yeah especially at UB where most students know nothing about the actual city propper. I look forward to seeing what they will do. Knowing Frank and Brad it will be something unique that is for sure.
yeah especially at UB where most students know nothing about the actual city propper. I look forward to seeing what they will do. Knowing Frank and Brad it will be something unique that is for sure.
This sounds like a good project, and quite a challenge given the condition of this specific property.
Do you happen to know if they will be publishing a 'lessons learned' or 'best-practices' review after this project is completed? I would think that the information gained from this type of project would be incredibly useful for a private investor or potential home owner who wishes to take on a similar challenge, not only in Buffalo, but in other cities as well.
This may provide a career path for some of the students involved. I know that I would love to hire someone to help me work on the structural and design challenges of my renovation. I currently rely on the help of friends, contractors, and family because the architects that I have spoken with lack experience in this type of work.
Another good move for Buffalo and UB!
Nice. So in addition to having class A office space down town, we will also have a class A crack house on Putnam. Kidding. This will be a great opportunity for the students. They can learn much more with hands on experience than they can in the classroom. I wish all departments at UB would put such emphasis on the benefit of getting your hands dirty in field.
That's a great idea!
Now maybe the absentee landlord of the Hotel Lafayette will offer the same of his property.
I walk my dogs by this house a couple of times a week. It great to hear that something is being done to bring this house back. I hope this project is sucessful and can serve as model for revitalization, because the city is full of interesting buildings that could be rehabilitated, rather than demolished.
It is important to see the forest, not just individual trees.
In the 2000 Census there were 3,322 west side housing vacancies, up from 1,822 in 1990. That was despite a decline of total housing units from 18,894 (1990) to 18,203 in 2000. Projecting census data forward there are now likely 17,800 WS housing units today.
Altho there are not current estimates by Council District, simply projecting annual 1990-2000 changes forward 6 years to 2006 could total an overwhelming 4,000 WS housing vacancies today.
At the same time WS owner-occupancy has been plummeting. In 1990 there were 4,961 owner occupants (26%), by 2000 there were only 4,078 (22%). That 22% rate of owner-occupancy was tied with Ellicott District for lowest rate in the city. Projecting forward 6 years, as there has been a virtual invasion of "foreign" investor speculators who often buy houses abandoned by aging owner-occupants, WS home ownership is now likely 3,550 (20%?).
It is the 1000's of vacancies such as 15 S Putnam that are often the cheap 'playgrounds' of flipper -scammers. There needs to be a coherent plan to demolish 1000's of housing vacancies that are not economically viablle, while blighting neighborjhoods & fuelling more flight.
In an economically depressed, shrinking city with 25,000 housing vacancies, not everything can be saved. Architecture students would be more productively used to aid "smart decline".
Dick Kern (in Mpls)
There needs to be a coherent plan to demolish 1000's of housing vacancies that are not economically viablle, while blighting neighborjhoods & fuelling more flight.
In an economically depressed, shrinking city with 25,000 housing vacancies, not everything can be saved. Architecture students would be more productively used to aid "smart decline".
Bingo. I couldn't have said it any better myself.
Kernwatch- Please give an example of what these students should be doing otherwise. Find a project that is hands-on in the city of Buffalo that makes more sense to you. Take your argument and use it in the context of Global Warming. We know we have to take drastic steps to save the planet, but does that mean we shouldn't stop leaving lights on or recycling on a small scale? Absolutely not. Architecture students are not responsible for coming up with a master plan to demo old buildings. They are simply looking to expirement with a buildinging and maybe save it. Enough with people like you that always have to find what is wrong with an idea. If the students weren't doing this project, I'm sure you would be complaining that these buildings need to be taken care of. So are you telling me that you would rather see this building abandoned for the next 5 years (until they do actually demo it) instead of making any effort to save it? Doesn't make much sense to me. If you have a problem with the way the City handles these demo projects, go complain and talk to them. Don't tell a group of students they are wasting their time.
strongly disagree. demolition of houses built with high quality materials/workmanship is rarely a better option, no matter the level of neglect and deterioration. maintaining the integrity of the residential streetscape is just as important as maintaining the integrity of a commercial retail streetscape. the fact that we haven't figured that out, and that we're unable to protect these properties from various problems - the weather, arsonists, drug dealers - until they can be brought back to life, has lots of consequences. it means that we will continue to lose valuable, often irreplaceable, assets. it means we have less chance of keeping and attracting the people who want high quality, very affordable housing that offers them the opportunity to be creative in the restoration process, but who still want a safe neighborhood. and because demolitions are geometric on streets - one leads to two leads to four leads to eight - it means that the integrity and safety of streets and surrounding neighborhoods is compromised. and even in neighborhoods where in-fill replacement housing has been built, it is rarely as good as what was demolished.
plan for success. build on our assets, esp. the high quality residential housing stock. show me a city committed to pursuing a strategy of "smart decline" and i'll show you a city in decline. i know the statistics, i've read the reports, including "blueprint buffalo" from the national vacant properties campaign, and i refuse to believe that buffalo is a city in decline. our task is not to figure out how to efficiently turn out the lights, but how to re-light our vacant houses in a thoughtful, systematic way that brings people back to buffalo. as folks who read this website know, it is already happening, but we can do more.
