Tag Archives: modernism

A kiss is just a kiss … right?

Posted on January 15, 2014 by David Brussat

One of the late Cy Twombly’s untitled paintings, a canvas entirely white, was kissed by French artist Sam Rindy, 30, leaving on the work the red imprint of her lips – the only arguably artistic thing about the painting, which … Continue reading →

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Blast from past: Review of Millais’s “Exploding …”

Posted on January 11, 2014 by David Brussat

I’ve mentioned Malcolm Millais’s Exploding the Myths of Modern Architecture several times in recent posts. Malcolm, a Brit who lives in Portugal, has sent innumerable nuggets that have helped me push this blog over the edge for years. He is … Continue reading →

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Deport the Portajohn Building

Posted on January 9, 2014 by David Brussat

Again Malcolm Millais, of Portugal, author of Exploding the Myths of Modern Architecture (2009), has sent me an uplifting essay, this time from Atlantic Cities, the urban blog, or section, of The Atlantic magazine. The essay, “Should Portland Save a … Continue reading →

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Helluva Helvetica

Posted on January 4, 2014 by David Brussat

Helvetica is a 2007 documentary about the Helvetica typeface that is brutally honest about its subject. After half an hour drooling over its simplicity and how it took over the world in just a couple of minutes after its introduction … Continue reading →

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“Wrong Way” Corrigan Public Library

Posted on December 29, 2013 by David Brussat

Dale Thompson has retired after 25 years as executive director of the Providence Public Library. I make no comment on her accomplishments, except to note that over that span she – and the library’s board – oversaw the renovation of … Continue reading →

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Julius Shulman shot modernism

Posted on December 29, 2013 by David Brussat

Don’t I wish! The architectural photographer in fact probably did more to promote and then to revive modern architecture than anyone after it was briefly sidetracked by postmodernism. Above is perhaps Shulman’s most iconic photograph, of the Stahl House overlooking … Continue reading →

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Bad Mad Men

Posted on December 21, 2013 by David Brussat

See them (the bad mad men) lurking in the background? Please don’t remove the foreground (the bad mad, often angry, women)! So here’s Dan Bishop, production designer for Mad Men, describing (I think in Dwell magazine, as my source seems … Continue reading →

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How modernism got square

Posted on December 16, 2013 by David Brussat

The title of this post harks back to one from this blog’s Providence Journal days, when I linked to a long piece in Metropolis magazine by Michael Mehaffy and Nikos Salingaros, and then did a column about it called “How … Continue reading →

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Column: The ground game against modernism

Posted on December 15, 2013 by David Brussat

Little noticed amid last month’s shutdown in Washington was Congress’s shutdown of funding for the Eisenhower Memorial Commission’s proposed modernist monument for the 34th president, designed by Frank Gehry and expected to cost $142 million, mostly in federal tax dollars. … Continue reading →

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Column: The rise and fall of Guastavino tile

Posted on December 14, 2013 by David Brussat

About 600 buildings in the United States, including 200 in New York, 29 in Boston, 22 in Washington and 7 in Rhode Island, feature a tile vault system perfected by a native of Valencia, Spain, brought by him to America … Continue reading →

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