Buffalorising has been redesigned.

I drove by this building a while back and for the life of me could not figure out what it was. Then I read the News article and wondered why they did not have a photo of the exterior of the building. I couldn't believe it when I read that this was a new library. It might look nice from the inside and that is all well and good - but I sure hope that they plan on putting windows into the concrete strip that follows along the building.

it's not the buiulding; it's the location. Junk is just fine on the East Side because it's "better than nothing" - the same mindset people had about the entire city not too long ago. If the library was on a site in North Buffalo or the West Side, it would be considered an outrage.

This is the first I've even heard of it. :(

It would blend in well with the convention center, which is not a compliment.

Exhibit No. 448 on the need for a Design Review Board.

Every time I see a building like this, especially when there's no greenery, it reminds me of the movie The Wiz. Ugly, dust, and dead.

My guess is that no one wants to criticize an African-American architect, who has worked in the city for many years. Also, most likely there is no strong constituency in this neighborhood for good urban design. I would also question the decision to base a design on an "African village" for a public building. Especially given the way it looks on the outside.

This building, because of its design, misses an opportunity to revitalize the Jefferson Avenue streetscape. Interestingly, the head of the Albright Knox has praised both the Merriweather and the Burchifield buildings as being great pieces of architecture. How do you explain that?

"Dear Figmo,

I can't imagine why you and the other people on this board are criticizing. Where I come from, this sort of structure would be a shining example of New Realism Architecture. I think you are being much too harsh.

Sincerely,

Nicolae Ceaucescu"

This is one of the worst new buildings from an "urban" perspective that I have seen in quite a while. Anti-civic; anti-street; anti-environment; anti-human.

How could any city allow such a design for a new public structure--a library, yet-- that begins its service looking like a pretentious automobile dealership that was bricked-up following urban riots?
Entering this library should give one a new terror of reading and learning.

The African village was the architect's inspiration? (What tribe, what region of Africa?) Demeaning pandering, in my opinion, if true.

And people call the abandoned grain elevators ugly hulks retarding the progress of the city!

As grim as this building is, I am struck by something: the new Burchfield Penney design is hardly any better. In fact, though I find this a distressing and shortsighted design, it is visually more interesting and original than the new Burchfield Penney--but don't get me started on that.
What has happened to contemporary architecture? What is it trying to say about us and the world?

I'm not ready to wave this one off as awful architecture until I see the inside. It definately violates basic principles of new urbanism, few windows, severe brick construction, but I'm not convinced that this isn't still a beautiful building. I think it definately needs some landscaping and for that chain link fence to come down. Would it still be as objectionable with greenscapes and trees around it?

If only the exterior was brick or another quality material - not concrete block - the building might at least look somewhat better. I like the circles - though I don't know how well that fuctions on the inside. I wonder if anyone asked a librarian. The exterior colors don't look especially "African".

But no windows, steel doors facing Jefferson, and an entrance deep in shadow makes the building very unfriendly. It looks like a fortress - what message does that send?

The Elmwood Village Hotel was not a negative uproar but a constructive one. 99% of the posts and citizens of both the westside and the city embraced the hotel. The majority of the concerns relation (not to oppositio but) to the height (5th floor) and both the quality of the design and materials.

The result was a better design...and better quality materials and a warm embrace by the westside and the community unlike the cold ignorance projected from the B-P museum!

The B-P Museum represents the worst of the B-P Museum and Buffalo State.

Buffalo State pays no attention to their Grant Street landscape nor have they paid any attention to the Richardson and the annexes or to the surrounding westside community or to the Bristol Myers Factory and its new owners.

The B-P Musuem follows on that mantra with a 1970s Planet of the Apes Brutalist version that emulates much of the Buffalo State Campus. It was as if the B-P and Buffalo State were symbolically walling themselves off (blank walls), distancing themselves (parking lots and lawns), etc from the surrounding community.

The B-P Museum is a travesty to the westside on top of a list of travesties that it and Buffalo State could have partnered with the surrounding residential and business community to improve and thus improve the lives of so many of its students who live in the apartments adjacent to the community.

The conditions of the surrounding neighborhood may be a practical explanation for why this building was built as a fortress, with very few windows. If they had designed it with large, graceful windows (causing the building and its expensive, taxpayer-owned contents to be vulnerable to burglary) then people would be complaining that our leaders have their heads up their asses and should have known better. We'd be angry that computers are constantly being stolen and replaced, at the expensive of the money-starved County government) because the architects did not build it like a fortress. I think they did OK with what little resources were available.

Some people are just never happy.

Imagine Dresden, Germany or Berlin, Germany where large sections of the city were fire bombed or Hiroshima, Japan where devastated buildings left as architectural skeletons....to memorialize the devastation

Whenever I look at the HealthNow building...I feel haunted and insulted and apalled.

Its as if the architect wanted a visual insult....an architectural blasphemy to be erected against Buffalos heritage. A permanent middle finger at Richardson, Sullivan and Wright! A memorial to the devastation Buffalo experienced through de-industrialization and global trade.

How an architect could take the gas works whose stone craftsmanship harkens to Buffalos industrial legacy, to Buffalos immigrant communities who hand carved and masoned those stones, to Buffalos walkable urban communities and thriving residential and commercial districts.....how an architect could build a suburban building and leave an un-integrated stand alone facade is beyond ignorance and incompetence! Its so far beyond it that it cannot be interpreted as anything other than a visual representation:
-that nothing is left of Buffalo's grandeur but skeletons
-that there is no architectural or urban movement in Buffalo...we are so poor and devastated that nothing new can be built that isnt the equivalent of a tin shack
-that Buffalo is de-industrialized, poor, unable to compete

The architectural design of the HealthNow Building can only be viewed as being the equivalent of a suburban island unwilling to integrate itself into the Hiroshima like devastation that dominates the rest of the city.

Its very unfortunate because if HealthNow built to the street, perhaps some underground parking...and used some stone, brick and borrowed some period elements....it could have integrated the gas works and created a visual representation of a pheonix paying homage to its past and rising from the ashes but thats not what they gave us....and the saddest thing is that there isnt a wimper anyone is doing about it.

The visual symbol of the HealthNow building is a metaphorical symbol (F-U type middle finger) to our city and its citizens.

Wow! I thought that way of thinking had finally been discredited, Dak.

Architects can have a relatively meager impact on theft and vandalism, no matter what they do. Windows need not be operable, even though computers are more likely to disappear after hours and through those steel doors.

The design of a building can make statements of respect for the decent majority of residents, and for the city and its history.

