CEPA exhibition celebrates architecture school

The School of Architecture and Planning invites members of the university and surrounding community to the closing events of “The City and Its School,” a presentation of two exhibitions exploring the school’s 50-year investment in its host city.

On view in the CEPA Gallery in downtown Buffalo, “The City and Its School” opened earlier this month in line with the School of Architecture and Planning’s 50+ Anniversary Celebration; it runs through April 30.

A closing reception will take place from 5-7:30 p.m. April 28 at the gallery, 617 Main St., #201, Buffalo. For those unable to attend in person, a livestream being broadcast at 6 p.m. will provide a look at the exhibitions and brief remarks from the curatorial team. View details on the exhibition and closing event

On view are “Buffalo Constructing Buffalo: From Olmsted to Van Valkenburgh,” a visual narrative interpreting the civic planning process behind the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park emerging on Buffalo’s Lake Erie waterfront, the foundation of city plans that informed it and the best practices research that informed it, and “See It Through Buffalo,” a documentary short that captures the varied urban landscapes of Buffalo and educational spaces of the school, revealing the exchange between a school and its city.

“The City and Its School” celebrates the places and people of Buffalo — as sources of inspiration, sites of investigation and partners in innovation. Since its founding in 1969 in the throes of Buffalo’s decline, the School of Architecture and Planning has engaged the city’s transitioning landscapes as spaces for community-engaged teaching and research, with transformative impacts on the surrounding region.

Both exhibitions debuted in Venice, Italy, at the 2018 and 2021 editions of Time Space Existence, an international exhibition that runs in parallel with the Venice Architecture Biennale, the world’s preeminent forum for architecture and design. The School of Architecture and Planning was recognized in its invitation for rooting design and planning education in research and intensive engagement with its host region.

“The City and Its School” is being mounted as part of CEPA Gallery’s “Celebrating Erie County” exhibition honoring the county’s bicentennial, with multiple events that celebrate local history, art, design and culture. 

“See It Through Buffalo” is a documentary short and cinematic tribute to the varied urban landscapes of Buffalo, where faculty and students work hand in hand with the community to address issues such as energy-efficient design, economic development, food systems planning, and refugee resettlement. It was co-produced with noted Buffalo filmmaker John Paget of First+Main Films, and directed by Gregory Delaney, UB clinical assistant professor of architecture.

Since its debut in Venice, “See It Through Buffalo” was screened at the Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice in New York City in 2019 and was an official selection of the United Nations-Habitat “Better Cities Film Festival” in Abu Dhabi in 2020.

“Buffalo Constructing Buffalo: From Olmsted to Van Valkenburgh” showcases the school’s engagement of more than 2,000 citizen voices in the planning of Buffalo’s Ralph C. Wilson Jr., Centennial Park. Presented as a visual narrative, “Buffalo Constructing Buffalo” tells a multi-layered story about the complex relationship between a school and its city, capturing the collective impact of hundreds of acts of planning, design and making in the city and region led by faculty, students and the citizens of Buffalo over the past half century.

Curated by Robert G. Shibley, SUNY Distinguished Professor and dean of the School of Architecture and Planning, the exhibition is presented as a series of illustrated story boards created by Buffalo-based visual artist Ariel Aberg-Riger, with exhibition design led by former UB architecture professor Julia Jamrozik. Dozens of planning reports, technical drawings and studies developed by the school allow visitors to explore the park’s planning process while copies of the city’s full planning framework reveal the collective vision for Buffalo’s future.