Ancient Web: Chuck LaChiusa Made Buffalo an Online Architecture Museum

Part of the Ancient Web Collection.

A visitor looking up a Buffalo church might find its address, architect, stained glass, historical photographs, and an illustrated explanation of the style of its windows—all on one independently maintained website.

Visit Buffalo Architecture and History.

The site was created by Chuck LaChiusa as a public service and is arranged like a homemade architectural museum. Its home page links individual buildings and sites, notable architects, historical districts, architectural styles, public art, and the history of Buffalo, New York. Other sections provide illustrated reference dictionaries, including one devoted to furniture.

The buildings index lists places as specific entries rather than general tourist attractions. Visitors can move from an individual property to a style guide and then to a neighborhood history. The illustrated dictionaries are especially useful because they give readers vocabulary for the architectural features photographed elsewhere on the site.

An amateur institution earns institutional support

LaChiusa's homepage contains a striking sequence of public acknowledgments. It credits a 2002 award from Buffalo's mayor and preservation board for educating people about historic properties through web pages. It also lists later recognition from the Buffalo History Museum, the local chapter of the American Institute of Architects, and cultural organizations.

Those honors are reported on the site's own homepage, although the 2002 entry links an award document and the 2015 recognition links a Collectors Weekly feature. They provide more concrete evidence of local value than a vague claim that the website was popular.

The most important preservation milestone arrived in 2016. According to the homepage, an agreement with the University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning was intended to keep the website available permanently. That is a rare acknowledgement that a project built around one person's commitment needs an arrangement for its future.

The site continues to be maintained, with updates dated September 2026. Its original founding date is not explicitly established in the inspected pages; the documented 2002 recognition does demonstrate that its historical work predates today's redesign conventions.

LaChiusa says architecture interests him as a collaborative art form, and his site is a search for beauty. It also preserves local detail that large national architectural histories have little room to include.

Browse the building index and illustrated architectural terms.

Part of the Ancient Web Collection.