Urban Design Project in UB School of Architecture and Planning Will Showcase a Decade of Work in March Exhibit

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Since 1991, the Urban Design Project (UDP) in the University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning has been involved in many of the most significant and promising city-building efforts seen in the Buffalo-Niagara region.

Under the direction of Robert Shibley, it has been involved in plans for downtown revitalization, the reclamation of the region's waterfront, the regeneration of the city's neighborhoods and strategizing for tourism development.

A graphic and textual record of selected work produced by the Urban Design Project will be on display at UB from March 5-27 in the James Dyett Gallery of the School of Architecture and Planning on the third floor of Hayes Hall on the UB South (Main Street) Campus.

The exhibit opening at 4:30 p.m. Friday will coincide with Atelier '04, the annual celebration of work by the school's faculty and students. It will feature a brief talk by Shibley about the work of the project.

The reception will be free and open to the public. Parking will be available in the Townsend Lot adjacent to Hayes Hall.

"The exhibit will be organized around three themes that encompass three strands of project work: revitalizing the city center, reclaiming the waterfront and re-imagining the region," says Brian Carter, dean of the school.

"Revitalizing the Center" begins with the work of the school's graduate studios in urban and regional planning, which produced strategies for redeveloping Buffalo's Lower West Side. It continues through the first Downtown Summit, the Buffalo Neighborhood Summits, and all of the planning and implementation management that led up to the detailed and deeply-researched "The Queen City Hub: A Regional Action Plan for Downtown Buffalo," produced this year by Shibley and his associates.

"Reclaiming the Waterfront," says Carter, "involves an array of projects from Toronto to South Buffalo and places in between that dealt with the repair of industrial 'brownfields' along

our waterfront, the promotion of public access to waterfront resources and waterfront redevelopment in Niagara Falls, Buffalo and lake-to-lake."

"'Re-imagining the region,'" he says, "began with an Urban Design Project effort known as 'Re-thinking the Niagara Frontier.' It brought together leaders in business, government, culture, environmental study and conservation, education and other fields to talk about the potential for development across our bi-national region."

Subsequent work by the UDP has included supporting the National Park Service study of a Niagara National Heritage Area, work on a cultural tourism strategy for Erie and Niagara counties and a proposal to designate an International Niagara Peace Park.

"We strive to manifest the university's mission of research, teaching and service in every engagement," Shibley. "At the same time, we hope to suggest new ways in which the region might see itself and its future."

The opening reception will be followed at 5:30 p.m. by the annual Atelier Lecture, which will feature Francine Houben, founding partner in the architectural firm, Mecanoo, located in Delft, The Netherlands. The lecture will be in Room 301 of Crosby Hall, next door to Hayes Hall on the South Campus.