Tag Archives: architecture

Kristen Richards, R.I.P.

Posted on July 2, 2021 by David Brussat

Just a week after losing Thomas Gordon Smith, the pathfinding classicist at Notre Dame, the world of architecture mourns the passage of Kristen Richards, the great impresario of architectural news and opinion, who passed away yesterday at age 69, a … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Do people really feel beauty?

Posted on February 18, 2021 by David Brussat

I recently received an interesting comment from a frequent visitor to my blog. John the First, as he styles himself, quoted from my January 31 post, “Learn more about classicism,” that “Europeans are surrounded by beauty.” He wrote: I live … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History | Tagged , , , , , | 15 Comments

Comparing Italy and Britain

Posted on March 11, 2020 by David Brussat

What makes a good society? Part of the answer is good architecture. Yet the good that is done by good architecture reaches well beyond beauty. Good architecture does much to create the conditions in which health, prosperity and happiness grow. … Continue reading →

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Humanities in Providence

Posted on October 3, 2018 by David Brussat

Two of my favorite buildings will host humanities events on Thursday and Friday of this week. If you are attending the silent auction sponsored by the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities tomorrow, you will see the Masonic Temple, now … Continue reading →

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Sir Roger Scruton on beauty

Posted on May 12, 2018 by David Brussat

Here is a lovely video of the British philosopher and architectural theorist Roger Scruton called “Why Beauty Matters.” The usefulness of beauty in uplifting human lives serves as the bottom-line rationale for my book Lost Providence. But if you have … Continue reading →

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The architecture of music

Posted on September 30, 2016 by David Brussat

And vice versa, with painting thrown in. This is the subject of a fascinating essay written a decade ago by Steven Semes, author more recently of one of my bibles, The Future of the Past: A Conservation Ethic for Architecture, … Continue reading →

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Duo Dickinson on Trump II

Posted on August 7, 2016 by David Brussat

Three months ago, Connecticut architecture critic Duo Dickinson warned architects that the crowds with pitchforks backing Donald Trump might someday come for them. “Architects’ Trump moment” was well conceived. His latest venture into that political gulch, “Donald Trump as Architecture’s … Continue reading →

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Nice and soulful architecture

Posted on July 15, 2016 by David Brussat

It is hard to think with violence raining down, near and far. I am far from it in Providence, at least for now. My heart goes out to Nice. In a strange way its beauty struck me as I read … Continue reading →

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Architecture and Mozart II

Posted on January 26, 2016 by David Brussat

Here is a passage from a letter by Mozart in Wolfgang Hildesheimer’s 1982 biography, Mozart, in which the great composer, who was apparently not given to theorizing about music, theorizes about music. The passage might be read with profit by … Continue reading →

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Goldberger on Newport

Posted on September 30, 2015 by David Brussat

Here is the column from 1997 about Paul Goldberger’s lecture in Newport that I refer to in my blog “Botching history in Newport.” The illustration above, which went viral online, is from an recent exhibit at the Newport Historical Society. … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Art and design, Blast from past, Development, Rhode Island, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment