Smart Code in Buffalo?
How do buildings like the City Court building (featured in 'continue') fit in with the rest of Buffalo's built environment? Many will tell you that they don't. That's why I'm sitting with 80-100 other community activists, developers, and City Hall officials at The Saturn Club on Delaware Avenue at this moment. Yesterday I had the opportunity in participating in a citywide tour where Chuck Banas and Chris Hawley (NMG) showcased the good and the bad of Buffalo’s urban design to Nathan Norris and Chad Emerson of PlaceMakers, LLC. As we approached City Hall, the City Court building stopped Nathan and Chad dead in their tracks. After driving all the way down Delaware Avenue, there was City Court to greet us.
SmartCode has a lot to do with the density and consistency of the built environment... it is designed to implement guidelines that developers must take into consideration when building a thoughtful living and working environment. What place does a building with no windows have at the hub of our city? (Photo: Nathan Norris points out another city's brilliant idea... a giant lava lamp)
What had stood on the footprint of the City Court building (above right)? David Granville, Assistant to Commissioner Tobe, pointed out that the gothic Louise Bethune Women's Building once stood where the City Court building now stands. Juxtaposed against our wonderful City Hall and The Statler, the 'modern' brutalist City Court building is just one of those unfortunate decisions made during an era when anything new was considered progressive. As far as architecture in our city goes, many will say that the lack of development in past years has led to the preservation of so many of our architectural masterpieces. Smart Code is not designed to stop progress, as a matter of fact it is designed to encourage progress.
Our visitors for the SmartCode Conference arrived in Buffalo expecting the worst and have been shocked that our city is as intact as it is. Like every city they visit they have witnessed the over-abundance of parking lots situated in otherwise impressive blocks... many located on high-profile corners. They have noted tragic single story 'office park' style developments along Main Street. These are the types of issues that SmartCode is designed to combat. There is a lack of design regulations that give developers a free-for-all pass to build inappropriate designs for urban areas. Buildings with no windows should not get a free pass in this day and age. Neither should projects that are built around the almighty parking lot.
Nathan refers to the City Court building as the RoboCop building and jokingly suggests that Buffalo turn the facade that faces Niagara Square into a repelling wall. "Until your city can repair some of the damage that has been done in the past, you must preserve the integrity of design that previous generations of Buffalonians have instilled upon the city. If you need to build a new parking lot, make sure that it's a mixed-use lot that fits in with its environment. These developers that build to suit... who are the buildings suiting? You have a wonderful city here with great streets, incredible restaurants, trees... many other cities and suburban communities would kill for the infrastructure that you have."
If you drive around the city it's not hard to point out buildings that do not respect the community. Are the sidewalks wide enough? Does the building encroach on the sidewalk? Where does the parking go... front or back of the building? How tall can a pole sign be built? Can anyone put a billboard on their building? Which areas of the city are appropriate for big-box supermarkets and what will they look like when they are built? These types of builders are notorious for taking easy way out. They build the same building no matter where they're building it. Are trees and green space incorporated into the design? What is a great urban environment? Smart interaction between people and the built environment should be common sense, no?
To end on a positive note (the 2nd part of the conference is just starting), Rich Tobe and David Granville are actually attending this conference. In past administrations I never saw any city representatives at these types of conferences. That’s a good sign. Where there is an interest there is hope. It’s refreshing to know that these types of conferences are attracting so much attention from community interest groups all over the city.
Yea the City Court Building REALLY needs to be demolished. I hate it almost as must as those blue apartment buildings on Elmwood and the current convention center.
What can we do to support your efforts?
Everytime I pass the Hengerers Department Store on Main Street I wish someone would start a movement to bring back the original facade. We really do need to get a list of the most endangered buildings and communities we should try to save....and those things we really need to correct like removing thruway accesses within a 3-4mile radius of the city, getting rid of the Elm-Oak Arterial, bringing back our street grid and our wharf and replacing pedestrian unfriendly buildings like the city courthouse.
Is the public welcome? It seems strange to be hosted at the status-quo Saturn Club. It's also amusing to keep in mind the site in which the cover picture was taken from. What will people say of the proposed federal building 50+ years from now? I'd really like to attend this, please keep us posted. For the record, this is essentially a spin-off from regional smart-growth?
Good to see the BRO crew and Gabe from ReUrbanizeBuffalo.com at this conference.
On a gorgeous summer morning it was so cool to see so many City Hall people as Newell writes including from the 9th floor....Alita, John and Bill...
Great job - Chris and Chuck and the whole New Millenium crew that helped pull this off....
for some reason the city court building never bothered me. I think it says that what happens behind these walls is uneffected by outside influences. It is an architectural thing. Was it the best place for it... probably not, is it a bad building... I have seen worse go up in the past years.
I know all the urban design canon that it ignores, permiability, pedestrian scale, retail, but those things really are not any better done with city hall, the difference is windows and statement. One says I am the center, look at me the other says I deal with the law and our justice system I am a part of this city but what happens behind these walls must stay separate and sacred. who knows just my reading of it.
I don't mean to be so chatty, but this is an interesting topic. Sbrof raises some interesting points, and I do mean that. However, I wonder what the occupants think of working within ten stories of a high-rise basement?
When city court was first built it had climbing ivy planted at the base that grew up into the ridges on the face of the concrete. It would start growing up the building turning it green. But, for some reason they kept cutting it down. Can you imagine 10 stories of ivy? That would be cool!
Ahh, Steel you got religion! Yes, IVY could make this abomination of a robocop....or as I call it plant of the apes architecture! I can almost see Dr Zaus scraping his knuckles walking out the front of the building...and Charlton Heston....screaming you damn dirty apes...your destroyed my city. LOL!
Yes, an IVY could do alot to humanize that building and alittle more landscaping atleast until its replaced with something that integrates better with its surrounding and is less than as quinnyarch says..and urban basement.
Another thing...is there anyone else that would like to see the Hengerers building get back its orginal facade. Check out the link:
http://wnyheritagepress.org/photosofweek/hengerers.htm
http://wnyheritagepress.org/photos_week_2005/hengerer_site/hengerer_site.htm
Sounds like it was a great conference- kudos to everyone involved in making it happen and getting elected officials to show. Better than that though, it sounds like the majority in attendance were neighborhood-level stakeholders. They will be the change agents. Any developers, architects, or planning board members in the crowd?
Any ivy in the guerilla gardeners' aresenal?
I found the conference to be quite interesting.
And as the the City Court building you can develop a hernia opening the mammoth 12 foot tall doors not to mention the metal sculpture outside its just scary!
This all smells a bit like New Urbanism. The official charter of the New Urbanism sounds great. It addresses the environment, appropriate materials and scales, respecting context and the urban fabric and so on. Although, when New Urbanism gets beyond the concept and into design details it often turns into poop.
How about turning the side of the City Court building into an outdoor theater screen at night. Nothing else is going on in Niagara Square at night anyway, so why not? Plenty of room for hundreds of people to gather in the Circle. It's been done elsewhere on a smaller scale, so with the right organizers and operators, it could happen.
I actually think the giant Lava Lamp Traffic Circle would be a really COOL ideal...
Just goes to show there are different tastes...
;)
The SmartCode conference sounds like it was a great opportunity to hear what buffalo could be doing to improve itself and prevent future design problems.
As usual though, it's a shame these events are kept exclusive to only the connected few. There are many people in buffalo that would love to get this kind of experience that aren't part of the Urban Clique.
:(
The great thing about the SmartCode is that it takes the vision of a community and codifies it, making it the law. The code is simple, visual, and easy to understand.
Time and money is the language of developers. No one needs to convince Nate Benderson to put his parking lot in the rear of his building. With the SmartCode, he will likely chose to do so voluntarily because it will save him time and money. That's because the SmartCode is incentivized through an expedited approval process.
Choosing the SmartCode reduces "governmental risk" and brings a comforting level of certainty for the developer.
Brief correction about the City Court site. The site was first occupied by the Heman Potter House, which may have later been called the George Babcock house, because a history of the Buffalo Women's Educational and Industrial Union (WEIU) says that the Babcock House was their first home. Their history says they hired Robert. Bethune, Louise's husband, to remodel the house for educational use. It is possible that both Bethunes worked on the job, but only Robert was credited.
