SoHo: New York's Cast-Iron Gallery District

SoHo takes its name from its location (South of Houston Street) and its extraordinary cast-iron architectural heritage — a 26-block stretch of 19th-century cast-iron commercial buildings that was slated for demolition in the 1960s, saved by artists who moved into the upper floors as illegal live-work lofts, and designated a historic district that now ranks as one of the most architecturally significant commercial neighbourhoods in the United States. The Greene Street corridor and the surrounding blocks form the largest collection of cast-iron architecture in the world — ornate facades in Italianate, French, and Venetian Renaissance styles that were made possible by the structural advantages of cast iron, allowing the large windows that flood the galleries and lofts above street level with natural light.

The street-level retail in SoHo today runs from international luxury flagships to independent boutiques, with shopping concentrated along Broadway, Prince Street, and Spring Street. The galleries that made the neighbourhood famous in the 1970s and 80s — featuring Basquiat, Haring, and the early downtown art world — have largely migrated to Chelsea and the Lower East Side, but several important gallery spaces persist among the retail and design studios that have remained in the upper floors of the cast-iron buildings.

The New York City Fire Museum on Spring Street occupies a 1904 firehouse — an unexpected and excellent small museum documenting the history of firefighting in the city, free on Sundays. The blocks between Wooster and Crosby streets retain the most independent fashion and design stores with some of the neighbourhood's original creative character. The overall experience of walking SoHo on a weekend morning, before the crowds arrive, with the sunlight catching the cast-iron facades and the cobblestone streets underfoot, is one of the city's most beautiful architectural promenades.