Buildings — Dennis Maher Studio

The interior of a church under renovation with a high, vaulted, blue ceiling showing peeling paint and ribs with decorative floral motifs. The church has stained glass windows and a wooden structure for construction with people working below.

Wooden display with various antique hand tools, set against a white wall with open shelving and interior construction in the background.

Inside a large church with high arched ceilings, stained glass windows, and decorative columns, construction workers are building wooden structures and setting up displays.

Interior of a church or chapel with a wooden structure under construction, vaulted ceiling with stained glass windows, and a dining table with chairs.

Interior of a room under construction with wooden furniture and tools, bookshelves filled with books, wall-mounted wooden structures, and high arched windows.

Interior of a church or old building undergoing construction, with wooden framework, scaffolding, high arched windows, brick walls, and hanging lantern lights.

Interior view of a church with stained glass windows, white walls, and wooden accents.

Aerial view of a cityscape with a historic brick church in the foreground, surrounded by parking lots, trees, and a mix of modern and historic buildings in the background under a partly cloudy sky.

The Assembly House Buffalo, NY. 2014-present.

The Assembly House transforms a historic former church in Buffalo, NY into a dreamworld for the building arts. It is a site for the public imagination that instills joy and enthusiasm for the built environment. The project synthesizes many themes of Maher’s work by bringing together art, architecture, design, preservation, and construction while creating a cultural destination and center for hands-on learning. Teams of apprentices and students work with tradespeople, designers, and educators to reform the interior while learning skills of construction and design.

A cluttered room with various furniture and objects, including a large framed landscape painting on the left wall, a globe, a small dollhouse, and a standing lamp, viewed through a wooden and metal railing.

A large grand piano with a floral-patterned upholstered bench in a cozy, well-lit room filled with furniture, model houses, and art supplies, with a skylight and bookshelves visible in the background.

A detailed miniature model of a multi-story house with various other small buildings and trees inside a blue wooden display case.

Eclectic interior of a room with a wooden table, vintage green chairs, potted plants, shelves with decorative items, a window with wooden shutters, and hanging lights and decor, featuring rustic and bohemian style elements.

A room with vintage decor featuring patterned wallpaper with houses and trees, a miniature dollhouse on a black pedestal, a small ornate mirror, a miniature white and red building, and various antique furniture and decorations.

A cluttered indoor space with exposed ceiling paint peeling and various decorative and miniature items on wooden shelves, including a globe, old photographs, a mirror, miniature furniture, construction toy cranes, a plant, a skull sculpture, and vari

Interior of a room with wooden floor and ceiling, filled with miniature houses, a blue shelf with model houses, a wooden chair, a white fireplace mantel, and a ferris wheel decoration.

A garden backyard with a green wooden house, a white metal table, and chairs. There are flowering plants on stone pedestals and trees in the background.

The Fargo House Buffalo, NY 2009-present.

The Fargo House operates as an evolving experiment in art, architecture, and living—part curiosity cabinet and part archaeological dig. A traditional 1890s two-story Victorian house in the historic Fargo Estate neighborhood of Buffalo, NY, the house was slated for demolition when Maher acquired it in 2009. Since then, Maher has lived there while continuously transforming the house through collecting, excavating, dismantling, and reassembling. Salvaged architectural fragments, antique toys, miniatures, furnishings, and other evocative objects accumulate alongside the ordinary necessities of domestic life, creating an ever-changing interior of miniature cities, imaginary maps, ruinous landscapes, and fictitious buildings that coexist with living spaces.

A cluttered room with wooden structures, some resembling a miniature house, and various mechanical and craft materials. The ceiling has a missing panel, exposing the ceiling cavity. A small light bulb hangs from the ceiling. The walls are brick, and

A room filled with a variety of wooden and metal furniture and objects, with shadows cast on the wall by a window or light source, creating complex patterns.

Interior view of a wood furniture store with various wooden furniture pieces and shelving units. The ceiling has a hanging light, and the floor is made of wooden planks.

View of a room filled with miniature furniture and wooden architectural elements, including stairs, columns, and shelving, creating a cluttered, workshop-like environment.

A Second Home Mattress Factory Art Museum. 2016 - 2023.

A Second Home transformed the 3-story, 10 room rowhouse at 510 Sampsonia Way into a domestic otherworld. Constructed from salvaged building materials, antiques, toys, miniatures, and other found objects, as well as video projections and sound works, the installation enveloped viewers in a densely layered environment oscillating between house, city, and dream.