At some time in the late 1960's Buffalo started awakening to the possibility that heavy industry was possibly not the key to its future. People became aware of large formerly industrialized swaths of land that had become fallow. One of these parcels was at Buffalo's front doorstep adjacent to downtown - an area that was in close proximity to the waterfront.
Forward-thinking civic leaders looked on this underutilized land as possibly the most valuable asset Buffalo had and began planning for its use by the public for recreation and for the creation of whole new neighborhoods. As planning proceeded, the area was also looked at as a possible new campus for the University of Buffalo. In addition to the waterfront, planning included a huge area of the Lower West Side directly east of the thruway. In this era of ‘spare nothing, scorched-earth urban renewal’ a giant chunk of old Buffalo was marked for removal, soon to be replaced by a state-of-the-art urban residential complex. (See '06 post by WCP on Shoreline Apartments news)
Paul Rudolph, one of the nation's most influential architects of that time, was tapped to develop a master plan and design all of the buildings. The scope of the project dwarfed anything that had ever been done in Buffalo and possibly the entire country. First phase construction started in 1970 on what is now known as the Shoreline Apartments. It opened to tenants two years later.
My father spent part of his early childhood in this neighborhood, which sat between the thruway and Niagara Street. He would drive us through the area as the houses were being removed, feigning sadness. Down deep, I think he really was quite deeply sad. Eventually, even the roads would be removed as this would be a very thorough elimination of everything that had come before.
With the stage set, Rudolph set out to make a completely new city. This period of architecture was one of great experimentation and idealism. Architects and planners thought they could remake America's dysfunctional cities. They imagined that architecture could mend the social ills that were tearing at the inner cities by providing good architecture to the masses.
Much of the waterfront plan for Buffalo would be built to house low income people but not in the typical public housing way that had already proven disastrous in Buffalo and around the country. This would not be a concentration of people in isolated towers. The Shoreline Apartments would be a complex composition of unique residences piled in a geometric pattern, evoking the romance of an old European hill town. There would be balconies and courtyards. Parking would be broken up and located near apartments and there would be many points of entry.
Shoreline has had a checkered past, never fully living up to its promise to revitalize the city. It has been difficult to maintain, financially unstable, and is often been cited as the source of much Lower West Side criminal activity. In 2005, a major renovation plan for the complex was announced by Norstar Development Group. They planned on spending 13.3 million to renovate the complex.
I have seen a few renderings, which suggest that plans might include architectural treatments that may not respect the modernist heritage of these buildings. I have heard nothing about the project since it was announced.
As you can see from the renderings and plans shown here, the initial complex was planned to be beyond massive. The buildings completed (including the Waterfront School) are dwarfed by the original concept.
Most interesting are the series of ziggurat towers and hundreds of townhouses planned in the Erie Basin area now known as Waterfront Village. I do not know what happened to this plan. It was later replaced by a plan from the early 1980's that was more varied in its architecture (anyone have a picture of that plan?). The plan built today is a watered down version of this 1980's rendition. Rudolph and many of the major architects working in the 60's and 70's were masters at creating visually interesting architectural compositions, especially in models and renderings. In reality their buildings were often oppressive to the user and trampled many of the things that made cities livable.
This waterfront plan was exactly the kind of thing that well-known 20th century urbanist Jane Jacobs railed against. They often eschewed the way people actually used buildings in favor of formal compositions. Even so, there really is something interesting about Rudolph's work that is valuable to Buffalo and other places with his projects. The Shoreline Apartments project is an example of architecture built when Buffalo still believed it could do big things.
Today Buffalo is held back by the belief that nothing big can be done. But, when I see something like the recent renovations of the Webb Building and the old Larkin warehouse it seems to me that Buffalo may be learning to think big again, even if it means taking baby steps. In both of these examples, people followed a dream and made possible what many deemed impossible. The great thing about these dreams is that they are rebuilding the city without removing it first.
