Buffalo Rising Online

You can't "save old buffalo" by building fake historic buildings....That is not to say that this one is a prize winner.

airport blue light behind the letters, please!!!!! :)

Hamp - why are you complaining about the lack of sculpture garden when the building isnt' even done yet? Seriously... let them finish the thing first. BTW galleries are not about windows. They're about big walls and floorspace. Some well-placed windows are good, but all it does is reduce gallery space.

Absolutely awful, sad, and dreary.

About the institutional level of vinyl siding on a suburban house.

BTW: Where is the front door?

Did the "starcitect" get aroused by confusing the masses on how to enter his masterpiece?

I can't wait to get drunk one night and piss on the side of the zinc exterior. BTW who cares what anyone thinks besides the investors, Board and fundraisers. I'm sure no cash came from anyone commenting on it here. Oh, the differentiator has entered the room.

This is a horrible building that should be turned over to the Zoo to house the elephants as soon as they fix those gaps on the end of the building.

Nice usage of Avant Garde for the typeface. I really disagree with anyone that thinks the architecture in the city needs to 'blend in' The best neighborhoods aren't made by homogenizing the architecture, if you want that you can move to a subdivision in the burbs.

I love all the wannabe architects here. I just can't figure out why none of the critics here at BRO are hired to design any of the buildings going up around WNY.

Longest construction project ever!

Also, the building is definately a bust. If you think the building is a wonderful work of art, you must live in no imagination land. C'mon you think this is the best we can do in the nicest neighborhood in the City around great examples of classical architecture, olmsted designed parks, and h.h. richardson.

Sorry but I only want the best for this city and this building isn't it. But alas the damn thing was built, so on the positive side I like the signage I guess.

Buffaloed, That "adequate funding" was our tax dollars. When that's the case, the community has the right to a more open process for the design, and that was decidely not the case here. This "it's good enough" thinking will not help Buffalo move forward.

It's a dull, cheerless building on Olmsted park land, at the gate of our most vital urban district. That's no reason to celebrate.

"I understand that the scheduled completion timeline is still the same. " And what is the sheduled completion time?

The work was bid June 2006. It was first scheduled to be complete June 2007. Then it was changed to October 2007. It's August 2008!

First off donations are not public, they are private, so let's clear that up.

The public funds for the Center came mostly from Federal Omnibus appropriations and Block Grants. These all have public comment periods, so you did have time to comment and lobby if you thought the spending was wise or not. And looking at it, we the American people should all have a say in its design and we already have, so take your comments and shove em up your ass. The community certainly was given the choice to comment. They also elect their officials and can choose to vote them out of office, if the majority feels that way. Maybe you all are just in the minority.

Good design spurs negative criticism, so it looks like Mission Accomplished.

If Eric Oak had it his way the the space would still be vacant, as Olmsted would surely be turning over in his grave: to procure some scotch tape to tape the fingers of bloggers on this site.

Buffalonians spend way too much time whining about projects that are essentially done. But when it comes to looking forward to projects that are currently in the design phase, nobody is willing to spend the time to review and comment. It will take some effort on your part if you want your voice heard. Waiting until the construction announcements appear on BRO or the News is not considered "effort", it's Monday morning quarterbacking.

If you want to make a difference, get involved early. There's less drama and more impact.

luckily they put the name on the front because it looks like a new gymnasium for Buff State from the outside, at any angle. Reminds me of driving by Depew High School on Transit.

New and Old can co-exist. Boring crap is still boring crap. Who here could not have drawn a couple shoe boxes and an upright toilet roll? This is not a corner store, its a Art Museum thatis supposed to be a centerpiece to the campus and Art district. It surely was not designed as such.

Thankfully the parking tumor was hidden at the rear but why does that necessitate that the entrance HAS to go with it? Put a couple Handicap spaces along Rockwell and let everyone else use the legs they were blessed with to walk to a real entrance, at least on Rockwell Dr, and the closer to Elmwood the better.

When spending millions of dollars, reach a tad for some greatness.

Carl...Good for you. Next time bid lower and maybe you can do the design instead of critiquing it. In fact why not throw your portfolio out there and let your fellow BRO members(wannabe architects or REAL architects) go to town on it? ;)

it's fine. STFU

I'm not sure what is uglier, the building or the fact that a gargantuan amount of tax money was pilfered to pay for it.

The wealthy sob's on the board should have paid for it out of their own pockets.

OMG they forgot the hyphen! What a travesty. Seriously...GET A LIFE!

ouch, its a bad design? Not too many gymnasiums look as nice as the front of this building. lighting seems to be more about bulbs then windows. rock and roll!

Buffalo State has probably the ugliest campus fronting Grant, Forest and now with Birchfield Penny, the ugliest half of the frontage on Elmwood.

Dare I make the analogy with an african american minority president that refuses 10,000 aplicants a year, refuses to built dormatories until their so desperately needed that private developers find it profitable to build them off campus, refuses to build incubators for entrepreneurs and small businesses, refuses to partner with locals Canisius or UB, etc etc etc.

Dare I make the analogy with an african american minority president, its like so many have seen cadillacs and SUVs pulling into municipal housing.

Howard cares more for her hairdo and her tailored suites (cadillac) than she does for the place she lives (her college).

Go Howard....you ghetto mama

mindvox, invite them to Buffalo to design some of our Erie Canal Wharf buildings. They would fit in wonderfully with Buffalos rich 1890s to 1920s architecture.

Not only that but buildings of this design will make any of our modern and contemporary buildings stand out as they were intended. Instead of appearing old and warn out and dated they will stand out as intended when designed to be set apart with clean lines and shapes.

FLW new this best. Major architects of the period looked at the Gugenheim spiral as a poor design forcing people to look at art on an incline. However, when built they recanted....declaring that the majesty of the gugenheim spiral was that all the flat surfaced unadorned modern skyscrapers provided a pallet (aka a backdrop) for the spiral.

Buffalos 1950, 1960s and 1970s buildings were designed when many of Buffalos urban buildings still existed from the golden period of 1890-1920. The clean lines of modern building played off the period buildings giving them a unique sense of place. Those same modern buildings have lost their place because the period buildings they once interacted with are gone.

There is no such thing as a fake historic building. A period building can be just as appreciated today as a piece of period furniture is appreciated in ones home. There is no dominant style in ones home. There is no dominant style in corporate america. Today there is no dominant architectural style.

Todays architects are not imprisoned by style or fashion of the day. Instead they reach to the best of function, utility and then frame it around the best design for the space and for the customer.

Bad architecture is easy because it has no interaction with its surroundings, the public or its owners, it uses cheap materials and it looks dated shortly after its built.

Katiesehr,

1.) The small ladder in the picture is an OSHA requirement. You're not allowed to jump up or down from the scaffolding in the picture.

KenS, 2.) They intentionally removed the hyphen. It was not forgotten.