Stumbled across a link to the official website of the Buffalo City Tower over on the skyscraperpage.com forums.

Fantastic website. Especially for something that in all likely-hood will not get built.

Looking at new images, they spruced up the design of the building and added a big pole to the top for accent. It looks great. The descriptions of the inside suggest it would be quite the classy experience whether you lived, worked, or visited in that building.

I do believe there is a legitimate market for this tower but after seeing how the Statler Renovation has unfolded in regards to the pace of work and the severe union issues-I would be genuinely shocked if this actually got built.

The building design won an honorable mention for best designed buildings not built. Lolz.

I finally got around to looking at Artspace for the 1st time in about 11 months. Needless to say it has made quite a bit of progress. Although the rehab on Main street looks great the real gems are hidden behind the big brown structure on Northampton.


HHL hooked Buffalo up with some incredibly sleek, beautifully designed, 21st century lofts that look like something you’d see in the Netherlands. Maybe I’m overreacting like I usually do but if HHL continues to improve upon things like 285 Delaware and this…perhaps they can become a nationally-renown firm in the near future.

I left thinking the same thing I think upon leaving the Albright-Knox everytime I visit…

“I can’t believe these things are in Buffalo.”

Sorry for the small renderings…I’ll try to get some bigger ones later but there is some pretty exciting news for the dreary and desolate UB North Campus- a new, contemporary, large and physically appealing building will be under construction starting the Fall of 2009 if all the funding is covered. Somehow UB has held up a solid reputation for its Engineering school despite sticking grad students in trailers for almost 30 years…soon enough that will no longer be a problem.

The building looks fantastic. It will be weird so see some red and white against the sea of dark brown.

Also looks EXTREMELY influenced by the Engineering Building of a school in Munich that my friend studies at. Imitation is the most sincerest form of flattery though.

*Renderings courtesy of the UB Spectrum.

Kinda surprised to see no discussion of this in the local blogosphere but the FBI has outgrown their downtown Buffalo headquarters and is now seeking new space. If you like to see downtown surface lots disappear or like seeing some 21st century additions to the downtown building stock then this is a story you should be quite excited about.

The GSA-which is basically the landlord of the Federal Government enacted a policy that focuses on having high quality, aesthetically appealing, and sustainable architecture in all its new builds from the 21st century onward which gives Buffalo an exciting architectual opportunity. Although not groundbreaking, the GSA has given us a preview of such standards with the new courthouse under-construction at Niagara Square. The highlight of the GSA’s new architectural standards can be seen in San Francisco with the new Federal Building there designed by the groundbreaking Thom Mayne of Morphosis.

Aestetically controversial, it takes bold risks and attempts to completely change the everyday lifestyle and culutre of the office place, and the federal office place more specifically. We’re no San Fran, but a new FBI Building downtown can surely outdo the 2000 design of KPF’s Buffalo Courthouse.

There is a catch though, the FBI could move into any part of the very wide jurisdiction it covers (down into ski country even) but the Federal Government has a solid reputation of investing in urban centers across the country-even Buffalo. Higgins and Schumer are on the prowl in making sure this comes true. I trust the Feds and our representatives can make this happen. If nothing else, Buffalo is pretty good at landing pork projects that serve little financial benefit to downtown but make it a little bit prettier.

Look at any Buffalo skyline picture in 1971. Look at one from 2001. Tell me if you see a difference. Key Towers? Check. Goldome? Check. Three modest additions since the Marine Midland Tower was up and running over the course of 35 years.

But what about 2011?

All of a sudden things are popping up.

The Federal Courthouse officially began construction today…

The Seneca’s unveiled their 22-story luxury hotel to be completed in 2010

The newest condo tower at Waterfront Place is under construction…

Usually forgotten in the mix is Paladino’s 50 Court. Which is apparently only being held back by a lawsuit by the Paul Hotung of the Liberty Group who wants and feels that legally-he should have the priority to that spot for a parking garage. Hopefully Paladino wins.

Of course, Issa’s “City Tower” which could see construction begin in 2009 depending on how Bashar is doing in regard to getting tennants.

And then way up town 33 Gates Circle after imminent years of lawsuit time could go up once all the old people against it die. (5-10 years?)