When the WEIU grew large enough to afford a new building, they did not hire Louise to design it, as obvious a choice as that was. They hired either Richard Waite or George Metzger--sorry, but I can't remember which, only that I was disappointed when I found out that it was not a Bethune building. The Babcock (or Potter) house was then demolished.
The Buffalo WEIU folded after World War I and Harriet Townsend, its president, gave the building to the University of Buffalo, whereupon it was renamed Townsend Hall. UB still has a building named for Townsend even though the original on Niagara Square is long gone.
See:
http://freenet.buffalo.edu/bah/h/niagsq/wu/index.html
http://www.wnyheritagepress.org/photosofweek/townsend_hall.htm
The Buffalo WEIU history can be found in v.22 of the annual proceedings of the Buffalo Historical Society.
WCP, Yes and Yes.
Architects....Karl Frizlen was there. A few others, including some folks from Wendel Duscherer.
And on the developer front, there were some guys from Uniland there (also, they were one of the event's sponsors).
Savarino's Eva Hassett was in attendence as well.
sbrof, great critique! I too understand everyone's issue with this building and how it ignores the streetscape, but new urbanism isn't a pancea for all buidling design. Quite a few very well designed buildings downtown ignore the street and don't provide street retail / mixed use / underground parking / etc. These weren't the tennants of urban design 30 yrs ago and I don't think older buildings should be vilified for not addressing them.
the fact that this building reflects it's function makes it better than many other downtown buildings that have first floor retail etc. I agree that some mega-ivy would make it's massive blank facade a bit more palatable. especially considdering the prime real estate it sits on. But if form follows function, and few windows are the result, why crap on the design? i think we may appreciate this building more as it ages. right now it looks dated with it's imposing monolithic forms and minimilist detailing, but we may eventually consider it a fine example of 70's / 80's post modernism.
Besides, the tensil structure sculpture out front is cool.
Kudos to the NMG et al. for bringing these guys to town. Keep up the good work and positive energy. I hope the developers and city staff were listening.
I do respectfully disagree with Mr. McNichol's previous comment. I'm not sure that Nate Benderson will put parking in the back, even if it is cheaper and easier. He is probably representing XYZ Megacorporation and the corporate bean counters demand parking in front because that's their business model. Can they alter their business model? Yes, but it would take tremendous fortitude on the part of the city to demand it.
For Civic buildings, there has always been a longstanding consenus that they should be set back and sit as a single use. It's ridiculous to think that government buildings should have ground floor retail. These structures should definitely stand out from the rest of a downtown's dense mixed-use fabirc.
Should post office buildings get a free pass with the adoption of a Smart Code? I don't think this is what Gabe has in mind when civic buildings should stand out...
Here are four views: Buffalo's Newest PO'si
i lived downtown for 10 years and of course hated this building when I first came to it. In fact it was the restimulation of my tirades against what is wrong with Buffalo and planning. But not to take away from the articles important point about the need for better planning. I actually like the building now. Its solid. Massive. Its hulking presence puts it head to the winds that whip off the lake. It says f@#$ you. In a city like this one, you gotta like that. There's room for pretty, but with city hall and HSBC and others there is something to be said about strong, squat, solidness. Like the animal, Buffalo's namesake.
david, no no no no no!
I certainly don't mean suburbanesque site placements when I say "standing out" or "set back".
Think of greek/roman style government buildings, set back a bit on a green.
Set back on a green, as opposed to set back on a 500 car lot....
Setbacks for public buildings are a tough call. Two of Buffalo's most beloved public buildings, the old post office (ECC City Campus) and City Hall, have virtually no setbacks and no green. They also lack permeability. Conversely, the new office building on South Elmwood Avenue is essentially a public building, given that it's mostly leased by the Feds, and it does have a setback and greenspace. But to me it doesn't work... feels too suburban.
I also don't hate City Court. There are too many other buildings in Buffalo much more worthy of my hate. The Adam's Mark Hotel is one that I love to hate. I think because we expect more of hotels than we do of city court buildings. A hotel should be a place of happiness, joy, vacations, greeting relatives, travel, business, excitement, welcome, etc. City court processes criminals. And yet the Adam's Mark looks like it should be processing criminals.