Buffalo Rising Online

I think she should move to Buffalo. It is very nice, has a lot of trees and nice weather.

Very weak article.

extremely weak...but the japanese are extremely polite even at all levels of their culture...so it might have just been being polite instead of being politically correct....or perhaps just alittle of both.

We are a city with a rich architectural and historical heritage...but some of our history and historic architecture needs to be rebuilt. Tourism is over a 2 Billion industry in Buffalo Niagara and with the expansion of Seneca Niagara Casino, the completion of Buffalo Creek Casino, the completion of the Martin House Complex, the restoration and redevelopment of the Richardson, presidential libraries for Cleveland, McKinley, Fillmore and Roosevelt, the newly constructed Burchfield Penny, the future Buffalo Niagara Aerospace Museum, etc....ALL PUT INCREDIBLE PRESSURE FOR BUFFALO AND ERIE COUNTY TO GET A NEW CONVENTION AND CONFERENCE CENTER BUILT AT THE OHIO BASIN.

There are big historical restoration narratives that need to be rebuilt like LaSalles Griffon, Adm Perry's Warship and Canal Boats, the burning of Buffalo, the invasion of Canada, Tesla A/C and the first power project in the nation, the Canadiana/American/City of Buffalo are all great stories of Buffalo ships that need atleast models on display.

Lets also not forget the loss of GREAT HISTORICAL BUILDINGS LIKE THE LARKIN EXCHANGE, ERIE COUNTY BANK, GERMAN AMERICAN INSURANCE BUILDING AND THE ORIGINAL ART NUVEAU HOTEL STATLER AS WELL AS KEY PIECES OF THE PAN AM LIKE FOUNTAINS, GATEWAYS AND MAYBE EVEN THE TEMPLE OF MUSIC ALL NEED TO BE CONSIDERED FOR RECONSTRUCTION.

CULTURALLY BUFFALO COULD BE THE LITTLE PARIS OF THE GREAT LAKES.

Chirs69, it is terrible, and terribly ironic that you're wishing for Buffalo to more cosmopolitan - "BUFFALO COULD BE THE LITTLE PARIS OF THE GREAT LAKES" - at the same time you air your ridiculous racist reduction and over-simiplication of the Japanese: "extremely polite even at all levels of their culture."

Cosmopolitanism and reductive thinking don't cohabitate.

Man, the whiners are out today. You people need to start taking some happy pills.

Nothing like a good old dose of Buffalo cynicism to piss on the parade. The fact that there are 5 FLW designed houses, the Richardson towers and the Richardson designed Dorsheimer House on Delaware , Daniel Burnham's Ellicott Square Building, 2 McKim, Mead and White designed houses on Delaware, several houses on Linwood designed by Joseph Silsbee. Richard Upjohn's St. Paul's Cathedral and the Olmstead parks and parkways and other significant architecture in Buffalo doesn't matter to some folks because, in their minds, Buffalo is perfectly positioned at the bottom of America's shit chute. I'm sure Richard Moe, the president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, was just patronizing Buffalo when he said our architecture was second only to Chicago before announcing that Buffalo is the site of the National Trust's 2011 convention. To be honest, I'm sure that Ms Mori was probably only shown Allentown, the Delaware District, Parkside West, Parkside East and Central Park or some combination of those beautiful neighborhoods. I'm sure someone who only sees those parts of Buffalo would probably think or say that Buffalo is a beautiful city. No city in America is totally beautiful, even San Francisco. They all have blight and slums just like Buffalo but almost no city has the aforementioned examples of outstanding architecture by outstanding architects. With the exception of Gordon Bunshaft's 1960 addition to the Albright-Knox, no outstanding contemporary architect has designed anything in Buffalo until Ms, Mori. I suggest that for those who aren't familiar with Buffalo's architecture that you check out this link: http://www4.bfn.org/bah/a/bamname.html

I bet the negativity is only a reaction to the poor quality of this article. Better questions could have been asked of Mori and we couldve received more interesting less generic responses.

I just went back to "Planting Seeds on the East Side" and it was a very positive thread. The article was objective and without alot of hype - the topic was something truly remarkable. It was still a short article but it had substance.

It's more likely that an empty article will get a very unfocused thread of negative, smart alek comments.

livingfog-are you out of your mind? ˙How in the hell is that a racist comment? Nor is it a reductive stereotype to say Japanese culture emphasizes polite behavior. I can't stop shaking my head over that one.

