From the Editor Welcome to the first Spree architecture issue. As a longtime resident of Allentown and an architectural autodidact who regularly points out local landmarks to out-of-town visitors, I thought I knew a decent amount about Buffalo’s built environment. Boy, was I wrong. According to our writers, parts of Buffalo mansions are now admired in Texas, One M&T Plaza is self-cleaning, and there may still be Sputniks in Amherst. And that’s just a tiny sampling of the amazing facts and fascinating history behind the buildings of Western New York. With this issue, Spree furthers a tradition that started with the first column by the late Austin Fox back in 1978. It was continued by John Conlin in 1997, and, even after the magazine changed hands in 1998, we have always published regular articles on Buffalo’s architectural riches, old and new. Thanks are due to our writers and the many local architects and preservationists we consulted for this issue. You’ll find a few of them on the cover, standing in front of one of Buffalo’s most heralded—and endangered—buildings, H. H. Richardson’s Buffalo State Hospital. We hope the next time we run a photo of this structure, it will be completely restored and usefully employed. Have a great summer! Back to the Table of Contents Back to Top