About - Green & Wicks
Edward Brodhead Green
Edward
Brodhead Green is widely considered Buffalo's most prolific architect,
designing more than 370 buildings during his 72-year career. E. B.
Green is known for his knowledge and respect for the classical styles
of architecture, including Greek, Romanesque, Tudor, and Gothic.
Rather than trying to establish a new style, Green adapted styles
from the past and revealed their strength and beauty.
Referred to as "the dean of Buffalo architecture", Green was born May 10, 1855 in Utica, New York. In 1878 he obtained a bachelor of architecture degree from Cornell University. He worked with highly regarded Ithaca architect William Miller, where he developed skills that would prepare him for his own firm. He created a partnership with William S. Wicks in 1881, and in 1884 Green & Wicks architectural firm relocated to Buffalo, New York. Green married Harriet Edson in 1887, and they had two sons and a daughter.
In addition to his ability to design buildings in whatever style the client requested, Green was a skilled businessman. As a member of a number of associations, he was well connected to business and social leaders in Buffalo, including industrialist John J. Albright, who appointed him to the Albright Art Gallery's board of directors. In 1890, he was selected as a fellow of the American Institute of Architects, and the University at Buffalo honored him with its Chancellor's Medal in 1938.
E. B. Green also served on the Pan-American Board of Architects, and Green & Wicks designed the Electric Building , the Machinery and Transportation Building , and the Fireproof Brick Art Gallery for the 1901 Exposition held in Buffalo. The Albright Art Gallery was intended to be built for the Pan-American Exposition, but was not completed until 1905. It was a study in classical Greek architecture.
After Green and Wicks partnership ended in 1917, Green joined with his son Edward Jr. to form Edward B. Green & Son. In 1933, his son died while planning designs for the Main Street campus at the University at Buffalo. Green continued with this important project, which provided the main structure and aesthetic for the campus.
E. B. Green continued his vocation, working in other partnerships, until his death on February 11, 1950. He left his architectural mark on Buffalo and other cities, including Toledo, Dayton, and Chautauqua.
William Sydney Wicks
William Sydney Wicks was born in Trenton, New York (Oneida County) on July 27, 1854. In 1872, he began in the architectural program at Cornell University . Wicks transferred to MIT in 1874, where he completed his formal education with a bachelor's degree in architecture in 1877.
After earning his degree, he worked in the Boston office of Peabody and Sterns, where he gained practical experience in a large city architectural firm. He joined into a partnership with Edward Brodhead Green in 1881, and in 1884, the Green & Wicks architectural firm moved from Auburn, New York to Buffalo, New York.
In 1889, William S. Wicks wrote the best-selling manual Log cabins and cottages: How to build and furnish them, which remains in print today. This book promoted Wicks' belief in site integration, or designing a building to compliment and harmonize with the favorable attributes of the site on which it is to be built.
Wicks served as Buffalo parks commissioner from 1897 until 1900. He was a life member of the Historical Society and the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, as well as a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. Wicks retired from the Green & Wicks architectural firm in 1917 and died on May 30, 1919.