Building public facilities as street-deadening fortresses in a troubled neighborhood is as sadly bizarre as Mayor Koch's painting curtains and flower boxes on the boarded-up windows of abandoned apartment houses in the Bronx.

The Meriweather Library is another visual symbol of a larger metaphor.

Look at the african american community in Buffalo. Does everyone remember how they maligned our city with accusations of racism and discrimination and segregation during the common council downsizing? Its a community that is inwardly focussed and self segregated from the larger city as a whole. Self segregated because how many african americans are members of the BNE/BNP, Buffalo Place, Science Museum, History Musuem, Botanical Gardens, Zoo, New Millenium Group, and the list goes on.

The Meriweather Library with its large sweeps of faceless brick walls and skylights for windows....is a metaphor for a community that views itself as being apart from its surroundings much as the african american community is apart from the city as a whole with the skylight representing their only hope is prayer.

Its as if they chose the african rounds....without any knowldge that those african rounds were that way to protect from predators in the surrounding wildlife...that would attack their homes and livestock. Is this a metaphor that the black community is attempting to protect itself from the surrounding crime and poverty and ignorance.

The library could have opted for large sweeps of welcoming windows where readers could look out as they are reading much as college libraries and other libraries do and it could have built out to the street and embraced the community....(with cameras) sending the message that its a friendly walkable neighborhood or it could have chosen a design that would have embraced the contributions to the city of Buffalo as a whole ... Harriett Tubman would have wanted open arms to reach out to a hopeful future....MLK would have wanted open arms to reach out to a better dream....but this african american architect decided knowingly or ignorantly to design a visual embrace of an isolated community defending itself from predators.

An incredibly powerful visual statement indeed!

I think the design is interesting. The curves remind me somewhat of the Guggenheim. I am not sure what the landscape architects have in mind and here is where there could be some interesting and complimentary attributes. The curves have a kind of soft and inviting appeal and the front space, away from the sidewalk, leaves room for the patrons to gather and wait for their transportation. However I am concerned about how graffiti-prone the exterior expanses are.

Perhaps BRO can reach out to Rober Trayham Coles, the architect here, and get some history of the design selection process involved in this project.

Are there other examples here in Buffalo, or elsewhere, of "afro-centrist" architecture in an urban context?

Still looking for examples of his work around Buffalo...pics, locations anyone?

Perry Fisher,

You're a pompous ass. Simply because you publically disagree with my opinion does not mean that it has been "discredited." Quite to the contrary, I could list several case examples as evidence to support my so-called "way of thinking." I have lived on the West Side for 12 years. In that time, my own home has been burglarized 4 times. My neighbors' homes have also been burglarized. I can't even count how many times my car windows have been smashed by someone who saw something on my back seat that they wanted and felt entitled to. We are aware of, and we all agree that, displaying your valuables in your windows is a sure way to invite someone to try and take it from you. Each time that I have been vicitimized, I took at least part of the responsibility because I acknowledged that I was remiss in putting my things of value out of sight. Why should public buildings be any different? I know I am a little younger than many of the people from the peace-love-harmony generation, who think that we can all hold hands, sing Kumbaya together, and trust our neighbors. But the reality is that there are many people out there who have less than you, and they will take it if given the oppertunity to do so. Your failure to acknowledge that reveals you as being very naive.

Some of us call it the Six Pack because that is what it looks like from above.

Coles' buildings include: post office at Grant and Bird. The gym at UB North, the metro rail "command center" downtown.

You can judge them yourself. By the way, according to the News, this library was very expensive. You can't blame its design on a lack of resources.

The library spent almost 5 million on this thing, at the same time they were closing branches. We also now have another vacant building on Jefferson..

Lot's of people have some explaining to do. Not just the architect.

Dak & Perry,

I've lived around the corner from the site of the new Merriwether Library for 10 years. I park my late model bmw in front of my house every nite. No problems...

I understand the reality of urban life and the crime that does occur. Yet I think the money spent on special custom curved shelving could have been better spent on windows in a building that is more pedestrian friendly, even something generic such as the new Lexington Co-op would have been better.

As I wrote on my blog, I'll let you know what "experience" is when I walk down East Utica, along side the windowless concrete wall.

Coles' buildings include: post office at Grant and Bird. The gym at UB North, the metro rail "command center" downtown.

You can judge them yourself. By the way, according to the News, this library was very expensive. You can't blame its design on a lack of resources.

The library spent almost 5 million on this thing, at the same time they were closing branches. We also now have another vacant building on Jefferson..

Lot's of people have some explaining to do. Not just the architect.

This post smells a bit racist to me. To the question: "Why did the Merriweather Library get a pass?", it seems as though you want us to answer "because the architect is black. Bad buildings are being build regularly here in WNY. I'm not sure why this building seems like an exception.

I thought I heard on the news that this project was in development since the 90s. Well the three renderings presented above are of relatively recent ideas and proposals. Recently, some activists have made a larger effort to critique new architecture in Buffalo--perhaps this level of scrutiny was absent at the time of the development of this library design .

Hamp...thanks. Didn't know. I've heard that 5 m tossed around to. Here's a pic...of Grant & Bird.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fixbuffalo/23405085/

Peter...there's no connection. Coles is in the public eye and designs buildings that are not beyond criticism. Simple.

BIA mod....any news on what's going to happen with the old building? Who is in charge of making those decisions with regards to old library spaces?

david,

With all due respect, you are a promoter/advocate for this neighborhood. That's why you maintain a blog about it. So your response is somewhat predictable. However, it isn't nesessary to live around the corner from the Merriether site or park an expensive car next to it to know the amount of crime around that part of the city. It's widely advertised on the nightly news. If you haven't had any problems, then I'm happy for you and your good luck. However, I hardly believe that nullifies the concerns of other city dwellers who have not been as fortunate as you. On the other hand, I can't blame you for being disappointed in the design. If it was around the corner from my house, I'd be vocal about it too.

The design of this building, however, is a symptom of a larger problem--and not the problem itself. "L" pointed out that the building may be "a metaphor that the black community is attempting to protect itself from the surrounding crime and poverty and ignorance." I believe that the architecture (or lack thereof) is reflective of the economic, racial, and social problems that seem to be concentrated in this part of our city. If we could work to improve these, then I think better construction projects on the East side would follow. I just feel this is a classic case of not being able to see the forest for the trees.

No, its not simple david.

The question is : What motivated FIGMO to ask the question: "Why did the Merriweather Library get a pass"?

