Art and Architectural History in the Time of American Rebellion...

We ventured forth from the Microcosm for our first social outing since the start of the pandemic.  We went to a friends house and joined three other couples and one teenager, practicing safe social distancing.  Normally a huggy and kissy group, we air kissed and bumped elbows, and our seating was set up in pairs, separated into little groupings.  We passed demonstrators on the way down Elmwood Avenue, at the intersection on Bidwell Parkway -- a common thing to see for various causes and nothing to be alarmed about.  Departing around 10PM, the group seemed to have dispersed but we saw a few stragglers.  Once at home, TBG went to bed and I tuned into the news aghast at protests turned violent around the country.  At 11PM, I turned to the local news.

A friend is a police officer and I check with him daily.  All hands were scheduled for an anticipated rally downtown.  I thought of him most of the night and when I turned on the news, I was alarmed to see violence in Niagara Square, the site of our beloved City Hall.   The protest had turned violent and our police were in action, en force.  I was relieved to see the situation handled in a cohesive fashion and the crowd safely dispersed within an hour.

I love my little world, just outside the city (for years we lived on the west side), but I am still very anchored and focused on it.  The riots made me think of a lot of ways they structure of a city is constructed affects it socially and politically.  While many people have wanted to leave Buffalo over the years, there are many reasons I have wanted to stay.  The ugliness of the current situation aside, it's the architecture of this city that is one of the top reasons I want to stay.  Is there a particular reason like that which ties you to your home town or city?

The image above is of three of our major structures.  They played a HUGE role in yesterdays protest.

The first building is Buffalo City Court.  The protest was not centered there although that is probably the building central to the machinations of oppression and brutality that the young minority of color population is fighting against.  Appropriately enough, this is built in the Brutalist style -- not named specifically for its seeming air of brutality, but for the French term "beton brut" or rough concrete.  The building was erected in 1974, during the era spanning the "60's through to the "80's.  Buffalo has many buildings in this style, their design focused, in part, in making rioting difficult (a prime example the State University at Buffalo, as well as many public housing projects).   It would have been very difficult to do any sort of real damage to this building during a riot and the layout of the street made it hard to center a group. Many people hate the look of this style (I don't), but it was highly effective for the time in which it dominated.  The same is now true today.

In the middle, is City Hall, the most revered building in our region.  This art deco marvel has inspired structures around the world.  It is archaic and mechanically outdated (no air conditioning, old wiring etc.) but it is too important and beautiful to destroy, yet impossible to upgrade or modernize.  This is where protestors gathered, and why my heart was in my throat.  Some say out-of-towners are inciting the violent events and my fear was that they would have no regard for this building.  In my heart, I want to believe locals would know better than to damage this gem.  Volunteer "Peacekeepers" helped with the tone of the non-violent rally during the daylight hours, but things turned ominous at night when a new group came in.  Thankfully, they did not damage City Hall, but they defaced a lovely fountain (The McKinley Monument) at the center of the traffic circle.  That circle is a place easy to gather at as it is the center of our city.  A van was set on fire just yards from City Hall -- appropriately enough it seemed to belong to a bail bond company.  These are always present in front of City Court and I shudder to think of how it ended up sideways in the street in front of City Hall.

The main focus of violence was the the new Federal Building, which is home to the Court House.  I am not sure if the aim to destroy was symbolic of vitriol towards our Federal government, or because the building is fronted in glass.  The main level has an impressive pane of glass which has our constitution etched into it.  It would seem that was the primary target.  The building has huge cement orbs on the sidewalk in front to deter an explosive-laden vehicle from impacting it.   That would do nothing to impede a crowd on foot.  There was a line of law enforcement guarding the entrance.   This is a beautiful new building which was a major project in our city, it would have been disheartening to see any of it destroyed.  But realistically, the fight of social inequity pays no homage or heed to architectural design, although that design is often affected by or aimed to address it.

In the end, I think part of the reason the crowd was successfully dispersed had to do with training, and the goal to avoid violence. I give our law enforcement efforts a good grade for tolerance.  I watched them stand their ground while having bottles hurled in their faces and angry fists pound at their bodies.  Our city streets are laid out in a radial design, fanning out from the site of the protest.  There is a grid pattern of streets set over that.  Law enforcement was able to slowly push the crowds out in the radius, while blocking off the side streets of the grid.   I did not hear a single shot fired and it did not appear that the crowd was able to reassemble once scattered.

I worry about protestors around the country because I fear they will contract the virus because of their crowd. Our cities are physically and emotionally devastated from the death toll, not to mention the dire financial damage.  The cost of law enforcement and the repair of damage will further dig our municipalities into deep debt.  But maybe this is the price we have to pay for creating such a substandard of living for some? It won't be their debt to pay financially, because they have no economic power or money to lose.  So even those of us who are not affluent and will lose because our taxes will go up, should think about helping our society from the bottom up so that this disenfranchised group has something to build on, rather than tear down everything around us.

I know this isn't a political forum and maybe I've lost readers... but we love the little worlds of our homes.  Unfortunately, our homes and special worlds are in danger.  We need to vote, and get others to vote. I don't care what party you belong to, but please think of electing politicians who hold compassion and believe in the right of everyone to have economic, health, judicial, and educational security.  We don't need a dictator and cronies, we need humanitarians leading our nations.   There is no social safety net and now we are all in a free fall.  You might not want to pay for the advancement of others, but if they are stamped out, the next level to face uncertainty will be us.  Besides, for the sake of humanity, I believe it is the right thing to do.