Tag Archives: Video

Up Fifth Avenue in early ’30s

Posted on October 17, 2021 by David Brussat

Stumbled upon this delightfully informative, well-paced, almost soporific film of Fifth Avenue, taken from the rear window of a motorcar (if they still used that word in the 1930s), at a steady pace except for stops at traffic lights. You’ll … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Video | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Fly train through Wuppertal

Posted on August 26, 2020 by David Brussat

This old video, just over two minutes in length, takes viewers through the western German city of Wuppertal, population 354,382 (almost double that of Providence), on a “flying”  or “floating” train a year after its completion in 1901. The Schwebebahn … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Urbanism and planning, Video | Tagged , , , , , | 13 Comments

Christo, homage to a life

Posted on May 31, 2020 by David Brussat

The artist Christo has died. One must not, they say, speak ill of the dead. I am not speaking ill of the dead man but of his art. Those who bruise easily may stop reading here, but Christo’s death will … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art and design, Video | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Talk the talk on buildings

Posted on May 21, 2020 by David Brussat

Here is a post of mine from Feb. 7, 2018, “Talk the talk on buildings,” about the incoherence of architectural language. It was originally illustrated by a map of the 1901 McMillan Plan for the National Mall, a fine example … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Dickinson vs. Dickinson

Posted on April 27, 2020 by David Brussat

Duo Dickinson is an architect in New Haven whose work, primarily private houses, is creative yet overwhelmingly traditional in appearance. I like his architecture very much. His firm’s portfolio and productivity are impressive. However, when writing and speaking about architecture … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Preservation, Video | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 32 Comments

A few minutes in Stockholm

Posted on March 13, 2020 by David Brussat

This eight-minute tourism video of Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, is part of an excellent series of such films produced by Expedia, the booking agency. For some reason, modernists seem infatuated by Stockholm, even though very little modern architecture appears, … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Video | Tagged , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Stroik’s honest architecture

Posted on September 27, 2019 by David Brussat

In this video, master architect Duncan Stroik defenestrates three of architecture’s most enduring principles. Speaking to attendees at the 2017 Bulfinch awards lecture series, Stroik takes a hammer to the “honesty” that supposedly undergirds classicism, especially this holy triad: that … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Video | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Introducing Gerhardt Fjuck

Posted on August 7, 2019 by David Brussat

Comedy Central has put out a wonderful video spoof of modern architecture in the guise of Gerhardt Fjuck, an apparent play on Bjarke Ingels, the Danish designer of some of the world’s most ridiculous buildings. Videographer and humorist Arturo Castro … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Humor, Video | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Assassin’s Creed does Athens

Posted on March 21, 2019 by David Brussat

Here is an eight-minute video on the reconstruction of ancient Athens by game-maker Ubisoft for the latest episode (if that’s what it’s called) of Assassin’s Creed. Previous episodes have invited us into highly realistic reconstructions of Renaissance Venice and Florence … Continue reading →

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Modernism vs. modernism

Posted on March 19, 2019 by David Brussat

“Why Do People Hate Modern Architecture?” is a ten-minute video by Betty Chen, who posts from ARTiculations.com, an art supply shop in Toronto. Chen comes across as favorable to modern art and architecture. Indeed, the next video of hers on … Continue reading →

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