The four images are misleading. There are many many buildings that have been built with public and private dollars that are hideous. Why did they get a pass and continue to get a pass now?

Dak,

Re-read your first post. You did not say that it was your opinion, but suggested the consideration of crime was what motivated the architects.

Even so, can't you debate with name-calling and reacting as though you are personally being attacked? I have been called much more apt and far more creative names by people who actually can bring something substantive to an argument.

I grew up in what was (then) a tough part of NYC and lived for 20 years near the 14th Street riot corridor in Washington, D.C., just after the '68 riots. Naive? You've got to be kidding.

Dak...

Let me know where you get your crime stats. I wish we had something here in Buffalo like they do in Chicago. Have you seen:

http://www.chicagocrime.org/

Great site. During the past 10 years my little Masten neighborhood has had its share of ups and downs. However, I don't think crime is any different here than it is in other parts of Buffalo. Just more poor poverty...and City owned houses than most neighborhoods.

Peter...

I'll assume that you are not saying that black architects are beyond criticism...though I wonder why you are bringing race into the conversation. What I do know is that Figmo and BRO folks routinely chime in on various aspects of urban criticism. Seems to me that this is only another post in that vein.

Still simple.

Perry,

My exact words were, "The conditions of the surrounding neighborhood MAY be a practical explanation for why this building was built as a fortress, with very few windows."

The word "MAY" is conditional and no way asserts that this was concrete fact. I did not say that crime IS WHAT motivated the architects, but that it MIGHT HAVE motived them. Apparently, you misunderstood. You may have lived in NYC and DC in the 1960s, but what the hell is that supposed to mean? I know you're not suggesting that every person is both of those cities is automatically exempt from the possibility of being uninformed, misinformed, or like I said before...flat out naive.

As if your response to my post was delivered in a respectful manner. In case you forgot, here's the direct quote: "Wow! I thought that way of thinking had finally been discredited, Dak." As you can see, you have a way of coming across as very condescending to people whose opinions differ from your own. And then when someone calls you out on it, you get on your pedistal and voice your objections. I guess your "big city" roots did not provide you with the thick skin New Yorkers are known for, because you sure can dish it out but have a hard time taking it back.

My apologies if I offended you or hurt your feelings.

why are people suggesting race as an issue here? It in no way matters what the race of the architect is. The fact is that the Afro-centric aesthetic reflects the community. That's a good design decision whatever color your skin is.

However, Afro-centric architecture does not equate bad urban design. This building accomplishes that on it's own. It does a troubled community a terrible diservice by turning inwards. I understand this neighborhood has issues, but turning your back on the street and creating a prison out of such a public building is a travesty. A library more than anything should open it's arms to a stuggling community and offer a haven of knowledge and oppurtunity. Both physically and in operation. I have to believe that security issues could have been addressed w/o blank facades of conc.block.

Judging by some of the other work by this particular designer, he appears to miss that point on almost every project. The Alumni Arena ignores the rest of campus in the same way.

I do think that socio-economic factors may have contributed to this design getting a "free-pass". But Figmo is right, the other projects currently getting lambasted on this site and others are generally better designs by every measure.

I have to say though, comparing the new B-P musuem to this is laughable. That has windows and a detail in materiality that this building completly lacks. The musuem does not address the street, and it is not a "new urbanist" ideal. It is an "island" like the A-K, like the Historical society, like a cathedral. Not everything needs to be first floor retail, at the street, and made of brick. especailly when situated on a campus. The guggenhiem (NYC or Bilbao) accomplish (or for that matter don't accomplish) the same things urbanistically. It's a musuem.

sorry for the rant, it's monday.

Dak,

You did neither.

What was wrong with the old library?

Also, to build a building that cleary is supposed to promote the ideals and qualitites of ones own race above anothers...is rascism..last time i checked.

Well, forums like this one do help to prevent bad designs like this. I guess a good question is why has Brising not mentioned this before? Is this location so far off the Brising map that it decides to critique the design days before its official opening?

I think the reason why I am questioning FIGMOs motives is because the library is being compared to three newer projects that have not been built yet. A better comparison could have been made with other recently built city buildings. Other libraries, community centers, schools, and Fire or police stations.

And so M@, how many public buildings "promote the ideals and qualitites" of whites in Buffalo. ALOT!

and i'm sorry but I really cannot find your definition in my dictionary.

OED:
racism: The theory that distinctive human characteristics and abilities are determined by race.

Webster's:
a. a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race
b. racial prejudice or discrimination

says nothing about promoting ideals or qualities of one race instead of another

Peter

To be fair BRO did not even exist when this building was being designed. BRO is a great asset to the city but let's not confer immortality on its founders. They can only do so much

It kills me when people like Peter call FIGMO a racist.
He's black.

Yeah, and we all know that black people are incapable of being racist.

What the...???????????? Why does it boil down to this? Which of you live in that neighborhood? Who has proclaimed themselves to be king?

This discussion has gotten real ugly here, real fast and it really sucks.

Dave,

and most of those new builds weren't publicly funded. I am just crying foul of a process that is broken, it is not about East siders or west siders..it is about a very incompetent design review board in this City....and county. If there was any review, somebody would have questioned this, as well as the fact that it look like a bomb shelter!

I mean really! why not have security Sally-ports in the front! and bars on the doors!

San Quentin Prision has more charm and ellegance than the M-W library. In fact, I would argue, from all observations, that the M-W would be more functional as a maximium security prision than San Quentin.

Again, where is the Masten outcry?

Why should interlopers force good design/function down the throats of Masten? Change will only occur when Masten residents assert control of their own lives.

I have seen with my own eyes some stunning African influenced buildings. However, this M-W looks like a Rawandan torture prision. Yet, all is not lost. This building's tough exterior could be softned by some art such as murals and/or sculptures.

Boy since my last post at 1:30 this afternoon things have really gotten ugly. Can't the folks who edit my occasional transgressions get on this?

The fact that this representation of the library is actual and not enhanced by lighting and landscaping and strolling pedestrians, is not the fault of the design or the architect. From the photograph The building's curves disappear into the sidewalk and the sky and the the image is flattened by the lack of contrast. Not all structures can satisfy the visual experience without a physical interaction. Walking the interior and discovering the unique access properties this design offers may forgive the fortress -like exterior.
It is mysterious. It is challenging. Sure, It can also be made more inviting by the inclusion of elements such as sculpture. (by the way...might this be a "one percent for the art" building?)
The fact that it incorporates design elements that are culturally significant is a beautiful idea . We dont need to be spoon fed every little detail about how relevant or successful each structure is on its own and in comparison to what s already out there without recognizing that the most important aspect of a building that serves a community is the responsibility the commmunity has in bringing themselves and their perspective and energy and life to it.
Does that mean that every place should look welcoming in the same open window park bench smiley face kind of way? I dont think so. We can work a little . I find it very intriguing and if it were a book, i would probably pick it up and take a look at what was inside.
For the record, i like the grain elevators too. Probably because the EXPERIENCE of them BECOMES them.

