City March 18, 2010 12:54 PM

Richard Meier pays a visit to Buffalo

Richard Meier pays a visit to Buffalo
"When I am asked what I believe in, I say that I believe in
architecture. Architecture is the mother of the arts. I like to
believe that architecture connects the present with the past and
the tangible with the intangible."
- Richard Meier

Famed architect Richard Meier delivered a lecture titled "Notes on Architecture" on Wednesday in the public hall of Gordon Bunshaft's masterpiece 1962 addition to the Albright-Knox Art Gallery.

Richard Meier, one of the world's leading architects of the  Modernist movement, talked on a lifetime of projects that reflects  his personalized approach to rationalist, academic Modernism.
Meier's work, with its characteristic prominent use of the color  white, builds off Le Corbusier's early architecture like the Villa  Savoye and the Swiss Pavilion. Meier is one of the so-called "New York Five," referring to the group of five New York City Modernist architects (Michael Graves, Peter Eisenman, Charles Gwathmey, Richard Meier, and John Hejduk) whose work appeared in a Museum of Modern Art exhibition organized by Arthur Drexler in 1967.

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A packed house at the Albright Knox listened in as Meier shared personal narratives on a lifetime of projects including the Getty Center in Los Angeles, the United States Courthouse in Islip, New York, the Douglas House in Harbor Springs, Michigan, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Barcelona, Spain. Meier struck a chord with the Buffalo audience in describing his insistence on building the Barcelona project in what was then considered the city's worst neighborhood as an inducement for redevelopment. Who said art and architecture were not powerful instruments of urban regeneration?

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Meier quipped with some great lines for the audience. His advice to aspiring architects? "Stay in school." The influence of Frank Lloyd Wright on his work? "I learned from him the extension of space from interior to exterior." His thoughts on preservation? "Historic preservation is like motherhood; you can't be against it!"

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Albright-Knox Art Gallery Director Louis Grachos is credited with attracting Meier to speak in Buffalo. Meier's lecture, part of a series of lectures by leading architects staged by the Albright-Knox, confirms Buffalo's enduring role as a setting for the exchange and dissemination of big ideas by some of the world's leading thinkers in architecture, design, and urbanism. Bravo, Grachos, for helping Buffalo experience the unexpected!

If you missed Meier's lecture, don't fret. A podcast is now available here on Archive.org. Special thanks to David Torke for providing these images. Be sure to check out Torke's Flickr set of Meier's lecture here.

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I think misquoted, here is correct quote:

"When I am asked what I believe in, I say that I believe in
architecture. Architecture, when and only built to the curb, is the mother of the arts. I like to believe that architecture connects the present with the past and the tangible with the intangible." - Richard Meier

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Karl,

'Built to the curb' was implied by 'architecture.' All true architecture is built to the curb, mixed-use and built between 1824-1903. Anything else is just suburban, cookie-cutter sh*t mass produced for the philistines of North French Rd.

replied to KarlMalone
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Oh, my! This literal interpretation is what you make of that remark? Phillistines, a moi!

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yuk yuk yuk. The church of freemarketology is on a roll.

replied to queenie
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Pardon my ignorance, but what do Philistines have to do with North French?

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The 1962 addition to the A-K should go. Particularly the auditorium for their proposed new expansion plans.

The thing about art and architecture is the design and its interplay with people and its interplay with the surrounding buildings.

No one new this better than Frank Lloyd Wright. People thought he was crazy for proposing a spiral for the Gugenheim until its construction the critics noticed how the straight geometic shapes of the surrounding skyscrapers acted as a frame for his building. In essense every other building and every other architect became background.

Its why the only thing disneyesque about rebuilding an old masterpiece building from the past is the quality with which its done. Buffalo is 60% empty. There is plenty of room for modern and contemporary in a NEW BUFFALO...but let us not step away from the past masterpieces which once elevated our city to heights of national and international recognition.

Our historic districts and resurrecting a few masterpieces of our demolished buildings are like reweaving a tattered rug.

What matters is not the period but the quality!

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'Our historic districts and resurrecting a few masterpieces of our demolished buildings are like reweaving a tattered rug.'

ChristyLou, since you keep talking about rebuilding the Pan-Am at LaSalle Park, why don't you get some buckets and start mixing your plaster?

replied to Destiny
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You seem to stalk every post? Your in San Francisco what is your problem?

replied to PaulBuffalo
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You're> your

replied to Destiny
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What exactly is your reason for surfing and stalking every post that I make? It seems that your posts have no more merit than a platitude and a diatribe against my opinions for Buffalo.

replied to PaulBuffalo
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if you can't stand the heat...

replied to Destiny
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what heat? Is this his attempt to put "heat" on someone like its his reason to exist? If so with all the problems in the world he has more my pity than anything else. Its like the abuser pretending to be abused but if I am that important to him then he can follow my posts and heckle until his heart is content with little more than a return stare and raised eyebrow.

