Buffalo Rising Online

That looks really cool! cant wait to see it in person!

That looks really cool! cant wait to see it in person!

Nice al-alo....

This building is about as stimulating as Depew High School. I guess adding Zinc on the walls lets you feel proud about a shoe box. ;) But at least BP has a new home and the inside looks great for the art to be displayed.

Queenseyes, Do you think the BP handled the selection of design and public relations for this project with the best possible interests of the neighborhood and the architectural pedigree of Buffalo in mind? Sure, it's their museum, but it deeply affects a vital neighborhood, including Olmsted designed greenspace. Do you really think it was acceptable for the EVA to have to file a freedom of information request just to see the plans? And then have to deal with the arrogance of the BP when they asked the board a few simple questions? It's too late to reprise how dreary the most public side of the building is, but hasn't BRO done enough cheerleading for the design?

There's no neighborhood there, or foot traffic for the building to welcome. It's fine, stop griping and be happy it's getting done, and let's get some art in there!

I think it's cool they found a re-use for all those old dorm bricks. Can't wait to see the art inside all shrunk down to size by those huge blank walls.

I have to drive by this horrid building everyday. It is a shame that this design was selected. Very disappointed to see what looks like a high school added to Elmwood Ave.

I love how flys off the handle when the entire building is not done yet. Relax people. Everyone act like the design of the building is destroying their lives.

Gives Buffalo a building by a big name modern firm thus adding to the city's portfolio of work by blue chip architects....unfortunately this isn't their best work by a longshot. The psychiatric center, Guarantee, Kleinhans and Darwin Martin house were done by (now) revered architects and are considered to be at the top of their styles. That is why they have stood the test of time.

I wonder if maybe the BP didn't have the budget to spring for something a little more visually striking? I don't think that this is the sort of building that people will grow to love. It'll forever be a building that will require the apologetic plea "but it's a Gwathmey!"

This project overall is a big gain for the community. I do wonder if there should be some kind of volunteer architectural advisory board(maybe four architects/academics) that could offer criticism and informed recommendations to public institutions about which architects to choose for a project. To some degree we can predict what Gwathmey Siegel will design and the same goes for Richard Gluckman(hired for the Albright-Knox).

Last september, Cincinnati Art Museum selected the dutch firm Neutelings Riedijk Architects for its expansion project. This is a clever choice for the museum because it will be this young firm's first project in the US and a precious opportunity to expose themselves. They also recently completed The Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision building celebrated in this NY Times review. Because of this context and the expectations involved, the Cincinatti Museum is more likely than the Albright-Knox or B-P to receive a bold yet carefully considered design. It is also more likely to be featured in newspapers and journals around the world. It was a risk that is likely to pay off more that our more conservative choices here in Buffalo.

The following is from the February 15, 2006, issue of The Buffalo News:

A main objection is that the building's entrance faces the parking lot and is not visible from Elmwood, leaving pedestrians to face a tall, windowless wall set back from the street. [...]

Pietrzak said an entrance onto Elmwood had been considered but wasn't possible because the museum needed a traffic circle to accommodate the safe drop-off of schoolchildren and special-needs visitors. He said as a college building, it also needed to open up to the campus.

"Any possible design would not have worked to make a front entrance on Elmwood Avenue," Pietrzak said. He added that the height of the wall and the building's distance from the street were dictated in part by the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

i don't understand the value of criticism, whats so wrong with the design? Zinc is a pretty cool product to paint with, maybe they are installing it to interfere with the radio signals on elmwood?

Hamp, there is no vitality on that section of Elmwood. There's no urban context, there's no street, and no passersby. People fly up and down that stretch of Elmwood on their way to the 198 or Forest and could care less about the buildings on either side. You act like they plopped it in the middle of Delaware park.

No urban context??? No street? Baffling.

Eric Oak doesn't like the project. Now there is a real shocker. I realize you are trying to add to place, but the context and design always needs to be on your terms, as if the standards you set should be applied universally and we are merely morons in your shadow. Jackass.

The new B-P is freaking amazing! From the inside to the outside this museum is awesome! Of course the door is going to face the parking lot, thats where the majority of visitors are going to come from! How many people walk from their house to visit local museums? There might be a couple hundred who do, but the majority of people who visit museums drive to get there! The educated thing to do would be to place the entrance of the museum closest to where the majority of visitors are coming from (the parking lot)! As for the entrance of the museum in terms of Buffalo State College: Students must walk east, up Rockwell Road, in order to get there! So the entrence is in the right place for the majority of people who plan on visitiing it!