StructureHub

Much reflection has been devoted to the passing of the aughts (2000-2009) and that period’s impact on architecture - including the requisite lists of the decade’s best/worst buildings.  An unfortunate tendency of such musings is to view projects, be they new residential towers or neighborhood parks, as discrete islands of accomplishment (or infamy).

Of course, the reality is different; while projects can certainly stand alone for analysis, they are best understood (and most fairly evaluated) with reference to their geographic and cultural context.  So the question is asked:  which cities are primed for an architectural renaissance in light of their individual architectural achievements during the last 10 years?

After much reflection, here be seven:  Baltimore, Buffalo, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, New Orleans, and St. Louis.  Over the next couple weeks, each city will get it’s day in the sun.  First up: Buffalo, New York.

Of these seven cities, Buffalo and Detroit arguably claim the most extensive inventories of historic architecture, having been major centers of wealth during the Industrial Era and magnets for major architects.  One consequence of this (and the fact that each city has been ravaged by decades of economic/population decline) is that whatever architectural renaissance happens in the coming decade likely will involve a great deal of renovation/restoration.

But unlike Detroit, where historic architecture is marked by sheer quantity and pervasive decay, Buffalo’s historic architecture is most notable for its quality.  And this is just as well: Detroit has the impossible task of choosing which of its historic structures (often barely standing in desolated neighborhoods) will receive extremely scarce preservation funds.  On the other hand, Buffalo’s smaller size gives it a modicum of clarity about which structures should benefit from limited funds (not to mention, political capital).

Just look at the aughts, during which Buffalo’s devoted coterie of preservationists successfully put Buffalo back on the road to architectural recovery, primarily by taking advantage of the city’s inventory of remaining Frank Lloyd Wright structures (Wright’s output: 6 houses and the now-demolished Larkin Soap Administration Building).

Most significant among these is certainly the Darwin D. Martin House (1907), which was recently the beneficiary of a multi-million dollar restoration that also rescued another Wright commission next door, the George Barton house.  Both houses are now part of a museum-complex devoted to Wright’s legacy.  The complex, in a residential neighborhood near Delaware Park (designed by Frederick Law Olmsted & Calvert Vaux), also boasts the new glass-walled Greatbatch Pavilion designed by Toshiko Mori that strikingly contrasts with Wright’s inward-looking oeuvre.

Over on the Lake Erie waterfront, another Frank Lloyd Wright commission stands that didn’t even exist until nearly 50 years after his death.  In 1905, students at the University of Wisconsin approached Wright to design  a new home for their crew team.  Wright happily obliged them, but due to the students’ apparently lax fundraising abilities, the boathouse was never built.  Enter the West Side Rowing Club, which claims to be the largest in America.  The club cobbled together a plot of land on Buffalo’s waterfront in 2000 and then managed to acquire the rights to Wright’s design.  Their efforts produced the Fontana Boathouse, which was finished in 2007 and, while some may object to it being built at all, will likely avoid the leaking problems that afflict most of Wright’s commissions.

In the future

If the aughts were the decade of Wright in Buffalo, the teens will be the decade of Everyone Else in Buffalo - again, thanks to the tireless efforts of the city’s architecture buffs, who have fought to preserve many other structures (you can explore Buffalo’s architecture at Chuck Lachiusa’s excellent website).  Their efforts during the aughts did no less than lay a firm foundation for the coming decade, when all that expended energy will start producing returns in the form of reinvigorated streetscapes.

Among their many accomplishments: founding Preservation Buffalo Niagara - a robust group that was formed in 2008 by the merger of two smaller groups; winning the privilege to host the 2011 National Preservation Conference and 2014 Society of Architectural Historians convention, which will put Buffalo’s history in the national spotlight; leading movements to restore Buffalo’s Central Terminal, Statler Building, and H.H. Richardson’s largest commission, among others; mobilizing to prevent unnecessary partial destruction of the historic Prospect Hill neighborhood for an expanded border-crossing bridge; and laying the ground work for a reinvigorated Erie Canal Harbor.

With luck, Central Terminal will finally get the restoration (and possibly even high-speed rail) it deserves in the next few years.  Prospects for the Statler Building are also looking somewhat better with its recently-announced nomination to the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s 11 Most Endangered List.  Moreover, Richardson’s Buffalo State Asylum is well on its way to being restored, thanks to a $76 million funding commitment from the state.  Finally, the waterfront’s impending renewal bodes well for both the adjacent Cobblestone District and ongoing efforts to enliven downtown (click here for a helpful recap of 2009’s development progress).

Frankly, there are too many just-started or soon-to-start projects in Buffalo to mention here.  Suffice it to say that Buffalo has every reason to be optimistic about its architectural future, notwithstanding the many abandoned homes and vacant lots that still line many streets (more on that problem in the Detroit post).  One sure sign of progress: the increasing occurrence of smaller-scale restorations/renovations.  Larger projects are great for “getting the ball rolling” - and for opening the eyes of investors who may have a difficult time seeing potential amidst the ruins - but small projects, whether they are individual homes or storefronts, are what really generate momentum for wholesale changes at the neighborhood level.

Don’t worry Buffalo Bills, your time will soon come, too.

Images courtesy of (1) dpape, (3) markhogan, (5) bobistraveling, (6) derekneuland.