Market Arcade (1892)

This location is part of Preservation Buffalo-Niagara’s Downtown SCVNGR Trek.  Play SCVNGR to learn about Buffalo’s rich architectural heritage, earn badges and win prizes at participating venues.  Download the SCVNGR app and start playing today!

There are incredibly strong associations between the architecture of E. B. Green and the city of Buffalo; not only was Green one of Buffalo’s most renowned indigenous architects, but his work can also be seen throughout the city.  While the Market Arcade may not be emblematic of Green and Wicks’s architecture oeuvre, it does respond well to its intended program, while at the same time, finding a secure place within the tradition of spectacular architecture originating with the Garnier’s Paris Opera House, and with the emerging indoor mall that is indicative of the rise of the bourgeoisie in the 19^th century.  Thus, it embodies strategies also seen in the Paris Arcades and in Eiffel’s Au Bon Marche in Paris.  This is a place where both the consumers and the merchandise were on display, and where the importance of appearance reigned supreme.

It is the only extant 19^th century indoor market located in Buffalo, and bears distinct similarities to the Burlington Arcade in London, which the original owner, G. B. Marshall, suggested to Green and Wicks as a model.  Beaux-Arts in style, the Market Arcade is intimately scaled, and once served to connect the Main Street pedestrian mall to the nearby Chippewa Market.

For more information: http://buffaloah.com/a/bflobest/market/market.html