42.835396-78.7542961West Seneca Community Center and Public Library, 1300 Union Rd., West Seneca (2018; Clark Patterson Lee)
Built in the Prairie Style in a conscious imitation of Frank Lloyd Wright. A $13.5 million investment in West Seneca's (quixotic?) effort to make Union Road more walkable (buildings closer to street with parking in the rear or alongside; attractive design; traffic calming; facilities for pedestrians)
43.019094-78.9744272Western New York Welcome Center, 1999 Alvin Rd., Grand Island (2018)
One of 11 regional welcome centers constructed statewide by the New York State Thruway Authority in recent years, the homage paid to Frank Lloyd Wright is immediately apparent just by passing the building along Interstate 190, but becomes even more so when you get a look at the detailing on the glass in some of the windows. The cavernous structure includes museum-style exhibits touting local history, culture, and attractions, as well as a small café serving all locally-sourced foods. The expansive plaza to the north of the main building features sculptures, a children's playground, and the Western New York Walk of Fame.
42.981096-78.7652353Howard F. Stimm House, 895 North Forest Rd., Amherst (1942; Sebastian Tauriello)
The Howard F. Stimm House falls under the umbrella of the International Style, but the resemblance to the work Frank Lloyd Wright was doing at roughly the same time is unmistakable: the varied colors and materials used in the façade (concrete blocks, rough-textured fieldstone, and stucco all feature), the cantilevered roofs and balconies, and even the radiant heating system (this was allegedly the first house in the U.S. to have one; it was designed by Raymond Viner Hall, son of the head of the contracting company that built Fallingwater, and was featured in the October 1943 issue of Heating and Ventilating Journal) all betray a clear influence. Completed just as the World War II-era construction supplies rations came into effect, the house was one of the first buildings designed by local architect Sebastian Tauriello, whose admiration for Wright was apparently great indeed: in 1955, he purchased the Darwin Martin House in Buffalo for use as his home and studio, and his expert maintenance of the property during his time there is credited as a main reason why that masterwork was saved from demolition. Howard Stimm, meanwhile, was notable as president of a local civil engineering firm that specialized in the building of railroads and bridges (when the North and South Grand Island Bridges were twinned in the 1960s, it was Stimm's firm that built the newer duplicates). The house is now used by the adjacent church as an event venue and meeting space.
