Darwin D Martin House, Buffalo

Time for another of my favourite non-Deco buildings, the Darwin D Martin House in Buffalo, NY. It was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1905.

Reference:
Frank Lloyd Wright's Martin House Complex

Central Terminal, Buffalo

Yesterday, I wrote about the recently released master plan for the restoration of the Central Terminal in Buffalo, NY and promised some more of my photos, so here they are.

In 1925 a site 2½ miles from downtown Buffalo was selected for the New York Central Railroad terminal. Designed by architects Fellheimer & Wagner it was opened on May 22, 1929 but by 1956 railways were 2nd class citizens to the private car and the Buffalo Central Terminal was in some trouble. It limped along through partial demolitions til the mid 1980s when it was listed in the NY State and National Registers of Historic Places and ceased to provide services for the passing trains.

After many years of neglect the property was transferred to the Central Terminal Restoration Corporation in 1997.

The restoration of the terminal is a huge task after so many years of neglect and lack of use but hopefully the Master Plan can attract funding and see this wonderful opened for re-use.

References:
Central Terminal Restoration Corporation, Inc

Central Terminal, Buffalo

I visited the Central Terminal in 2009 and was blown away by the scale and potential of the abandoned railway terminal. Built too late and in the wrong part of town to capitalise on the railway boom it stands a forlorn beauty.

It was only after my visit that I found out about the Central Terminal Restoration Corporation who have control over the building. So I was very pleased to see that they recently released a master plan for the restoration and adaptive re-use of this magnificant building.

Furthermore, it was great to come across this report from yesterday's Buffalo News that includes a look at the interior, which didn't look as bad as I expected.

I'll post some more of my photos tomorrow.

Former Courier-Express Building, Buffalo

Clearly, from the name above the door, this is the Catholic Center. It is at 785-795 Main Street, Buffalo but the decoration indicates a previous life.

The building was constructed in 1930 from designs by architects Monk & Johnson, with H D A Ganteaume. It was the home of the Courier-Express newspaper.

I think the decoration above the door could be religious they are original to the building and some are cast bronze logos of various printers.

Above each band of windows there are terracotta panels which designs that I have seen described as Celtic. I suppose it is wrong to describe them as 'fishbone' in style.

Above the first floor windows there is a series of friezes invoking the words of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.

'Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press'

On the spandrels between the ground floor windows there are figures representing different stages of the life-cycle of production, distribution and comsumption of newspapers. These figures include editor and linotyper (above), compositor, printmaker, pressman, and finally, shipper and reader (below).

The decoration is no less spectacular at the roofline of the building.

Standing in their niches set in a band of 'celtic fishbones' are the representation of four historical figures from the world of printing.

Here we see William Caxton who introduced the printing press to 15th Century England.

The other figures are Johannes Gutenberg, the first European to use movable type printing and inventor of the printing press; Christophe Plantin who worked as a printer and publisher in 16th Century Holland; and Benjamin Franklin, a printer, newspaper editor and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.

References:
Buffalo as an Architectural Museum
Wikipedia entries for William Caxton, Johannes Gutenberg, Christophe Plantin and Benjamin Franklin

Buffalo Acadeny of Science Charter School

The Buffalo Academy of Science Charter School (BASCS at 190 Franklin Street was built in the early 1950s as the Buffalo premises for the Young Womens Christian Association of Western New York.

For a time, prior to the construction of the modern streamline building for the YWCA of WNY, part fo the site was occupied by a house where Millard Fillmore, 13th President of the United States, had lived from 1831-1858.

The YWCA used the building until 2006 and their emblem of a bar across an inverted triangle is still visible on the facade.

Reference:
180-190 Flanklin Street - Then & Now, wnyheritagepress.org

First Niagara Bank, Buffalo

You don't often find a car inside a branch of a bank but at this branch of the First Niagara Bank at corner of Main and Jewett in Buffalo that is exactly what you will find.

The building had been a Cadillac dealership for many years before it became a bank but the car is a not a Cadillac.

It is a Pierce-Arrow. In 1929-30, this . Designed by H E Plumer Associates and Harold F Kellogg it was built in 1929-30 as a Pierce-Arrow showroom did not see out the 1930s with the car manufacturer going bankrupt in 1938.

