In 2003 a half-dozen civic activists at the Larkin Collectors Group secure and restore a deteriorated fence pier that represents the sole remnant of Frank Lloyd Wright's Larkin Administration Building, demolished in 1950.
The fence pier restoration, at the 100-year anniversary of Wright's commission by the Larkin Co. in 1903, brings new attention and appreciation to the Swan Street site, long forgotten to all but a few industrial archaeologists and architecture fans. The site is quickly resurrected as a shrine to Wright and his work in Buffalo.
Check out the July 18, 2003, story in Buffalo Business First:
Larkin Co. enthusiasts preserve wall remnant
Business First of Buffalo - by Annemarie Franczyk
That's just not any old brick wall obscured by debris and overgrown weeds.
It's the last remnant of what some say was one of the 20th century's greatest structures, the Larkin Administration Building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and built in 1906. The landmark's demolition 44 years later has been continually mourned by those interested in history and architecture as one of last century's biggest mistakes. Read more.
Photographs courtesy of Patrick J. Maloney of Lauer-Manguso & Associates Architects. At top is Beth Carnevale and Jerry Puma cleaning the interior of the pier before it is sealed; at bottom, mason Rosolino D'Agostino of BRD Construction stabilizing the pier.
Yes, that is indeed me inside the pier. Luckily, I didn't have any enemies or former patients nearby to try to seal me in there! There aren't too many people who can lay claim to being inside the Larkin fence pier....
Posted by: Jerry Puma | January 06, 2010 at 08:53 PM