Sunday, July 29, 2012

On the Road | Buffalo: Water and Grandeur


My water journey evolves from the rural landscape of the shoreline road following the south cost of Lake Erie to one of the most imposing cities of the US, Buffalo. One of the theories about the origin of the city name is of a mispronunciation of the French beau fleuve, "beautiful river”. The river in question is the majestic Niagara river.
Architecture, scale, cityscape and urban fabric in Buffalo are towering and stately, a testimonial of the imposing architecture and urbanism of the 19th and early 20th century. Axes hold focal points and squares are defined by wall-like buildings such as City Hall. Niagara Square is an example, designed by Joseph Ellicott as the hub (marked by an obelisk) for a radial street pattern.
Almost all the major architects of the past century designed buildings for Buffalo, including Richard Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright. Frederick Law Olmsted designed in 1869 an interconnected park and parkway system, to become the largest park system in the country.
Buffalo has represented for me the most appropriate manmade gateway to one of the most impressive expression of forces of nature.


 City Hall
 Richard Sullivan was here...

 Buffalo architecture and its grand past

 The Albright Knox Art Gallery

 Delaware Park



Fontana Boathouse, built recently from  Frank Lloyd Wright 's drawings

Martin House by Frank Lloyd Wright

A view of the Niagara River