Home Turned Upsidedown

May 30, 2008 10:18 PM

Open House, Home Turned Upsidedown"This house at 15 S. Putnam has stood victim to the elements – it’s been vandalized, looted, and its leaking roof has made it uninhabitable. In June 2006, the structure was condemned by the city due to structural problems, destined for demo. But now – thanks to cooperation between the University of Buffalo School of Architecture, Harvey Garrett, and home owner Dennetta Stikkel – new, and decidedly unique, life will be breathed into the otherwise abandoned house. Under the direction of Professors Frank Fantauzzi and Brad Wales, the project architect, 14 graduate students will be working creatively to revitalize the structure. It is a unique opportunity for the students to use their classroom architecture training in a real-life application." Quoted from Buffalo Rising Story Longer story on the completed project at Artvoice.
posted by doug3505 (5 comments total)

Well, It's more practical and attractive than a Frank Gehry building.
posted by stavrogin at 10:41 PM on May 30, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Haven't read the articles yet, but at first glance this reminds me of Gordon Matta-Clark's work (another gallery), which inspired this interesting piece. Looks like someone made the connection before me over here. Nice pictures in that thread, plus I wouldn't have seen this oddity.
posted by JBennett at 6:37 AM on May 31, 2008

House-as-art and the upside-down facade aspects aside, the hands-on education in architecture and the realization that the house's solid bones make it rescue-worthy reminds me of the historical preservation program at the Savannah College of Art & Design, which has had students participating in every aspect of rehabbing buildings for many years.
posted by desuetude at 12:46 PM on May 31, 2008

> University of Buffalo School of Architecture

It's the University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning.

We UB urban planning grads tend to get quite miffed when the school's name is butchered, usually with the "and Planning" part chopped off.
posted by elmwood at 12:20 AM on June 2, 2008

My apologies about the butchered name.
posted by doug3505 at 5:14 AM on June 2, 2008