Tag Archives: American College of Building Arts

Unify in the fight for beauty

Posted on February 11, 2020 by David Brussat

The draft executive order to encourage classical architecture for federal buildings in Washington and elsewhere has shifted the world of architecture on its axis. Patrick Webb, a teacher of ornamental plastering at the American College of Building Arts in Charleston, … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Webb and the Zen of craft

Posted on January 13, 2017 by David Brussat

I have been remiss in not having shared with readers, until now, the essays of Patrick Webb, the Charleston-based plaster craftsman and classicist, whom I met a couple of years ago at a TradArch conference hosted by the American College … Continue reading →

Posted in Art and design | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Belle Beaux-Arts Academy

Posted on April 19, 2015 by David Brussat

The demand for education in classical art and architecture is growing faster than the need can be accommodated. That is good news. Better news would be the growth of existing schools of design where classical beauty is taught, and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture Education, Art and design, Video | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Outpost of beauty at I’On

Posted on April 17, 2015 by David Brussat

Northeast of Charleston, over the Ravenel Bridge across the Cooper, in the town of Mount Pleasant, is the curiously named I’On, named for a historic personage of South Carolina. It is worthy of the name – quaint, charming, beautiful, historic … Continue reading →

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

Trading TradArch trash talk

Posted on April 14, 2015 by David Brussat

The gloves came off at TradArch on Sunday, not in the least a day of rest but one on which a host of disputes were engaged. Nothing was resolved, or was likely to be resolved. Each time a voice rang … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , | 20 Comments

Fisticuffs at garden party?

Posted on April 12, 2015 by David Brussat

Not yet! This reporter can state categorically that no roundhouse punches were signed, sealed or delivered at yesterday evening’s TradArch garden party, in Charleston, at least none that William Hazlitt would feel obliged to discuss in a latter-day version of … Continue reading →

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

An attitude, not a material

Posted on March 9, 2015 by David Brussat

Patrick Webb, of the American College of the Building Arts, in Charleston, delighted the TradArch list today with examples from Saint Augustine, Fla., of concrete used without brutality. They are the Hotel Acazar, above, and Grace Metodist Church, below to … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture Education, Art and design | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments