80w. SoHo Historic District
A.K.A.: SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District
Location: roughly bounded by West Broadway, Houston, Crosby, and Canal Streets
Built: from early 1800s to today; most cast-irons date from 1870s
Architects: multiple
National Register Number: 78001883
Listed: June 29, 1978
Visited: June 21, 24, and 26; August 8 and 31, 2008
Additional Information: LPC Landmark Designation Report
Balconies encourage contemplation, not industriousness. The Little Singer Building (Ernest Flagg, 1904), then, is the damnedest thing: a commercial building with balconies for nearly every floor. And each is framed by the Christmas colors of green wrought-iron railings and red terra-cotta. Who could've frequented these balconies but the Sad Gatsbys of the sewing machine world, musing upon the Broadway homunculi below or flicking ash into the air during a midday smoking break? Except no. Christopher Gray says it was used as a "product showroom" for Singer(perhaps looking something like this showroom in Bangalore, right down to the machines themselves) and was otherwise "...fully occupied by underwear, infant clothing and related industries" when it opened in 1904. So homely. Yet even in a neighborhood of extraordinary fancifulness, remarkably fanciful.
Location: roughly bounded by West Broadway, Houston, Crosby, and Canal Streets
Built: from early 1800s to today; most cast-irons date from 1870s
Architects: multiple
National Register Number: 78001883
Listed: June 29, 1978
Visited: June 21, 24, and 26; August 8 and 31, 2008
Additional Information: LPC Landmark Designation Report
Balconies encourage contemplation, not industriousness. The Little Singer Building (Ernest Flagg, 1904), then, is the damnedest thing: a commercial building with balconies for nearly every floor. And each is framed by the Christmas colors of green wrought-iron railings and red terra-cotta. Who could've frequented these balconies but the Sad Gatsbys of the sewing machine world, musing upon the Broadway homunculi below or flicking ash into the air during a midday smoking break? Except no. Christopher Gray says it was used as a "product showroom" for Singer(perhaps looking something like this showroom in Bangalore, right down to the machines themselves) and was otherwise "...fully occupied by underwear, infant clothing and related industries" when it opened in 1904. So homely. Yet even in a neighborhood of extraordinary fancifulness, remarkably fanciful.
Labels: Ernest Flagg, SoHo
posted by Michael at
4:50 PM
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