Note to M@:

If it is racist to build a library inspired by an African village in a mostly African-American neighborhood, then it was racist to build a church inspired by the Italian renaissance, St Anthony of Padua on Court St., in what was then an Italian neighborhood. And it must also be racist for Kosta's on Hertel to put a Greek-temple facade, however over the top it may be, on their restaurant.

Western architecture has always incorporated influences from cultures all over the world. Rochester has an Egyptian revival library and Lackawanna has a Colonial revival library.

While I do not admire the result in the case of Merriweather, I love Greek revival, Romanesque revival, Renaissance revival, and most other revival architectures enough to have no objection in principle to "African revival."

The Meriweather Library is anything but African Revival.

Look at the african american community in Buffalo. Does everyone remember how they maligned our city with accusations of racism and discrimination and segregation during the common council downsizing? Its a community that is inwardly focussed and self segregated from the larger city as a whole. Self segregated because how many african americans are members of the BNE/BNP, Buffalo Place, Science Museum, History Musuem, Botanical Gardens, Zoo, New Millenium Group, and the list goes on.

The Meriweather Library with its large sweeps of faceless brick walls and skylights for windows....is a metaphor for a community that views itself as being apart from its surroundings much as the african american community is apart from the city as a whole with the skylight representing their only hope is prayer.

Its as if they chose the african rounds....without any knowldge that those african rounds were that way to protect from predators in the surrounding wildlife...that would attack their homes and livestock. Is this a metaphor that the black community is attempting to protect itself from the surrounding crime and poverty and ignorance.

The library could have opted for large sweeps of welcoming windows where readers could look out as they are reading much as college libraries and other libraries do and it could have built out to the street and embraced the community....(with cameras) sending the message that its a friendly walkable neighborhood or it could have chosen a design that would have embraced the contributions to the city of Buffalo as a whole ... Harriett Tubman would have wanted open arms to reach out to a hopeful future....MLK would have wanted open arms to reach out to a better dream....but this african american architect decided knowingly or ignorantly to design a visual embrace of an isolated community defending itself from predators.

Its not racist to criticise poor design and instead of an enlightened and inviting design that inspires african americans to rise above prejudice and poverty...we get a very visual and visceral statement of the self imposed withdrawl and isolation of the black community in Buffalo.

An incredibly powerful visual statement indeed!

Rifleman & others...

"Where's the Masten outcry?"

The community here is fragmented and dispersed over a wide area.
Masten is a huge district. I do what I can in my little corner by calling attention to problems as I see them. I've reached out to neighbors and have worked with a number of individuals and community groups to make this little corner of the near East side a better place.

I've pretty much concentrated my efforts this past year in getting a number of blighted properties demolished or properly sealed here around the site that will be the future home of Performing Arts High School. I continue to struggle to personally board and secure the Woodlawn Row Houses, just down the street. I started my little neighborhood blog to call attention to that City owned property that is also a local-landmark.

Our next battle over here is the PO 14209 relocation. It is being displaced by the Artspace project in the very near future. The last thing we need along Main Street is another "suburban style" Post Office building similar to what has been built recently in other parts of Buffalo...

I have started an e-mail list for that development, let me know if you'd like to be added to that list! I'm sure Steel or Figmo will be posting about that development here on BRO in the near future, too!

To L:

Let's turn that question about "self-imposed withdrawal" around. How many white folks belong to Ujima Theater? How many subscribe to the Challenger or the Criterion? How many attend the Paul Robeson theater on Masten? How many go to Juneteenth? How many eat at Gigi's on E. Ferry? How many even venture east of Main Street by choice?

I don't say these things to defend this particular design because I agree with much of the criticism of it and have never warmed up to Robert Traynham Coles' work.

However, it sure sounds like bigotry to me when you grasp at any weak excuse, a mediocre library in this case, to attack the entire black community. Did people argue that Buffalo's Italian Renaissance buildings were a symptom of mob corruption in the 1970s and that Italian-Americans were all guilty of self-imposed withdrawal and isolation?

Like everywhere else in the country, the vast majority of mediocre and anti-urban buildings in Buffalo have been built by white people. If anyone's architecture is a blatant symptom of self-imposed withdrawal and isolation, it is suburban white America's.

BIA mod....if you went back and read my posts about the Elmwood Village Hotel, the B-P Museum and the HealthNow building you might have seen that in each case I tried to look at it objectively and look at the design as a metaphor of the client.

I am not indicting HealthNows healthcare because of the design of their building even though I do somewhat indict Buffalo State and the B-P for the B-P Museum and the campus but you completely missed my point about the african american community and their new library.

Rod Watson used the Buffalo News and Pitts used the Common Council to publicly malign our city repeatedly as racist, prejudiced, segregated, bigoted, etc and the list goes on and on and on.

And my response to such accusations was that Buffalo was a de-industrialized and poor city but we are a city with good hearts and a city of good neighbors....we are not the things we are accused of being. The reverse of the question is how many in the african american community reached out to the other institutions like the BNE/BNP, Buffalo Place, Central Terminal, Science Museum, Olmstead Conservancy, etc.

Now do I say that people in the suburbs are racist because they dont come into the city. Not really...people tend to stay in their neighborhoods...why should someone from Hamburg shop in Buffalo when they live close to McKinley Mall. Its nice when they make the effort but it doesnt necessarily mean they hate the city because they dont. I truly feel that if the Central Terminal were brought back....people from all over the city would go to it.

Now as far as the rest of the city reaching out to African American festivals like Juneteenth...well...I cant tell you the last time I went to Octoberfest even though I love German and Polish food...it doesnt mean dislike them.

Thanks...cause you make my point perfectly towards you liberals and towards the accusations of prejudice, the Meriweather Library and the african american community.

Now things have changed. We have Brown and Williams and other members of the african american community in leadership roles in the city and I sincerely hope that they become the role models for more participation with our local Buffalo institutions and community groups. The library was designed prior to Brown and Williams and is a visual and visceral representation of the withdrawl and isolation of the library from the community and from the african american community from the city as a whole. They could have chosen to integrate the library with the community but instead they chose a design that walled themselves from it just as they could have joined local institutions and been welcomed but didnt.