If all these projects occur-all of a sudden there will be a rush of new building stock in the city of Buffalo within about 5 years of each other after three decades of stagnation.

Not bad.

Although certainly not as exciting as the new buildings popping up left and right in Toronto, Buffalo has started to get some much better buildings to add to their stock in the new century. In fact, I would submit to you that the new airport helped people realize that it’s okay to build contemporary and well designed buildings in simple ol’ Buffalo.

One’s built environment defines the culture of the region. I would say that the new buildings that I will highlight, suggest that there are people in Buffalo who want to make our built environment much more respectable. Although mostly conservative, these new buildings are contemporary and classy and although they won’t attract the attention of anyone outside of home, they are buildings that we can all feel good about.

285 Delaware (2007)


HHL did a great job breaking away from the dreary brown building culture of this part of Delaware with a building that Richard Meier would probably love. It looks so simple at first but the closer and the more you look at it you realize that the building has a lot of very subtle unique features.

Public Safety Campus (2006)

I was up in Buffalo for vacation in 2004 and I couldn’t believe that they were building something this nice in downtown Buffalo. Its’ not perfect, the labratory side is very uninviting and drab with its heavy dark gray/black wall. But the side facing toward Main and towards the South is quite exciting in a part of downtown that lacks much excitement.

Bio-Informatics School (2006)


This is my favorite new building in Buffalo. To me the windows pushing out of the facade suggest that what goes on in this building is going to push Buffalo ahead into the future. Its of a pretty imposing size but the white walls with blueish windows give it an extremely light feeling.
All I can say is that I wish the other two campuses were this awesome.

Hauptman Woodward (2005)

A great building that many say will gain recognition with the passing of time. I love it but that parking in the front is killing me. Unique windows, great interior. The metallic half-cylinder shape is a nice change of pace too.

Buffalo-Niagara Int’l Airport (1997)

To me, the building that helped push Buffalo architecture out of its long rut. Another building that is something to be proud of and a local icon but conservative in design and will remain unknown to anyone not from here. I wrote a term paper on this building but for some reason I can’t think of anything else to say about it right now.

Alferio Center (2002)

Unkown to many because its tucked away and hidden on North Campus. Its a smaller building that hosts the Business School at UB. A great break away fromt the late-modern and very brown campus that surrounds it. White interior, sweeping glass exterior. A nice building, that looks much better because of its neighbors’ pure ugliness.

Federal Courthouse (2009?)

This will fit in with the rest of these buildings. Very simple. Very elegant. Class. Doesn’t want to rock the boat though. It will be the glassiest building in Buffalo I assume and will be a local icon. No one outside of Buffalo will know about it but it will complete Niagara Square into a fascinating “architectual timeline” to mix in with the Art Deco, Brutalist, Neo-Classical, and WPA style structures around it.

City Tower (2010?) and the new Burchfield Penney (2008) will be two more structures that will help define the early 21st century for Buffalo.

All in all, Buffalo really is starting to make up for 90% of what has been built in Buffalo since WW2. High-quality conservative buildings after years of nothing to speak of will hopefully lead to some innovative out-of-the-box architecutre soon enough for us all to appreciate.

Downtown’s two newst office spaces succumb to the Buffalonian’s demand for surface lots. But there is an example of one that can have a good compromise of suburban lifestyle needs and urban design. There’s also an example of one that just doesn’t particularly care.
285 Delaware has mostly underground lots but still has some surface parking on its’ lot. The guys at HHL though had the 1st floor wall stretch out of the building to conceal a lot of it so the pedestrian doesn’t feel like they’re in a dense Amherst. It keeps the apperance of flowing from building-to-building much more than the building actually does. A good compromise.

The new HealthNow HQ’s? Not so much. The building itself is already pretty disconnected from its’ surroundings and already has a huge parking garage to absorb most if not all the need for parking. But for good measure, they throw in a surface lot anyways. They don’t try to conceal it by putting it on the side of the Niagara Thruway but instead throw it right up there against the sidewalk facing downtown. If any one could debate the suburban style of the building before, you can’t debate it now.

