The jazzed-up buildings were a popular success and seemed to sum up the spirit of the age. The tenor of the times notwithstanding, tall Art Deco buildings like City Hall owed much of their form to the practical limitations of the new zoning laws. No longer could tall buildings rise to their full height in one sheer swoop. Rather, to admit light and air to the street below, the facade had to be set back as the building rose. Illustration by Julie Lewitsky Hugh Ferris, a noted architectural renderer, did a study in 1922 illustrating the maximum feasible bulk a building could have under the new laws.
Vertical elements streak upward and light and shadow play dramatic facade.
Ferris did many more of these stupefying drawings through the 1920's, and his visions influenced many American architects, including, most probably John Wade. Other influences on Wade's design were, probably, the Nebraska State Capitol and the Al Smith Office Building in Albany, NY Further, during the 1920's there was also an undercurrent of interest in Mayan architecture. Mountain, tower, or pyramid, City Hall was definitely the new landmark of Buffalo. Floodlighting made it visible throughout the city at night, and from ships far out in Lake Erie. Powerful searchlights were beamed from the peak to guide aviators to the city.