The concept for the new building of the Bolzano Province, Italy, conceived from an idea generated by sculptural desire to establish continuity with the past of the city of Bolzano, was seen as a reconstruction of memories, the spirit of place and transposition of iconographic symbol of the history of architecture in the city.

From this ideological assumption, the study developed innovative about the network of its envelope / facade of the new body looks like one of the iconographic symbols of the city, the Domus (Cathedral). In fact, trends in the ribs of the great vault a “cross vault”, projected on the three ships, allowed an extrapolation of the particular module of the new envelope generator.

The plan for the Cathedral of Bolzano becomes the generator of the architectural design composition of the entire facade of the new building, organic appearance, lively, pure and dynamic that opens to the whole territory. The proposal is the stylistic facade of a building placed in simple terms of volumes and plants. It consists of two distribution centers for vertical ladders and hydraulic lifts and contains sanitary facilities and kitchens. These lead to varying levels of column-free office. The building covers a total of nine floors above ground and two underground levels. The ground floor consists of an arcade, obtained because of moving the network perimeter of the building’s facade, thus allowing the integration between the avenue and the new building. The atrium of access is an area that invites and separates the coffee area for children and divides the access for employees and pedestrians. Read the rest of this entry »

The Larkin Company’s corporate logo, emblazoned across the late mail-order company’s Larkin Terminal Warehouse for the past 97 years, is still a potent advertising vehicle for the heritage structure, now repurposed as Class-A office space.

The corporate logo (“LCo”) was actually obscured for years by another sign for Graphic Controls, which leased 4,000 sq. ft. space in the former warehouse in 1940 and later purchased the entire building from the Larkin Warehouse Co. in 1967, the likely year of the original sign’s concealment. (Graphic Controls expanded to the nearby Exchange Street Industrial Park in 2001.) When the mammoth 600,000 sq. ft. structure was purchased by investors Howard Zemsky, Bill Jones, Doug Swift, and Joe Petrella in 2002, the original Larkin sign was revealed, a highly-visible first step in the building’s rehabilitation. Read the rest of this entry »

10,000 cases of booze on the wall, 10,000 cases of booze, take one down, pass it around, 9,999 cases of booze on the wall…

The Larkin Terminal Warehouse was a center of attention on December 5, 1933, the day the Prohibition Amendment was repealed and this, the city’s only bonded warehouse, was expected to release 10,000 cases of imported whiskey and gin to Buffalo hotels and restaurants to mark the first night of legal liquor. Repeal Day, now celebrated in bars across the United States and undoubtedly in Hydraulics taverns like Sharkey’s and the Swan Lounge tonight, was anticipated to be a day of celebration, and commerce, in Larkinland in 1933, as well. Read the rest of this entry »

The Hydraulics was a vibrant neighborhood in 1962. The neighborhood had two schools, five bars, two churches, a bank, seven restaurants, a drug store, a liquor store, three groceries, a hardware store, a furniture store, a post office, a railroad watch store, a laundry, a bowling alley, two service stations, two beauty salons, a cigar store, and two barber shops. Seneca Street was a lively commercial district. People were on the streets. Things were active. Read the rest of this entry »

Howard Zemsky, principal in Larkin Development Group, testified before Congress yesterday, bringing the success story of the Larkin Terminal Warehouse conversion to a nationwide audience. The 10-story building, transformed in 2002 from industrial to chic office space and now at full occupancy, is one of many projects across the nation that benefited from the federal Renewal Communities program. Read the rest of this entry »