Category Archives: Other countries

Heidi’s chilly new neighbor

Posted on March 26, 2015 by David Brussat

Kudos to Gizmodo.com not just for the inspired montage above but to its correspondent Alissa Walker, who reports that starchitect Thom Mayne has announced an evaporating glass slab for poor Vals, Switz. At 80 stories and 1,250 feet in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Art and design, Development, Other countries, Providence, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The classical vernacular

Posted on February 23, 2015 by David Brussat

These capitals above by Portuguese architect Raul Lino (1879-1974), with more shots linked to down below, were sent by Malcolm Millais, author of Exploding the Myths of Modern Architecture (2009), as an antidote (I think) to the snow in Providence, … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art and design, Blast from past, Other countries | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Lurking behind this facade

Posted on February 16, 2015 by David Brussat

Behind this stern but elegant classical façade – in Bucharest! – lurks one of the most astonishing and effective mixtures of the old and the new that I have ever seen. And the fact that it is a bookstore, restored … Continue reading →

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Restore Macintosh’s GSA

Posted on February 15, 2015 by David Brussat

I am pleased and indeed almost amazed that Rowan Moore, the Guardian’s architecture critic, has emerged in favor of restoration of the Macintosh Library that was the greatest loss in the fire last May at the Glasgow School of Art, … Continue reading →

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

Buda + Pest = Budapest x 3

Posted on February 7, 2015 by David Brussat

Here are three videos of Budapest, “Gay and Beautiful Budapest” from 1938 of 10:28 minutes in length; the second a Rick Steves travel TV episode from 2004 of 26:08 minutes; and, finally, from 2014, “AMAZING Walking Tour!!!” of the Hungarian … Continue reading →

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Modernism’s “Deflategate”

Posted on February 1, 2015 by David Brussat

The BBC documentary Vienna: City of Dreams is about as entirely marinated in modernism’s institutional bias as it is possible for a film of an hour and a half to be. And yet it is beautiful in spite of itself. … Continue reading →

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Kismet, but not in Mecca

Posted on January 8, 2015 by David Brussat

Originally posted on Architecture Here and There:
Mecca, Saudi Arabia, in 1951. (mic.com) Poster for 1955 musical “Kismet.” (stevelensman.hubpages.com) Makkah Clock Tower Hotel. (evaser.com) Clock Tower Hotel on chart of tallest buildings. (aaviss.com) The Kaaba at Mecca. (universalfreepress.com) Mecca in…

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Mayors and modernism

Posted on January 7, 2015 by David Brussat

Here is a column I wrote back on May 22, 2008, just after Boris Johnson’s election as mayor of London. At the time there was good news coming from the mouths of mayors in Italy and Czechoslovakia as well. Rome … Continue reading →

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Simon Jenkins contra Boris

Posted on January 6, 2015 by David Brussat

This piece in London’s Evening Standard by Simon Jenkins may lack the flair of Rowan Moore’s denunciation of the Walkie-Talkie in the Observer (I assure you that Jenkins is quite capable of summoning that flair). But Jenkins takes aim at … Continue reading →

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Rowan Moore’s confusion

Posted on January 5, 2015 by David Brussat

Rowan Moore’s tart critique in the Observer of London’s newest tower since the hideous Shard – the Walkie-Talkie-Scorchie Building (20 Fenchurch) – is a joy to read. His sallies against the building that no longer burns cars on the streets … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Development, Other countries, Providence, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment