There’s nothing not to like about the ornate and organic details on the terra-cotta facade of Guaranty Building. Does makes you wonder why office buildings aren’t build this way anymore. The Guaranty Building was one of the most advanced high-rise office building in Buffalo’s heyday in the late 1890s. It was designed by famous American architect Louis Sullivan, who’s known as the father of skyscrapers and mentor of Frank Lloyd Wright.
I’ve passed by this building countless times from the distance whenever I rode the train to downtown, but it just didn’t stick in my mind. I was first introduced to it when I crashed a schoolmate’s town planning class tour of downtown. If I didn’t remember wrongly (since happened roughly 3 years ago), this 13-storey building was considered a skyscraper back in the good ole’ days. I’ve to admit I’ve not read up much about Sullivan, but I did read up on Wright’s works. That was precisely the reason why I was determined to visit Wright’s Martin House Complex during my return to Buffalo. I’m thankful that I was reintroduced to the Guaranty Building when I met up with my photography professor. The building is a reminder that Buffalo needs to see better days and get back into the game… Those days are coming pretty soon, fingers crossed.