Atleast Ive read some of grad84 posts and there may be agreement or disagreement but atleast grad84 posts have substance and merit.

replied to grad94
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the "heat" is that others can comment as freely as you can. if you can't take objections to your remarks then don't post any.

replied to Destiny
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Is that it? cyber stalking is supposed to be some form of heat? Atleast you, grad94, have comments that have some merit whether I agree or not. No, PaulBuffalo deserves no more than a stare, a raised eyebrow and pity.

replied to grad94
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was just in Tel Aviv, Israel and he is building one of the most splendid looking condo towers I've ever seen; quite talented and very individualistic in design, just so sick of the cookie cutter sameness we see in Toronto all the time.

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Chris and David, nice article and pix. I love Meier's comment about preservation -- no doubt he was inspired by all the great preserved architecture he saw yesterday on his tour of Buffalo. Anyone who attended the lecture learned that Meier designed the HIPPEST "hip roof" ever (second image in this article).

I was especially intrigued to learn that much of his career has been spent designing art museums -- signature structures that become destinations in and of themselves.

About that, any commenters care to join an informal poll--? Now that you've seen Meier's work -- either at the lecture, in this post, in the Sunday Buffalo News article (here: http://www.buffalonews.com/2010/03/12/985642/rainbow-of-white-modernist-meiers.html ), or perhaps in person -- are you wondering, as I am, why the heck we didn't get MEIER to design the Burchfield-Penney Art Center--?

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Because the budget for BPAC was $50 million and not $150 million?

replied to RaChaCha
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Because the Burchfield-Penney handled that project with tremendous stupidity?

replied to RaChaCha
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You probably wanted something Beaux-Arts.

replied to EricOak
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Why do you say things like that? You don't know anything about me or what I want.

replied to davvid
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Probably because no one asked him.

With the exception of the visitors center at the Darwin-Martin complex, western New York has not exhibited a consistent interest in modern architecture in decades. Perhaps, the renovation of Buffalo's older buildings will spur a real interest in modern design, too. Instead of spending millions of dollars on a waterfront complex that is really a shopping mall in order to attract tourists, those monies would be better spent on the downtown core. Show off western New York's architecture.

replied to RaChaCha
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On top of the ridiculous waterfront plans, consider the hundreds of millions of dollars that Cannon has been allowed to play with in WNY over the years and the wasted opportunity that is the new federal court building by KPF. Its very sad.

The Toshiko Mori building is one of very very few good examples of new Architecture in Buffalo. It might be the ONLY example. At least, somehow, the small linear park that is planned for the Medical Corridor found the NYC firm, nArchitects. That could be good if it happens.

replied to PaulBuffalo
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Well I think he is one of the few architects that understand that architecture is a mixture, an interplay, between style and period of one building in respect to another, a person / pedestrian and building and between one building and another building.

You see great cities have buildings that connect their inhabitants to the past. In the US buildings can connect inhabitants 100-200-300 years in its history while in Europe and Asia buildings can stretch back 1000, 2000, 3000 years. It creates a deep sense of timelessness and roots and attachment to ones surroundings.

Great cities also have buildings that stimulate people toward the future with great energy and open light filled space that was technologically available in the past.

And as Frank Lloyd Wright taught us, the architecture of one building can be used to frame or interact with other buildings. The Spiral of the Gugenheim was thought eccentric until played off the vertical geometry of the surrounding buildings...relegating once great architectural skyscrapers to background for his canvas.

The lack of truly world class modern buildings in Buffalo comes from Buffalo's poverty. Buffalo is still an urban but now a provincial city relegated to purchasing dated pre-existing contemporary and modern rather than a Gehry or a Calatrava (even Milwaukee has a Calatrava).

We are reweaving the urban tapestry of our endangered and demolished buildings. Who knows how many if any we will be able to resurrect and rebuild.

Buffalo is setting up its historic districts. The 2 newest are the Larkin District and the Central Terminal District. If we can get stable historic districts restored, then we set the stage for the launch of truly modern architecture into our city.

Buffalo will never be able to compete with the modern architecture of the worlds newest cities. Our Golden age was 100 years ago but Buffalo can join Boston, NY, DC, Chicago, Charleston and europes great cities by telling its story thru its historical districts and then using them to frame and propel the citizenry into the contemporary-modern.

Its why rebuilding a few demolished buildings are critical for Buffalo. We are in a sense re-branding Buffalo with the full depth and richness of our heritage rather than letting it be defined for us by those unfamiliar with our city.

replied to RaChaCha
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