Downtown isn’t really in a position to be too demanding of how parking is done like NYC or DC or Boston can. But its’ no longer desperate enough to be allowing HealthNow to do what they did. But 285 Delaware is a parking situation I can live with…a good compromise between the man who wants to get in and out of downtown as quick as he can, and the man who walks Delaware Ave. everyday.

We can see the progress going on with the Frank Lloyd Wright boathouse on the waterfront. I don’t know about you but I find it a little eerie…surreal even..to see a Frank Lloyd Wright building…under construction…in 2007. The classic Wright design elements emerging on a day by day basis in a very different Buffalo from what Wright saw and worked with.

Its great that Buffalo has a solild FLW portfolio and its interesting that we have an emerging one (Blue Sky Masoleum 2002, West Side Row House, Gas Station) in the 21st century. It will make Buffalo a more interesting place to visit and will give Buffalonians a couple more things to be proud of but it raises some interesting issues (some I already addressed in a comment on BrO)…

The Blue Sky Masoleum was designed specifically for the Martin Family. Would Wright have designed it the same way if he knew it would not even hold one Martin family member but random people who have no affiliation with the family but good money to put down for a place for eternal rest?

The West Side Row Club row house was designed as a row house for the University of Wisconson. Wouldn’t Wright have designed a Buffalo row house differently?

Although modernists were known for building stuff that could be plopped on any land parcel regardless of history or location, I think Frank Lloyd Wright-being the perfectionist he was- would have taken the surroundings into serious consideration for how his final product looked.

Lets not forget how we mourn the loss of the Larkin Administration Building. It was almost as important as the Guaranty Building. Does that mean we should rebuild it?

Buffalo more and more is in love with its past and either terrified or doubtful about its’ future (see: Sabres new logo, Gates Circle, Elmwood Hotel, Inner Harbor project, etc) And if you don’t belive me, look no further than our obsession with Frank Lloyd Wright. These new Wright structures in a way admit that we can do no better than what we had and instead of evolving, we go back to the past to find new achievements. A rebuild of the Larkin building would make Buffalonians feel as if they went back in time and made up for their grave mistake and even erasing that mistake.

Buffalo is in the 21st century wether some like it or not, and although in one way I do think its pretty cool to see even more FLW buildings than we already have, I think it symbolizes our love and yearning for the past. By preserving what we have, we can show everyone from out of town that we once were great and have a unique built environment that is hard to find elsewhere in America. But by being afraid of new architecture we tell ourselves that the past is the best we’ll ever do.

The new HealthNow HQ’s in downtown Buffalo is a couple months away from opening up. In yesterday’s Buffalo News a brief article was written about the preservation and restoration of the old Gas Works facade. I found two opposite ends of the discussion to be amusing and distant from the truth…

“I think people will be poking fun at it for decades to come,” Cynthia Van Ness, of the Preservation Coalition of Erie County and the Buffalo Preservation Board

And then the opposite (and crazier one)…

The project’s architect, Steven R. Risting of Indianapolisbased CSO Schenkel Shultz, predicts the building will eventually take its place alongside Buffalo’s architectural gems. Risting noted that earlier buildings that were initially considered “too bold, too modern” are now considered local landmarks.

I guarantee that the juxtaposition of the 8-story glass facade with the old Gas Works one will be a local icon. The rest of it is just a large, generic suburban building you could see anywhere. It will never be too bold or too modern. Jesus. But it will be far from being something that the locals will make fun of…not as long as downtown is 50% surface parking and not as long as we have an inventory of ugly suburban style buildings all around our downtown already.

BONUS MATERIAL:
Live WebCam of the construction of the building.
The architectual firm behind the building (Ranked 9th in Prison design!)

The ICA on the South End of Boston’s Harbor was completed last year and I read about in a NY Times review. Done by a fashionable duo of Diller + Scofidio. It reflects the also new Boston Convention Center seen below…

(No…its’ not an alien spacecraft)


It has some real nice public space with a boardwalk vibe to it with beautiful views all around…with talk of a new Weather Museum on Buffalo’s waterfront, this building presents a possible example. Everyone involved wants it to be architectually stunning and they should since this Boston ICA is just another of a million examples of various cities in the Western world adding contemporary, state of the art museums to show that they are a cultivated place.