Reference: Narrative History of Braun Cadillac Showroom by David M Rote, accompanying a 1995 watercolour of the building by Dr V Roger Lalli on City of Buffalo website.

Kary Building, Buffalo

It is kind of appropriate that a pawn shop, Kary Jewelers Pawn Brokers, occupy an old Art Deco building and have even taken it for their own tagging it as the Kary Building.

Morris Manor Apartments

I don't know anything about this apartment block in Buffalo, NY other than I always want to say Morris Minor rather than Morris Manor but that's because that's because the car my mum ever had was a Morris Minor. I can remember trips to our caravan on the coast with her and my brother when dad had to work on weekends.

But back in Buffalo, Morris Manor, is a relatively ordinary red brick apartment block except for the decoration around the door that reaches to the top of the tower above the main entrance.

Centered above the door the name is etched out in suitably stylish lettering while on each side there are panel bearing geometric patterns probably representing a sunburst.

Bennett Apartments, Buffalo

The Bennett Apartments in Buffalo, NY exhibit a number of Art Deco features. Dark coloured bricks are used as a way to introduce a pattern of lines against the lighter bricks of the rest of the building. These darker bricks are also set-out from the wall providing texture to the apartment block.

The patterning is best seen on the exterior of the stairwells and around the entrances where the use of glass bricks is also apparent.

Each entrance also has a semi-circular ribbed porch to provide shelter for residents using the doorways.

Vars Building, Buffalo

The Vars Building on Delaware Avenue in Buffalo, NY is a wonderfully decorated commercial building.

Dating from 1929 it was designed by Lawrence Bley and Duane Lyman the same architects who worked on the magnificent Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation Building in Syracuse, NY.

While the Niagara Mowhawk Power Corporation Building is black and chrome with the spectacular 'Spirit of Light' figure on the facade, the Vars Building relies on carved relief panels for decoration.

Many recognisable Art Deco motifs are represented on the Vars Building.

A frozen fountain with stylised sun rays and clouds sits in a panel above the doorway. The spandrels on the upper floors feature chevrons, triangles and other stepped forms. Stylised floral designs decorated the tops of the columns separating the black framed windows.

Look at the delicately scolloped roofline and the panel on the second storey above the door which depicts a vase or perhaps a stylised cornucopia bearing a wide variety of flowers.

The closer you look at the Vars Building, the more there is to see.

Blue-Sky Mausoleum, Buffalo

"...a burial facing the open sky ... The whole could not fail of noble effect...".

These words, by Frank Lloyd Wright, are inscribed on the headstone of the Blue-Sky Mausoleum at the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo.

Wright designed the mausoleum in 1928 at the request of Darwin D Martin, secretary of the Larkin Soap Company. He had previously designed his residential complex in suburban Buffalo, a summer residence, Greycliff, in nearby Derby and the Larkin Company Headquarters (demolished).

At the time, the mausoleum was not constructed however in 2004, the Forest Lawn cemetery faithfully realised the project.

The mausoleum consists of 24 crypts, aligned in pairs stepping up a grassy slope overlooking a small lake and if you feel the need to be buried in an architectural masterpiece, the crypts are available for purchase.

Fire Department Headquarters, Buffalo

I saw the Buffalo Fire Department Headquarters from the distance when heading off to the City Hall and never got back to explore it in more detail.

Web sources such as this and this one list the building as being constructed in 1931 and although it no longer houses an active Engine, it is still used by the Fire Department.

Buffalo Design Collaborative Building

The Buffalo Design Collaborative occupy this Art Deco building on Buffalo's Delaware Avenue.

The building dates from 1930 and was designed by Duane Lyman.

While taking these photos we attracted the attention of Jake Schneider, from Architecture Firm and Design Collaborative member Schneider Design, who invited us into the building and gave us an impromptu tour.

Jake was obviously proud of the building and his efforts to preserve it and make it suitable for 21st Century requirements while preserving many of the original art deco features including the terrazzo floor on the second storey.

My favourite part of the building was the main doorway at 443 Delaware Ave which is surrounded by an array of geometric reliefs.