First of all I must compliment the University at Buffalo’s Architectural program for this undertaking and I think whoever initiated this project should be applauded.
Though, I must ask out of curiosity; of all the derelict buildings in Buffalo, how did this one come to be selected?
This is an uninspiring four-square Victorian whose only unique feature, as far as I can tell from a photograph, is the dual chimneys. If I were to randomly select a building I would have chosen something more in the style of 194 Utica which is a once-grand Queen Anne whose fate is clearly the wreaking ball.
Perhaps this is the beginning of many such projects headed-up by the UB Architectural program.
There are dozens of projects by architecture students that could be a major contribution to helping enhance architectural merit & stabilize struggling poor neighborhoods on the WS & city-wide.
As questioned by Olcott Beach, I too am puzzled as to why such a non-descript house, of 100's of abandoned houses on the WS, was chosen.
Two-family, 2274 square foot 15 South Putnam, long owned by an absentee suburban investor, has no cellar, generally a test of construction quality. The city ranks it as "average" construction quality & "poor" condition.
Why was it of so many possibilities chosen?
Dick Kern (in Mpls)
having rambled on a bit earlier, i'll concede that is a good question. i assume there's a good answer. perhaps harvey garrett or ub profs can answer it.
The house was chosen from a group of four or five. It was chosen based on a number of concerns; none of them being style of house or aesthetic appeal. It was chosen based on location, availability, structural integrity, size, interior spaces, client, etc. It was not one thing. Being such a non-descript house is the beauty of it. Making a beautiful house more beautiful is not a challenge. Making an average house stand out is.
Sure their are hundreds of projects on the WS and throughout the city, but again, where do you start? If a different house was chosen there would be another voice saying it is a bad choice. Again, name a different house and/or project and I'm sure someone will have a problem with it. There is no right answer. Progress must start somewhere and this is a good place.
Quoting feebs1112_Making a beautiful house more beautiful is not a challenge. Making an average house stand out is...Progress must start somewhere and this is a good place to start.
Bingo.
Architecture is one of the essential professions which provides for a socially and physically interactive space. Maybe the beauty of this "This is an uninspiring four-square Victorian," lays within the interior. Why not select a house with a seemingly generic streetscape and explore the possibilities of a design solution that speaks to both exterior context and the character of the volume within. Maybe within UB's department of Architecture students are taught to explore spatial conditions through unconventional and conventional means. It is this distinction within the world of academia that UB allows students to explore, so as not to produce architects with a poor understanding of design and theory. But maybe I’m wrong and Architecture graduate students should explore the urban planning realm and focus on ‘smart decline’ without ever making an attempt to creatively revitalize the ones in which the city has forcefully neglected.
yeah the point of this class and project I would guess is to be able to create value where little or none in present. If it was a grand old building people are going to want that building back. Taking a more run of the mill piece of architecture and transforming it is something with demand poses a much broader applicability within the city and for future projects. As feeb1112 said you need to start somewhere. Here is just as good as any.
It is also worth mentioning here that this isn't the only project or professor that has UB architecture students involved in the community. Kevin Connor's Natural building class is in the processes of designing and building out the Massachusetts's Ave project garden site, along with the Street Synergy garden on Bailey. Granted the focus in different and but at least one school at UB is making connections within the city. Something that has been lacking at the University for way too long.
Feebs pretty much covered the reasons this house was chosen. Another major factor was the side yard that will be used for staging and educational presentations. We'd been looking for a way to save this house for a while. It had been on the demo list for around a year and the owner had been making demo payments to the City. Although it had a few structural issues that were preventing the current owners from rehabbing it - the building as a whole was very stable and didn't need to come down,
Through this partnership with the UB School of Architecture the structural issues will be corrected and the original owner will be able to complete the rehab. This family grew up in the house, they just couldn't afford to fix the structural issues - they are looking forward to it's resurrection and will be living there again when it's finished.
