New app highlights local architecture tied to Black history

Students and instructors in the School of Architecture and Planning may be familiar with “Buffalo Architecture: A Guide,” Banham, Beveridge and Hitchcock’s comprehensive catalogue of Buffalo’s historic architecture and a necessary source for those studying architecture in the region.  

But to Buffalo-born Gregory Serweta and newcomer Maia Peck, the 40-year-old guide was starting to show its age. 

Peck, clinical assistant professor of architecture and director of exhibitions, and Serweta (BS ‘06), adjunct instructor of architecture, noticed the 1981 guide has an unbalanced focus on downtown, North Buffalo and the West Side, featuring architecture that has already been widely published and publicized. In response to this imbalance, the pair began developing an update to the guide, an app called “Buffalo Architecture: An Alternative Guide,” to highlight overlooked spaces around the city of Buffalo and elsewhere in Western New York. 

“Our project stands as a direct contrast, counterpoint and companion to the canonical book by bringing awareness to historically overlooked structures, spaces and places in the Buffalo region,” says Peck. 

But geographic expansion is not the only mission of the project. Serweta and Peck also noticed a void created by the historical component of the 1981 guide, which focuses broadly on the history of the city of Buffalo — highlighting industrial works like the grain silos along the Buffalo River — but fails to highlight the history of the field itself, particularly contributions made by historically underrepresented architects.  

“In particular, the book marginalized coverage of the East Side and the Broadway and Ellicott districts, which were deemed ‘troubled areas’” by the authors, Peck explained. “To quote the words of architectural historian Charles Davis II, it is through ‘the creative act of cataloging the spatial segregation of urban spaces ... the architect is enlisted in a critical project of revealing the social and economic mechanisms that continue to exploit Black life.’  

“It is in this spirit that we decided to focus the pilot phase of the project on themes of Black architecture, architects and other spatial and artistic practices in Buffalo,” she says.  

Serweta and Peck connected with UB alumnus and app developer Leonardo DiBella, and in 2024 the group was awarded a $10,000 Independent Projects Grant from The Architectural League of New York and the New York State Council on the Arts that supported production of a beta version of the mobile app, as well as an exhibition and public workshop that was hosted by the Robert T. Coles House and Studio.  

“This app,” Serweta says, “tackles the question of what is architecturally significant today in the context of the city of Buffalo and Western New York.” 

The pair was drawn to the idea of using this digital format to expand accessibility and flexibility for users, offering thematic, customizable tours and a feedback platform that allows the public to suggest improvements and potential sites of interest. While not designed to be a comprehensive text, the pair hopes the app may be of special interest as a digital gateway to discovery for those not familiar with Buffalo, as well as students and educators.  

The app’s preliminary inventory includes 50 structures and sites, among them parks, artworks and civic spaces. Notable sites in the latter category include the now-demolished Michigan Avenue YMCA by John E. Brent, Buffalo’s first Black architect; the Frank E. Merriweather Jr. Branch Library and the Buffalo Metro Rail Utica station, designed by noted modernist Black architect Robert T. Coles; as well as cultural venues like the Colored Musicians Club and sites along the Freedom Trail.  

Additionally, the app goes beyond the city of Buffalo to include recent developments on UB’s campuses, including the Solar Strand, designed by Black landscape architect Walter Hood, and Alumni Arena, designed by Coles.  

“UB is incredibly fortunate to have work from two trailblazers in the built environment,” says Kelly Hayes McAlonie, director of campus planning. “Bob Coles was the second African American architect in Buffalo, a distinguished architect on the national stage, a staunch advocate for women and minority architects throughout his life, and the first African American chancellor of the American Institute of Architects College of Fellows,” she explains. “His design of Alumni Arena is representative of the Brutalist style of architecture that is prolific on the North Campus during this era. It is defined by its distinctive sculptural forms, in particular its protruding corners and brick facades. 

“Similarly,” McAlonie says, “Hood offered a refreshing perspective on this type of installation, which continues to enrich our lives today.” 

Elsewhere in Western New York, the app features works by Northern Arapaho architect Dennis Sun Rhodes, such as The Turtle and Prophet Isaiah’s Second Coming House in Niagara Falls. 

“The goal of the project was to create an engaging, accessible and educational resource that will spark curiosity in Buffalo’s contemporary and historic architecture, urban culture and public space,” Serweta says. “We wanted to capture a wider public audience, via flexible media, who may not be familiar with Buffalo’s underrecognized architectural design and history, and carve out a place for this discussion somewhere inside, outside and between the public, academic and professional spheres.” 

For these instructors of architecture, the app reflects their lifelong mission as educators and learners by advancing knowledge and awareness of the city they call home. “The philosophy and research behind the design of the app is very much in line with our ‘multi-hat’ mode of inquiry and research that is intrinsically interdisciplinary,” Peck says. “For us, design and design thinking are all-encompassing — a total work that can range from the scale of a building to furniture to fashion.” 

Serweta and Peck plan to include their app in future urban design seminars to encourage students to become more directly involved in the research, documentation, cataloguing and mapping of more entries. This semester, the pair is planning a workshop class for students to use the app as an introduction to overlooked sites in Buffalo, and as an example of an embodied approach to history and memory. 

“We hope that the app can also become a pedagogical tool to acquaint students more with all the rich and diverse histories of Buffalo and Western New York. We are super-excited that through the scope of an app, students can help create accessible and impactful contributions to our collective knowledge and history,” Peck says.  

Serweta and Peck plan to continue expanding their app, adding entries for the work of Buffalo native Louise Blanchard Bethune, America’s first woman architect, such as the Hotel Lafayette in downtown Buffalo. Future iterations will also include spaces related to Buffalo and Western New York’s LGBTQ+ culture and history, Indigenous groups and the early Chinese American neighborhood pockets in Cold Springs, Black Rock, and South and East Buffalo.  

The app is now available for free on the App Store for iPhone and iPad, with future iterations in development for Android and web-based platforms. Anyone with tips or suggestions for the app can contact Serweta and Peck at buffaloarchitectureguide@gmail.com.