80j. 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, and August 8, 2008
Additional Information: LPC Landmark Designation Report
Vaux, Withers & Co. did this one in 1872. Calvert Vaux you might already know, (if not: he was half of the team behind Central Park), Frederick Clarke Withers you probably don't. Together they were instrumental in popularizing Gothic architecture in the non-native soil of America. One of the more obscure works of the firm (perhaps the most famous is the Jefferson Market Library), 448 Broome is an attempt at adapting the churchy style to the mass-produced aesthetic of cast-iron on store...and it doesn't really click: the broad windows don't give the ornamentation enough room to breathe, I think. To be fair, it's hard to see this building for what it is, or was. Fire escapes now cover three of its four bays on four of its five floors, and even worse, its cornice--looking very much like Withers' altar and reredos for Trinity Church--was removed at some indeterminate point, possibly because it wasn't stable, possibly because it was old-fashioned. Sadly, what's left is easy to ignore. (The poor thing.) The most distinctive thing about it is the woolly vegetation growing from the fifth floor.
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, and August 8, 2008
Additional Information: LPC Landmark Designation Report
Vaux, Withers & Co. did this one in 1872. Calvert Vaux you might already know, (if not: he was half of the team behind Central Park), Frederick Clarke Withers you probably don't. Together they were instrumental in popularizing Gothic architecture in the non-native soil of America. One of the more obscure works of the firm (perhaps the most famous is the Jefferson Market Library), 448 Broome is an attempt at adapting the churchy style to the mass-produced aesthetic of cast-iron on store...and it doesn't really click: the broad windows don't give the ornamentation enough room to breathe, I think. To be fair, it's hard to see this building for what it is, or was. Fire escapes now cover three of its four bays on four of its five floors, and even worse, its cornice--looking very much like Withers' altar and reredos for Trinity Church--was removed at some indeterminate point, possibly because it wasn't stable, possibly because it was old-fashioned. Sadly, what's left is easy to ignore. (The poor thing.) The most distinctive thing about it is the woolly vegetation growing from the fifth floor.
Labels: Calvert Vaux, Cast-Iron, Frederick Clarke Withers, SoHo
posted by Michael at
7:22 AM
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