I hope that one day the african american community looks at that library and says .... well we once felt that way about the community ... and we once felt that way about the city...but now things have changed and we feel differently. Lets add some glass!

Its an opinion! Its a metaphor not an indictment! I hope that you understand the difference. (oh and please re-read what I said about the metaphors ....in the HealthNow and B-P Museum)

um, excuse me "L" you wonder why so many african americans do not participate in such ogranizations as the zoo, science musuem, albright knox, etc. will, its kinda hard to be concerned about the design of library or other frevoulous topics if your unemployed and trying to put food on the table and not mention have to deal with more serious problems such as crime in your community. Maybe your world revolves around such yuppie concerns, but when your living below the poverty level and you cannot make ends meet , its really kinda hard to worry about such things. oh, and by the why, I hope to see you at Gigi's one day or better yet mingling with the rest of the african community at Juneteeth. Maybe you can help participate in a neigborhood crime watch program on the east side or discuss your view with several neighborhood community groups since you seem to know so much about the african american community.

you know, I find it quite interesting that positive posts about the east side community on Buffalo Rising never receive nearly the amout of comments from the "peanut gallery". Don't believe me, take a look at the previous post about the Ken Baily neighborhood or Hamlin Park and you get maybe five or ten comments. What's wrong with this picture.?

L said:

"Its (sic) a community that is inwardly focussed and self segregated from the larger city as a whole. "

And if we replace the word 'city' with 'nation', I think one might find a good description of Western New York as a whole, or at least from this ex-Buffalonian's perspective.

Race-baiting is one thing I do not miss about Buffalo. Grow up. Work with people. Work with yourself. Don't play a blame game.

... And then maybe the rest of the country and all of your own displaced sons and daughters will begin to take Buffalo seriously again.

I don't think it's fair, nor accurate, to lump everyone of any given skin color into an all-encompassing "community" I like to think of all people as individuals capable of plotting their own courses though life instead of succombing to some ambiguous ethnic community.

Blaming a "black community" for the east side being less than stellar is just as foolish as blaming "the white community" for creating suburbia.

Troubled neighborhoods are too complex to confine to socioeconomic cliches.

There is no reason to assign any of these arbitrarily-named groups responsibility for keeping up a neighborhood. Especially distressed ones-- places where those who are able to climb out of poverty get the hell out at the first opprotunity. And rightly so.

well if you guys dont get metaphors...then Im not going to continue explaining it! The state of Buffalo public schools as they are...they may not be teaching metaphors. Look it up in the dictionary!

Eastside Member....excuse me...let me share a fact with you..a very close relation to me received advice from her african american friend many decades ago ... what was their advice you ask....it was to volunteer and through your volunteer work you make good friends and those friends will help you network and recommend you for job openings. Its as true today as it was then.

Eastside member, your wrong by labeling volunteer work as a yuppie cause ... for those struggling with crime or poverty...libraries dont just provide information but community resources and places to study for certifications, research investments, research companies for job applications, etc....Such buildings anchor a community, elevate the soul, enlighten the mind and should be integrated to the community!

I will admit that I dont know much about the african american community except its history, its historical contributions to our city and that many struggle with poverty and prejudice. So I will humble myself with that admission but Rod Watson and Pitts called this city racist, bigoted, prejudice and segregated during the council downsizing and did it publicly maligining our city not just in Buffalo but across NYS and getting national press! I dont believe that these accusations were true then...and dont believe they were true then. So before you attempt to label me with broad generalizations....let me differentiate my point. I was speaking metaphorically comparing the library's relationship to the surrounding community and then metaphorically comparing that relationship to the african american community's relationship to the larger city ... and you have to admit for those who understand metaphors....there is a strong similarity!

The difference is that when Rod Watson and Pitts and others maligned Buffalo and all the non-african americans in Buffalo ....they were not speaking metaphorically....but factually. There is a difference! If you dont understand the difference then I cant explain it any more clearly than I already have tried.

Somebody mercifully pull the plug on this post and stop all the racial discussion. Its about a library, a nice building that has a good community purpose and is badly needed. Everyone take a minute to think about this. I''m taking a break from BR for a while till things are pulled into perspective. This is ridiculous.

So this is what Buffalo Rising is about!

One month you put his wife’s photo of footprints in the snow on your website and the cover of your magazine (2005 Holiday-Winter 2006 Edition) (Didn’t know she was his wife – go figure, It seems Mr. Coles and His wife have broken down racial barriers without stereotyping, Why not Buffalo-Rising? )

The next month you create a post that shows his semi-completed building in contrast to three glamorized conceptual renderings. The nerve!

Someone then “metaphorically” defines a community of 100,000 by comparing them to a building.

I've seen these kinds of posts before.

Wow!!! I know I’m back in Buffalo, the “metaphoric” Mississippi of the North.

I hope to see you all of you opinionated people at the opening on April 1st at 11;00am, conveniently it will open on Happy (April) Fools Day and prove all the Nay Sayers Wrong.

You've been fooled into thinking its a bad design - take an architectural or planning course at UB and you'll find that the architects and urban planners disagree tremendously on what is beautiful or bad architecture. Some people design in Plan view, others in Elevation and some design for the community and some design for the individual. Who's right?

Some people criticized Louis Kahn's architecture for some of the same reasons your criticizing this building for.

And if you don't know who Louis Kahn is then you really should keep your comments on architecture to breakfast conversations at Pano's or Gigi's.

Take it from me an Architect/Urban Planner/Urban designer. I usually stay away from these types of forums, but someone important told me about it.

Is Buffalo Rising about rising out of the past or rising into it????????

Thank you for your time.

i dont get it.
discussing a demographic, their economic situation, behaviors that result from said economic situation, and the aboves affect on a community is racist??
most of the people who post on here seem to be semi-educated and fairly observant. so why is it that we can't have an intelligent, objective discussion about race?
i think being afraid to discuss race or tip toeing around the subject is in itself a form of racism. it just acts to distance us from people who are not like ourselves.
perhaps if there were less social taboos surrounding the discussion of race and ethnicity we would all have a better understanding of eachother's communities and cultures.

> You've been fooled into thinking its a bad design - take an
> architectural or planning course at UB and you'll find that the
> architects and urban planners disagree tremendously on what is
> beautiful or bad architecture.

If someone is giving me the middle finger, it doesn't make a bit if difference if they're pretty or not. This building is flipping off the street, and its not the architecture that offends us; it's the middle finger most of us are in an uproar about.

