This building was the subject of my teaser story last week. I
asked readers to guess where it was located while pointing out an extraordinary
detail near the top of the building. Well, the first responder guessed
correctly that this building is on Court Street, 17 Court to be exact, across
from the Liberty Building.
Turns out this Art Deco beauty is a lot less obscure than I
thought it was. I had not paid much attention to this building over the
years. At first glance it is a bit plain and its short blocky stature
does not draw your attention easily. However, upon close examination this
building becomes a magnificent gallery of deco detail. It is probably
Buffalo’s least heralded Art Deco building, but certainly should be ranked
among its finest.
In the teaser story, I called attention to the wonderful stylized
Corinthian buffalo heads. Once I noticed those details, the rest of the
building drew me in. The frieze above the 4th floor is a masterwork of
sculpture. It is in Egyptian-like low relief, but is still highly
dimensional, catching dynamic light and shadow at certain times of the day. It
provided me with one of my favorite photographs (shown here). It contains many characters and scenes
apparently telling a story that is likely now lost to history. The
spandrel panels between floors are also densely detailed with traditional Deco
geometric designs. This explosion of detail contrasts with broad areas of
unadorned stone panels, which perhaps hint toward a more minimalist
architectural style that would soon gain favor in the United States.
I could not find much at all written about the building. It
was built in 1929 (oops) and was soon after known as the Buffalo Industrial
Bank. It served as a bank building until the 1980’s when it was known as
the Bank of New York. Since that bank was merged out of existence, it has
been serving as a noble background office building on Court Street. Anyone
else have info on this one? Please chime in.
Frieze
image is from the book Buffalo: Architecture in the American Forgotten
Land
– see it at Blurb.com