Preserving identities in post-industrial Rust Belt cities: reconsidering Buffalo’s material memory

Abstract

In the context of post-industrial Rust Belt cities, much needed investment seldom makes room for proper debate on the material memory and place identity embodied in the rich industrial legacy. However, a reflection on the intrinsic value of the vacant industrial structures of these cities leads to the unveiling of their most authentic identity. This identity is directly related to the material experience of their structures as it speaks to the qualities of a lasting presence in the collective memory. Post-industrial structures display material conditions that define their place character, constituting a negotiation between ruin and construction. This text contends that post-industrial materiality embodies necessary and strategic connections between past heritage and future interventions, implying the possibility of cyclical renovation in a context of reinforced identity. The text focuses on the potential of the existing post-industrial legacy of the city of Buffalo, NY, arguing that the material dimension that once defined its productive infrastructure frames the potential consolidation of its physical memory and future identity, and as such, a consolidation of its future growth.