I'm an urban planner. I got my MUP at UB. I think the library is a bad design.

That doesn't mean the architecture of the building itself is unattractive, but rather its siting; the lack of transparency and fortress-like face is presents to the streetscape are inappropriate in what should be a pedestrian-oriented neighborhood.

In the past several decades, architects have often seen their buildings as pieces of art alone, and fail to recognize how they work in a larger urban setting. Architectural design is often detached from urban design. Witness UB North, built when butalism was at its peak. Architects LOVED brutalism for their monumential appearance; and at the time could care less about the cold face briutalist structures presented to the street or sidewalk. We dots on the sketch were supposed to be impressed by the building's strength, presence and artistry, not how it functioned in the greater whole.

There's more to building design than architecture alone. Too bad many architects don't realize this.

In response to "L" stating that I said that volunteer work was a yuppie concern :

I never said that, what I said was that being concerned about the design of a building is a yuppie concern when there are more serious issues in the community that must be dealt with.

I'm all for volunteering if it can help improve the community (such as joining a neighborhood crime watch or volunteering at a local community base organization that fights poverty,umemployment or whatever) and many african americans volunteer in their communities in such activities.

I really hate when people seem to think that they know sooo much about a community when: A) they don't live in the community, B) have no interaction with the individuals of the community C) Don't spend time in the community.

"L" I'm sure anyone of the vaious community based or faith based organizations on the E. side would welcome your expertise on their living situation. Why dont you look us up and consider volunteering.

Anyway this thread was orginally about the design of a library....lets stick to the subject at hand.

Dan

There is no reason to get into a pissing match!!!

I to am a planner. M.U.P maybe one of your classmates.

As a planner you should be able to appreciate difference and respect alternative designs.

What makes a streetscape so beautiful is diversity in design.

If this building flips you off I would hate to see what the deceased Larkin building or Wright's Guggenheim Museum does to you. “Some design for the individual, Some design for the community.” Who’s right?

Don’t wait until after the building is completed to play Monday morning Quarterback. If you can fight for the waterfront, you can fight for the eastside.

> What makes a streetscape so beautiful is diversity in design.

Transit Road, Union Road and Niagara Falls Boulevard must be the most beautiful streets in the country, then, and Haussmann was wrong about that whole scale and proportion and street life thing when he was responsible for rebuilding Paris in the mid-1800s.

> If this building flips you off I would hate to see what the deceased
> Larkin building or Wright's Guggenheim Museum does to you.

The Larkin building was in the middle of an industrial area that was a "third place" to almost nobody at the time. Yes, it was a gorgeous building on its own. If it were recreated today in the same location, only a fool would have an issue with it. If it was rebuilt at the corner of Elmwood and Utica, on the other hand, it would cause an uproar, and for good reason. It would present a cold face to the sidewalk - wondowless walls on the first floor, set 40' behind a wrought iron fence -- and sap away the potential for streetlife. Pig in a parlor, remember.

You can say the same thing about a Gehry structure. Architecturally impressive, but put it in the wrong place and it will do a lot more harm than good. A street full of Gehrys would be visually stunning, but dismal to walk down. Most people aren't going to walk down such a street in awe, contemplating the "statement" the buildings make. They're going to be miserable because there's nothing at street level except walls and landscape buffers,. It wouldn't be much different than the UB Spine or Empire State Plaza in Albany, only the buildings are OMG!!!!!1!!!one KeWL Gehrys.

> “Some design for the individual, Some design for the community.”
> Who’s right?

This seems like it's just design for the architect; that he's making some superficial Afrocentric statement to justify the fortress-like design, and the community be damned.

The discussion of the Merriweather Library's architectural merit is all a matter of personal taste. What troubles and irritates me is the startling ignorance surrounding the mere mention of "the City's East Side."

Anything on the east side of Main St. is not symbolic of poverty, racial polarization and concentrated sociological dysfunction. "Economic, racial and social problems are concentrated in this part of the city" writes Dak. Who's segregated now? Buffalo's crime is within blocks of Jefferson & Utica? The next time you watch the news, write down the names of the streets you hear, then consult a city atlas.

A while ago, the Buffalo News looked closely at crime statistics in neighborhoods across the city. Hamlin Park, where the Merriweather Library is located, was rated one of the safest areas of the city. That lovely slide show Figmo posted on this site - also Hamlin Park, where I grew up and where I currently (and proudly) reside. "The black community is protecting itself from surrounding crime, poverty and ignorance"??? Don't be so simplistic. Buffalo has a liberal sprinkling of each in every section of the city.

We'd better hurry up and tackle this very problem once and for all - code words like "the City's East Side" that say "boo!" when they're spoken. I'd love to invite Dak to dinner in the heart of Hamlin Park one evening, if he's so inclined.

people cant vote in NEW ORLEANS . But you can vote overseas yes ok forget that thought how about waterfront wasnt that suposed to be a ice rink 4 West SIDE and what happen . Now some kind medical building huh? ATl east the kids get a library. what about area around library maybe incorporate something to help the tuff look or wait 4 trees and grass . 1 more wasnt the goalie 4 sabres hasek to donate 1 million to build the rink ????? wear wear

The library looks like those big vats that mix raw sewage. What a great image for Jefferson, especially with so many vacant storefronts that would have made for fantastic library/cafe space. Another missed opportunity...

Quote by DAN
"There's more to building design than architecture alone. Too bad many architects don't realize this."

Good planning is good architecture. Don't sell all us architects down the river. I would also not hold a good portion of your planning associates too close to the light. It might shine on some pretty awful practices that they are touting as well.

The fact is that our design professions (at least in this country ) are in a horrible state these days. Much of it stems from the lack of importance placed on the visual environment in our society. The fact that Transit Road is deemed an accceptable environment and that Cheap Clarence McMansions are valued over Buffalo's high quality Victorians tells you where our design base line starts. Through in the fact that everyone is an architect in this day of reality home improvement shows and the architect has a tough job getting quality out of a project. For example I onceI had a client who insisted that her nice pick out all the colors and materials because she had taken an interior decorating class once in college. That is what we deal with as architects.

It is very likel that Mr. Coles' first client directive was that there should be no windows. It is probable that the budget did not support any material other than concrete block. That is not to say that there were no other possible solutions, just that these days fewer and fewer decisions are made by the architect when designing buildings.

STEEL, you are dead on!

On a recent trip to the area, a friend made a point of taking me to tour one of the Clarence McMansion developments. He scratched his head when I told him that I was more impressed with many of the Elmwood/Delaware/Parkside homes.

