Buffalo State Asylum for the Insane

E94396

The Buffalo State Asylum for the Insane is a historic 19th-century psychiatric hospital complex in Buffalo, New York, renowned for its monumental Romanesque Revival architecture and influential role in the evolution of mental health facility design.

Aliases (1)

Statements (46)
Predicate Object
instanceOf National Historic Landmark
former hospital
historic building complex
psychiatric hospital
alsoKnownAs Buffalo State Hospital
H. H. Richardson Complex
architect Henry Hobson Richardson NERFINISHED
architecturalStyle Richardsonian Romanesque
Romanesque Revival
constructionStart 1870
coordinateLocation approximate coordinates 42.93°N 78.88°W
country United States
currentUse adaptive reuse and preservation (including cultural and mixed-use redevelopment)
era 19th century
fieldOfWork mental health care
followsPlanningPrinciple Kirkbride Plan
hasCharacteristic designed to provide light and air to patient wards
set within a landscaped therapeutic grounds
symmetrical central mass with flanking ward wings
hasPart administration building
connecting corridors
patient ward pavilions
service buildings
heritageDesignation National Historic Landmark
listed on the National Register of Historic Places
heritageStatus protected historic site
inception 1870s
influenced later psychiatric hospital designs in the United States
landscapeArchitect Calvert Vaux
Frederick Law Olmsted
locatedIn Buffalo, New York
locatedInAdministrativeEntity Erie County, New York NERFINISHED
New York State
locatedOn Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo
material brick
red sandstone
notableFor influential role in mental health facility design
integration of architecture and therapeutic landscape
large twin-towered administration building
monumental Romanesque Revival architecture
operator State of New York
originalFunction state-run psychiatric hospital
partOf Richardsonian Romanesque architectural heritage
roofType steeply pitched roofs
significantBuilding central administration building with twin towers
significantEvent opening as a state psychiatric hospital in the late 19th century

Referenced by (2)
Subject (surface form when different) Predicate
Buffalo State Asylum for the Insane ("Buffalo State Hospital")
alsoKnownAs
Henry Hobson Richardson
notableWork

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