Western New York Architecture Deep Cuts
Former National Gypsum Building, Downtown Buffalo, September 2019
The office building at 325 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo, New York, September 2019. Completed in 1941, this modestly-scaled three-story structure was designed by the locally-based firm of Backus, Crane & Love and originally served as the corporate headquarters of the National Gypsum Company. Architecturally, it's a fascinating snapshot of a specific juncture in time when Art Moderne, a hypersimplified but ultimately Neoclassically-derived style, was merging with the truly revolutionary brand of Modernism that was percolating in Europe and, after World War II, would explode onto the Stateside scene as well in the form of the so-called International Style. You can still see faint traces of Classicism, for instance in the placement of pilaster strips between recessed columns of windows on the façade; moreover, the spandrel panels once boasted geometric reliefs that were very much a throwback to Art Deco. But all the main ingredients of its successor style are plainly in evidence here: flat roof, smooth textures, emphasis on straight lines and right angles, repetitive forms, ornamentation austere to nearly nonexistent. National Gypsum was founded in 1925 primarily to exploit a vein of its namesake mineral north of Buffalo for the manufacture of a new variety of wallboard, other ingredients of which included newsprint pulp and starch. Though the company struggled in its earliest years, it found a firm financial footing during (ironically enough) the Great Depression, when it secured the exclusive wallboard supply contract for the 1932 Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago and two years later partnered with Bethlehem Steel to manufacture its own line of metal lathing, another essential ingredient in wall construction. This prosperity was enough to permit not only the acquisition of rival companies and the construction of additional plants nationwide, but also a move from its cramped facilities further downtown into this building, which continued housing the corporate offices until operations moved to Dallas in 1975. The company remains in business there. The building has counted a number of different tenants in the years since, among which have been the Buffalo District offices of Conrail, the Information Systems Department of Goldome Bank, privacy software developer Reciprocal Inc., and the Louis P. Ciminelli Construction Company.
Former National Gypsum Building, Downtown Buffalo, September 2019
The office building at 325 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo, New York, September 2019. Completed in 1941, this modestly-scaled three-story structure was designed by the locally-based firm of Backus, Crane & Love and originally served as the corporate headquarters of the National Gypsum Company. Architecturally, it's a fascinating snapshot of a specific juncture in time when Art Moderne, a hypersimplified but ultimately Neoclassically-derived style, was merging with the truly revolutionary brand of Modernism that was percolating in Europe and, after World War II, would explode onto the Stateside scene as well in the form of the so-called International Style. You can still see faint traces of Classicism, for instance in the placement of pilaster strips between recessed columns of windows on the façade; moreover, the spandrel panels once boasted geometric reliefs that were very much a throwback to Art Deco. But all the main ingredients of its successor style are plainly in evidence here: flat roof, smooth textures, emphasis on straight lines and right angles, repetitive forms, ornamentation austere to nearly nonexistent. National Gypsum was founded in 1925 primarily to exploit a vein of its namesake mineral north of Buffalo for the manufacture of a new variety of wallboard, other ingredients of which included newsprint pulp and starch. Though the company struggled in its earliest years, it found a firm financial footing during (ironically enough) the Great Depression, when it secured the exclusive wallboard supply contract for the 1932 Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago and two years later partnered with Bethlehem Steel to manufacture its own line of metal lathing, another essential ingredient in wall construction. This prosperity was enough to permit not only the acquisition of rival companies and the construction of additional plants nationwide, but also a move from its cramped facilities further downtown into this building, which continued housing the corporate offices until operations moved to Dallas in 1975. The company remains in business there. The building has counted a number of different tenants in the years since, among which have been the Buffalo District offices of Conrail, the Information Systems Department of Goldome Bank, privacy software developer Reciprocal Inc., and the Louis P. Ciminelli Construction Company.