EB Blue
That is the funniest thing I think I have ever read! Thank you!

As objective and creative and analytical as I tried to be....my comments do not have the weight and poignancy and humor of yours! I salute you for saying a few words what took me paragraphs.

"The library looks like those big vats that mix raw sewage."

YUP BIG VATS OF RAW SEWAGE....THAT SUMS IT UP QUITE NICELY!

To DMW: you wrote :"The black community is protecting itself from surrounding crime, poverty and ignorance"??? Don't be so simplistic. Buffalo has a liberal sprinkling of each in every section of the city. "

Yes, but the other sections of the city would not have accepted as EB Blue eloquently put it BG VATS OF SEWAGE for a public library.

And I do believe you when you say that the eastside doesnt deserve to be slighted. There are sections of the eastside that are lovely and I feel perfectly fine visiting when Im in that area of the city. There are wonderful architectural treasures found...and yet to be found...like I only recently found the German RC Orphanage and still wonder why the eastside hasnt embraced it like they would have in the west, north or south sides.

i know some history behind the design of this thing...at least i know that it has been in the works for at least 6 years. I know that in that time control of the libraries have gone from the city to the county. i know that the county has since decided to close many urban libraries in areas that can least afford their closing. And..i know this all happened under Joel Giambra's watch....so blame Giambra! see how simple that was!

at the same time, a gourgeous (yes gourgeous) Erie County Public Saftey building has been designed and built in a similar "at risk" nieghborhood. so what is the deal here?

To L:
Other communities throughout the city WOULD have accepted the plans, since final decisions like this are not left to residents of the surrounding community, but to boards of trustees, funders (like Erie County) and the like. Yes, there was community input, but Steel hit it right on the head: there are numerous cooks in the kitchen for projects like this.

The importance of this building cannot be underestimated. The Library had outgrown the previous building at 332 Utica St. a long time ago. During any given storm buckets caught rainwater , the building was not handicap accessible, and an inside temperature of 90 degrees in the summer was not at all unusual. A free and open public library is still one of the best civic lessons around, whether we agree on the design or not.

(p.s. - M@: Since 1953, the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library has been funded primarily by the County of Erie. The city of buffalo owns the buildings, except for the Central library, which is owned by the County. See: http://www.buffalolib.org/aboutthelibrary/history.asp)

DMW,

I have about totally given up on this site, where few people really make a serious effort to hear and understand what anyone else says, but I did want to react briefly to your comments.

I don't like this building. I think it's anti-social and anti-urban in most respects, and just plain ugly, but this blog has gone well beyond any reasonable discussion of design and become something entirely different and hurtful.

I do sincerely believe that everyone struggles most of his or her life for self-respect and simple human dignity regardless of circumstances of birth, upbringing, race, status, income, or any of the myriad of knock-out punches life throws us along the way. Our public policies, our tax dollars, and our actions should reflect that, in my opinion.

I share your dismay (if that is at all the correct word) at the awful blanket characterizations and clinical simplifications of so many urban areas. They're holding us back far more than any lack of dollars or programs.

I don't know the East Side of Buffalo well, but I know well the terrible effects on a similar area of a large city where I lived for many years of broad assumptions by the community at large that the predominant characteristics of my part of the city were crime, degeneracy, the futility of improvements, and fear.

WHY AM I ALWAYS IGNORED ON THIS BIAS SITE ONLY YOU GUYS WRITE over my comments with your jibberish what abouy my previous comment

ps long comments and big words is not always a way to prove your points. also it seems like you guys are under 5 different screen names just to write what happen to the ice rink br rising simple question ty

Bad as the new library and gallery are, both remind me of Convention Center, that top picture is the absolute worst thing.

I had heard about that project (Health Now building, right?) but hadn't seen the rendering before. Now I see what all the complaining is about.

Damn that is awful with the old facade in front of the new monstrosity - does anyone know if it's too late to stop it???

Quick note about the calls for deleting comments or "pulling the plug":
Open honest direct communication is much better than sweeping issues under the rug. I'm not expert enough to know if every single thing written in these posts can be proven, but even the racial aspects of this dialogue are important. We should listen to each other and encourage open direct exchanges of views even when we have very different perspectives - in fact, ESPECIALLY then.

Merriweather Library - Info and Events:
http://www.buffalolib.org/events/merriweather/index.asp

yes like bryan swept my previous under the rug nobody remembers or cares about ice rink or kids you all are talking about the same thing in circles with no true interest

Dan ,

I agree that if we create a strip mall on Jefferson Street with seas of parking, it would be a disaster (i.e. Maple, Transit, and Niagara Falls Blvd.)

However, that’s not what’s going on here.

Do you really think that windows and glass alone make a street more pedestrian friendly?

No my friend! The devil is always in the details.

There is a beautiful monolithic, and enormous Armory that sits lush on Niagara St. and Connecticut. This building takes up an entire city block with windows that are high and mostly small as hell. But the building sits in perfect context to the residences across the street and perfectly between D’youville and front park.

I’m not even going to mention the rustic grain elevators and their ability to sit so beautifully on the outskirts of the First ward despite there size and shape.

This is where my beef with Diehard Planners comes into play. You think so broadly. (LETS MAKE WALKABLE STREETS, LETS MAKE BUFFALO BEAUTIFUL AGAIN, LETS MAKE DOWNTOWN INTO THE SOHO). But you tend to stay away from the details.

Most architects and Urban designers can not do their job if they leave out the details.

This Saturday, Walk up (do not drive) Jefferson street and see if the building falls out of context. Observe the curbs, sidewalks, people, activities and the overall aesthetic.

(Like most diehard planners and others) You may have been judging from afar.

Some may think its bad architecture or “sewage containers” and others may see it as a “Breath of Fresh air” and a through back exterior of “yeasteryear” with a post modern interior.

Regardless, new buildings on the eastside are few and far between. This is likely the first Afro-centric building in WNY. I guarantee if you don’t care its O.K., I promise you that many tourists, especially African Americans will.

The community will benefit from the publicity locally and nationally.

There has already been mention of the structure for Architecture and Masonry magazines.

See you Saturday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Also Dan,

That Armory is a real fortress!!!!

“Saturday April 1st”

An armory by definition IS a fortress because it is where instruments of war are maintained.

This is some of the flakiest commentary yet.

That was Daniel Dobie, not the Dan of earlier remarks.

Mr. Dobie

"Yeah its flaky if its taken out of context"

Architect, planner et...al,

Jefferson Avenue is becoming suburbanized. Diagonally across from the Merriweather is a former "Blight-Aid" plaza, with its anchor store rite-aid now closed. Next to that is the new Tops...with the 200' setback.