Zen, it certainly is a racist comment. You're making assumptions based on her name and appearance. You have no idea where she grew up or what her personality is. You might be surprised, but there *are* different Japanese people in terms of temperament and attitude.

I'm sorry, but maybe your small, blue-collar Buffalonian mind can't comprehend anything beyond a chicken wing.

Not fun being stereotyped, is it?

Sincerely, An Asian American

I was very fortunate to have the chance to hear Mori talk at UB School of Architecture a year or so ago, and in the presentation she did show quite a bit of her other work and projects. Although much of her work (like the Martin House visitor's center) is unashamedly modernist in deriving from the International School tradition, I was surprised by how many of her projects incorporate historic preservation. Examples would be a modernist addition to or adaptation of a building with a historic architectural style, or building to be part of a complex which includes older architectural styles (like at Darwin Martin). My perspective is that her genius is combining the spirit of modernism with the spirit of respect for older buildings and styles, but entirely without resorting to what some see as the 'kitsch' factor of post-modernist architecture.

And although I'm not generally a fan of much of Gordon Bunshaft's work, he did accomplish something very much along these lines with his modernist addition to the Albright-Knox. That's one of the reasons I think Mori would be an ideal candidate to design an expansion there. Plus she likes Buffalo...

About that: as someone who also fell in love with Buffalo after discovering what the city has to offer, and as someone who has heard firsthand Mori speak about Buffalo, I think her positive comments about Buffalo aren't patronizing - they're perceptive!

National Public Radio can't possibly be racist, right? They're the total opposite of racism. Well one of their reporters says the same thing Chris69 said:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15067628

Politeness a Mixed Blessing for Journalist in Japan

Weekend Edition Saturday, October 6, 2007 • A journalist traveling in Japan doesn't face some of the obstacles of foreign reporting: no border guards demanding bribes, no explosions, no cars breaking down in the desert. No, the major obstacle in Japan is probably politeness, says David Kestenbaum, who was there for NPR's Climate Connections series.

Kestenbaum says he loves Japan: "When I bought a soda at a convenience store, the cashier bowed as he gave me my change." But he acknowledges that the people's politeness posed a problem for him: "Some people were so polite, I had no idea what they were actually thinking."

Hmmm. He says politeness might have hidden their true thoughts. Where have I heard that before?

So now I don't know what to think. And on the other hand, Ms. Mori has lived since high school in New York City and, not to unfairly generalize, but we all know how rude people are there. Maybe by now they've cured her politeness. If she ever had any, I mean. And not that there's anything wrong with that.

Maybe this should be sorted out at the next WBFO-BRO round table: "NPR, Well-Meaning Stereotypes, the Art of Polite Compliments, and a Renaissance City's Need for Praise". Joining Mark, Newell, and Elena this week will be Chris69, Zen, Jaimie, and NPR reporter David Kestenbaum.

Thank you Rachacha and jstaubinger for the only reasonable and intelligent comments on this thread.

WNY has got to be the "nitpicking" center of the universe. Jaimie- is every cultural stereotype negative? Also, does a stereotype mean that it applies to every single member of a cultural group? No of course not to both. I'm not Asian but my background is in cultural anthropology which should give me a slight bit of knowledge in this area. Anthros are constantly categorizing cultural aspects of different groups. Would you say that all groups are homogeneous and lack any distinctive characteristics? I'd hope not. I am genuinely sorry if you took offense at someone else (not me) saying Japanese (not necessarily Asian) culture possesses a polite attitude that is lacking in the West, it is a horribly offensive comment I know, I'm flagellating myself as I write. Finally noting that my orientation doesn't extend beyond chicken wings & a blue collar lifestyle is inaccurate but I do not take offense to it as that is an extremely common trait of this area. Let's see, I've been called a douchebag, a jerk, dumb, and now a racist on here. I'm ready to walk out onto the ledge.

Jamie is actually right. For example, Japan launched an unprovoked, surprise attack us on our own border, as well as slaughtered and raped a large cross-section of Asia; that was not very polite. It would be perceived inaccurate to a resident of Nanking or former Korean sex trade worker that all Japanese people are polite. They would most likely differ.

Or you could say its all pure idiocy, my comments included…