Tag Archives: Postmodernism

Chapter 19, “We hate that”

Posted on November 13, 2022 by David Brussat

View of Old Stone Square (1984) from Turk’s Head Building (1913), site of author’s Turk’s Head Club luncheon with Journal publisher Michael Metcalf in 1984. (Photo by author) I decided to go with Chapter 19, “We Hate That” because how … Continue reading →

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The Interface Plan of 1974

Posted on November 6, 2022 by David Brussat

The second half of Chapter 17, “The Interface Plan,” from Lost Providence, tells the story of the plan produced by the Rhode Island School of Design students under Prof. Gerald Howes. It was the first plan to open up the … Continue reading →

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Duo vs. the “style wars”

Posted on May 11, 2020 by David Brussat

Maybe I am a rascal, or maybe I’m going batty in coronaprison, or maybe I would really just like to foster an amicable agreement, among architects, that an architecture that worked for thousands of years is preferable to – and … Continue reading →

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Nailing art at the Hammer

Posted on April 1, 2018 by David Brussat

Actors Will Ferrell and Joel McHale have helped to produce a hilarious six-minute advertising spot for the Hammer Museum, at UCLA, in which they pretend to be baffled by works of art at the museum’s latest exhibit, “Stories of Almost … Continue reading →

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Cement plant for living in

Posted on February 28, 2017 by David Brussat

Ricardo Bofill has long been known for bombastic and gargantuan pseudoclassicism – his take on postmodernism’s ironic dismissal of the classical orders and traditional ornament. In 1973, the Spanish architect purchased an old abandoned cement plant near Barcelona, and has … Continue reading →

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Dame Zaha, rest in peace

Posted on March 31, 2016 by David Brussat

I have had many bad things to say about the architect Zaha Hadid, but she did not deserve to die this young. Her architecture inspired her colleagues around the world, and she was a model for rising female architects. Zaha … Continue reading →

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Scott Merrill’s Driehaus

Posted on February 1, 2016 by David Brussat

Scott Merrill, an architect best known for his work in Seaside and other New Urbanist communities, has won this year’s Driehaus Prize, annually awarded by the school of architecture at the University of Notre Dame. Named for Chicago philanthropist and … Continue reading →

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Architect, bury your mistake

Posted on October 17, 2015 by David Brussat

Yesterday I ran some passages from the late critic Lewis Mumford and thought I recalled having written a column on him years ago after reading a biography. I cannot find it. But here is one column from June 1994 in … Continue reading →

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A Pritzker for Graves?

Posted on June 27, 2015 by David Brussat

A curious piece in ArchDaily.com wonders “Why Michael Graves Should Have Won the Pritzker.” After reading it I felt so whipsawed back and forth that I had to read it again to see if it really said what I thought … Continue reading →

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“The Monster-Builder” – A play

Posted on January 16, 2014 by David Brussat

Nikos Salingaros, the University of Texas mathematician and architectural philosopher whose most trenchant book is Anti-Architecture and Deconstruction, has sent me news of a new play by Amy Freed called “The Monster-Builder,” a play (on words) of Ibsen’s “The Master-Builder.” … Continue reading →

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