H.H. Richardson, Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wrightthese are just a few famous architects who contributed to the urban fabric of Buffalo, New York. Even Buffalos more utilitarian structures like the citys grain elevators captured the imaginations of Walter Gropius, Albert Kahn, Erich Mendelsohn, and Le Corbusier. Buffalo, in its postindustrial aughts, produced one of the most progressive art movements in U.S. history, now remembered as the 1970s Buffalo Avant-Garde which included Cindy Sherman, and Gordon Matta-Clark. Bingo, a house deconstruction project by Matta-Clark, was sited at Niagara Falls in 1974.Today, a new historic preservation program by a University of Buffalo (UB) architecture professor seeks to tap into the citys radical legacy.Dennis Mahera designer, artist, and educator at UBhas partnered with the City of Buffalo and Buffalo History Museums Melissa Brown for an initiative that engages with the legacy of historic architecture, not unlike what Matta-Clark did a few decades back in the region.The initiative is about honoring buildings that were lost to demolition, according to press materials. The collaboration will result in a framework to salvage and repurpose meaningful elements from significant buildings, ensuring these materials inspire future storytelling, design, and reflection. Mahers vision is predicated on three key principles: the artful reimagination of historic buildings, fostering educational collaboration between UB architecture students and apprentices at Assembly House 150, and promoting visionary leadership.Maher founded Assembly House 150 in 2014. He describes it as part interactive architectural museum, part art/design studio, part construction trades workshop. The organization works from an 1850s church and helps create job opportunities for architecture students and affiliated tradespeople. Adrienne Economos Miller visited Buffalo and reported on Assembly House 150 in a feature story for ANlast year.The cast iron pilasters of the Dearing Building will be salvaged. (Courtesy Dennis Maher)The new program helmed by Maher started after two beloved barsThe Pink and Mulligans Brick Barwere lost due to fires. We know this can never replace the loss of a cherished space, said Catherine Amdur, Buffalos commissioner of permit & inspection services, but it ensures the stories, memories, and tangible pieces of these places are preserved for future generations to recall and connect with our shared history.Mulligans Brick Bar was located in the Dearing Building, which was completed in 1897. It burned in down early in the morning on Sunday. January 5. The building was going to be torn down, but the City of Buffalo intervened to delay demolition. Now it seems portions of the historic structure will be salvaged by Maher, including the cast iron pilasters, made by Washington Iron Works.Buildings are containers of our memories, and their pieces often move unseen, like a current beneath the surface, Maher said in a statement. This project allows the city to breathe in and breathe out these pieces, giving the memories back again.What comes next? The program will look towards collecting, curating, and publicly displaying salvaged architectural elements that will allow Buffalos residents to engage with their citys history and cultural identity.