David,

Yes!!! That is my point ! The library does not look like that.

These types of developments don't work on Jefferson Street or any other street for that matter.

The "Blight aid" plaza as you call it has been there for more than a decade, but with the help of a new breed of Jefferson Supporters, you won’t see this type of development on Jefferson for long. Did you check out the set back of the other new building going up across from that plaza? (Not the Library)

As for Tops Market, please don’t pretend like you don’t know how these grocery store developments work.

And don’t pretend like the streets that diehard planners and others love in this City are immune to this. (i.e. Latinas food mart, formerly Quality on Elmwood and Summer 75-100ft. setback) or (Hertel Ave., Now do I really need to run down the list of 100, 200, and 300 ft. set backs on Hertel) Please!!! Give me a break.

Are you kidding? If Jefferson street is suburbia, than Hertel is open farmland.

Besides, those kinds of developers don’t have the cahones to do a massive development on Jefferson St. ( To much inner-city risk, as they say – Cowards!!! – If they did it right the risk would be minimized).

If you’re your going to judge Jefferson streets’ suburban characteristics, please use the same measuring stick as you would with a street that you love. Not that you were comparing the streets.

I love Hertel and I love Elmwood, and Jefferson has no where near the activity of these two strips. However, these two strips would be looked at like many of you look at Jefferson if they were in New York or Chicago.

We need to unite as a City and stop the childish “my area looks better than your area” crap. That’s why we are losing an average of 10-15 people a day. If we don’t stop, we’ll hit below 200,000 in less than ten years.

But anyway, back to the real subject. Did anyone ride by the library after dark? The dome glowing at night is spectacular!!!!

In architecture there is no bad designs, just bad details and bad photographs. With that ugly photo (above) taken on an overcast day you can’t make out anything.

It’s been fun debating, but this is my last post.

If you can have a “Call to Arms” for the underdeveloped outer harbor you can have that same call for the underdeveloped parts of east and south buffalo. (The First Ward has so much potential!!)

“Take pride in your Whole City or take pride in None of it”

Make no mistake, I would defend your part of this wonderful city if someone was coming down on it as hard as you have come down on the Library and the eastside (and I have on many occasions defended Elmwood, which was being dogged by Out of Towner’s and/or Conservative friends).

Thank you for your time.

where are my previos comments on ice rink?
you guys are not buffalonians bias site of contractors and upper class

An Architect/Planner/Urban Designer...

Yeah the dome is nice. So...the place is still fortress. "Blight-aid" plaza is not going anywhere. Wishful thinking. It'll be there at least another 10 years if not longer.

The Tops was built with the suburban setback because our local polticos have no backbone and preferred a nice ribbon cutting than convincing Tops to build an urban grocery store.

I think the other new build you are referring to is the 1 million dollar shoe box at the corner of Jefferson and Daisy. Generic, yet built to the street.

But thanks for helping me make my point. A fortress, bunker or big vat of sewage with a nice dome on top is still a fortress, bunker or big vat of sewage with a nice dome on top.

btw...where do you get your pop. numbers that Buffalo is losing 10-15/day? Let me know.

David,

www.census.gov

Between 1990 (pop. 328,123) and 2004 (pop. 282,864) Buffalo lost 45,259 people.

45,259/ 10 years = Average Loss 4525.9 per year

4525.9/ 365 days = Average Loss 12.3 people per day

The Numbers are the Numbers. Take them or Leave them!

Also, there are three (3)glass domes.

Four (4) sets of Afro-centric African Mahogany entrance doors, which according to the Architect will be arriving in Mid-May.

Three(3) 50’ x 15’ African American tiled Art Murals on the walls along with custom wall mounted bookshelves (Can you say OOOh!!! That’s why they don’t have any windows? !!!!!)

Why don’t you guys research these buildings before you start Judging!

Elitist Buffalonians are as shallow as they come!!!

Wear,

The Architects Sear-Brown were working on that (Hassak Ice Rink) Project, but sadly Sear Brown was brought out by Stantec out of Canada, and then their Architecture Department was discontinued.

I believe the project is no more.

Call Young + Wright Architects in the Larkin Exchange Building for info on that project.

Sorry it took me so long.

David,

Sorry, its 8.8 people per day

I meant to put 14 years, but you get my drift......
we are losing quick.

An Architect/Planner/Urban designer...

Thanks for the numbers. The 9/day is the one I'm using. Love to create a little java script thingy like a reverse counter based on those stats.

The new library is an ugly building. It was ugly before I knew a black architect designed it, it’s still ugly now that I do know that a black architect designed it. It would be ugly if a blue architect designed it.

Just goes to show you that bad design is a universally shared attribute/skill, just like all other human traits.

Go figure.

But I’ve also seen a lot more hideous structures that have been constructed the world over, from Frank Gheary’s early awful rusting corrugated metal “homes” to all the strip malls the world over.

It’s too bad Buffalo didn’t have any of the visionary architects that Las Vegas has had when it came to designing LV’s new masterpieces – I gape in awe every time I go past one of these magnificent award-winning contemporary structures.

I don’t know why the architect’s race was ever brought into this discussion in the first place – it has no value and lends nothing to the discussion.

The building does seem to lack ANY landscaping to mention, and perhaps with some good landscape design and lighting, this interesting structure could actually turn out to be something that the community as a whole values and embraces.

Right now, it does look like a prison/factory/warehouse.

Ever wonder why so many of our school structures are designed to look like prisons/factories/warehouses? I do – and I have yet to come up with an satisfactory answer.

All census numbers are estimates, especially the ones after the decennial census.

Mr. Marko,

Did you get a chance to see the interior of the Library?

This past Saturday there was a grand opening that hundreds attended and you should have seen their eyes beaming with joy and love for the structure!!!!!

Also, even though this was the grand opening the building is not finished. If you walk around the building up-close you can see where the foliage will be located.

P.S. How can you not like Frank Gehry's early home design? That was his best work.

this ste is bias were is ice rink read my previous comments

??????? what did you just try to say ??????

AAPUB:

I wish I could - it's a little hard commuting from Las Vegas now.

I would have loved to.

Hopefully I will be able to one day soon.

Give the building time - when it's all properly finished with the murals and landscaping, it could be a real winner.

Mr. Coles has done a lot in a town that is difficult at best for local architects, let alone a minority architect.

Maybe Buffalo Rising should do an update on the Library now that it has opened.