde

Posted on April 20, 2016 by David Brussat

The epitome of a contradiction in terms, the idea of a reactionary avant-garde is a most appropriate description of what the theorist Nikos Salingaros calls the “cult” of modern architecture. Charles Siegel uses the term in the title of his … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Book/Film Reviews, Development, Preservation, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Shubow speaks this Saturday

Posted on April 18, 2016 by David Brussat

Reminder: Still possible to hear Justin Shubow’s lecture in Boston this Saturday. Justin Shubow, president of the National Civic Art Society and a leading proponent of classical architecture, is also a leading opponent of modern architecture. He and his organization, … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Development, Preservation, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Techno-narcissist Kunstler’d

Posted on April 17, 2016 by David Brussat

James Howard Kunstler’s latest Eyesore of the Month, which I reprint from his blog Clusterfuck Nation, had to be the winner of this year’s ridiculous eVolo Magazine architecture contest. And so it was. Only the ugliest and the stupidest entries … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Development, Humor, Landscape Architecture | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Beauty and the bore

Posted on April 14, 2016 by David Brussat

Several people have sent me “The Psychological Cost of Boring Buildings,” by Jacoba Urist in New York Magazine. The title hooked me, of course, but her essay hardly went down like an oyster. First, I am distrustful of “studies,” especially … Continue reading →

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

The politics of preservation

Posted on April 11, 2016 by David Brussat

Gail Wiesner is a real-estate agent in Raleigh, N.C., who, a couple years ago, raised concerns about a modernist addition to a neighbor’s house in her Oakwood neighborhood, a designated historic district. A more recent example, now resolved in court, … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Development, Preservation, Providence, Rhode Island, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

John King, read your words!

Posted on April 10, 2016 by David Brussat

John King is the architecture critic for the San Francisco Chronicle. I met him maybe a decade ago at a conference and have followed his criticism since. This latest piece, “SF skyline’s new LinkedIn addition built by, for New Yorkers,” … Continue reading →

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

Save Peter Pan’s birthplace

Posted on April 7, 2016 by David Brussat

Moat Brae survives. Moat Brae is the 1823 house and garden in Dumfries, Scotland, where J.M. Barrie, age 8 in 1868 and playing at pirates, conceived Neverland, the land of eternal childhood. That’s the good news. Moat Brae lives – … Continue reading →

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