I agree with Feebs and Scarnath - we need to stop knocking down all these houses. Some of them need to come down - most of them don't. This property is one of over a dozen that we've stopped the demo on so far - and we've just gotten started.
The statements from kernwatch regarding the city and its decline; reinforce a negativity that leads to urban sprawl, and the growth of our suburbs. Economically and environmentally speaking maintaining, reusing, and revitalizing the city is the most viable solution for the re-growth of Buffalo. Demolishing these buildings and allowing the city to continue to disintegrate only enforces urban sprawl and the redundancy of services that need to be maintained by individual townships and villages.
The flight from the city will only be stopped by actions similar to this class' efforts. Many recent UB architecture alumni have stayed in the city working and purchasing houses in some of the blighted areas. By introducing their design expertise they transform these seemingly hopeless projects into beautiful works of art and modern, comfortable spaces to live in. These projects allow Buffalo's historical fabric to remain intact. The dynamic interaction of these alumni and the districts they are working is fueling a new energy within the city and among our current students. Introducing 14 new students to the building techniques necessary to rehabilitate such a structure with our unconventional and conventional academic experiences will continue the trend started in this department, and seemingly shrink the current "brain drain" the city is experiencing.
Skanarth said,
i refuse to believe that buffalo is a city in decline.
There is your problem right there. If you can't accept that Buffalo is in decline, there is really no point discussing on this issue with you at all.
Buffalo offers a unique opportunity to consider radically new ways of living. This project will stand as strong evidence of Buffalo's potential to be a place for exploration and experimentation. Undervalued property, superfluous and obsolete spaces and an invaluable open-mindedness can make Buffalo an attractive urban design laboratory. I hope that this project can further advance a culture of fearless experimentation in Buffalo.
Kernwatch, attitudes like this are the exact reason nothing happens in Buffalo. They could have chosen another house yes, but the fact is that they picked one and are going with it. They could have talked about it for 10 years like has happened with the peace bridge, but be thankful that they didnt, this will serve the community well to help show the city how quickly a property can be turned around.
Very good that the family will be able to live in the home again, but I have a question: What happens to the money they have paid the city for the demolition thus far? Will they get it back or does it go into the project? It stands to reason that if the family was making paymetns for the subsequent demolition that will n o longer occur, something positive has to happen with the money they have put in so far.
And another question just out of curiosity: Harvey, why do you use an icon of color when you are obviously white?
Answer #1 - yes they will get the money back from the City. Answer #2 - I was rebelling against having to choose an icon that would represent me by race so I chose an that didn't (I didn't notice the animal icons at the bottom until after I chose one of the humans). You mean it doesn't make me look cool?
Letsgobflo _ regarding a posting of any relevant issue...why should the color of an icon or skin matter...is this not the forum for discussion and not animosity
Out of curiosity…let me ask a question that doesn’t matter….
Excellent choice for a project! It's a solid, big box of a house, with lots of light around it and in a decent neighborhood. Almost anything can be done with the interior, and it'll be appealing.
Harvey! LOL!!!!!! jaymzt1: Chill, Baby...
I've known Harvey for almost as many years as he's been in bflo and could not wait to see his answer. I don;t even know if he knows who I am but that just adds to the mystery of it all, doesn't it, Harvey? Your such a cutey...
To anyone who believes that reahbing this house will only affect the owner/user of the house: this project is meant to stem growth, and who is to say that growth in buffalo is impossible? To claim that you "refuse to believe that buffalo is a city in decline" is obviously not literal. It is a well known fact that the city has declined in pupulation, but I (and many others within the city) refuse to believe that this trend cannot be turned around. Positive change is contagious, and fixing one house in a neighborhood may hopefully start a chain of rehabs around it. A group of students from the UB School of Architecture cannot be held responsible for the rehabilitation of every condemned house in buffalo, but if more people learn about the project and are positive about it, then they have done their job.
hey, look at it this way: first, we roll over, then we crawl, then we toddle, then we walk, then we run, then we fly.
hey, look at it this way: delaware is next to elmwood is next to ashland, is next to norwood, is next to richmond, is next to livingston, is next to putnam, is next to .........
I checked 15 S Putnam On a recent visit to Bflo & was disappointed to see it looking abandoned.
Today I was shocked to discover that #15 is one of four Putnam Street houses on the list of about 3700 properties to be sold at the October 22-24 City tax auction, held annually in the Convention Center.
Is there no plan for the house?
> University of Buffalo School of Architecture
It's the University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning.
We UB planning grads tend to get quite miffed when the school's name is butchered, usually with the "and Planning" part chopped off. Please get it right next time.
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