Buffalo Constructing Buffalo

Over half a century, faculty and students of the University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning have contributed to Buffalo, New York's continuous construction through hundreds of acts of planning, design, and making. The School has led the development of the official planning framework for Buffalo - waterfront, parks, downtown, city, region, and economy.

Now it has established the community vision for the next big step in the ongoing construction of Buffalo - the transformation of a waterfront park from a challenging, flat stretch of grass to an enchanting landscape at the eastern tip of Lake Erie.

"Buffalo Constructing Buffalo: From Olmsted to Van Valkenburgh" is an exhibit that interprets the collaborative civic work of creating the park, driven by values defined through public engagement, informed by precedent and analysis of existing conditions, and inspired by an elevation of expectations for the user experience. It will be installed in Venice, Italy, as part of the Time Space Existence exhibition organized by the European Culture Centre and held in conjunction with the Venice Architecture Biennale.  

The park’s redevelopment is the result of an historic gift to the city by the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation, in partnership with the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo. Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, a New York-based landscape architecture firm, has led the park’s design. The City of Buffalo is an active project partner represented by its Division of Parks and Recreation, the Buffalo Urban Development Corporation, the Department of Community Services and Recreational Programming, and the Mayor’s Office of Strategic Planning. The University at Buffalo's School of Architecture and Planning and one of its research centers, the UB Regional Institute, are managing this engagement process to ensure broad and meaningful community input shape the park’s future.