Scholastic Building
Encyclopedia
The Scholastic Building at 557 Broadway
between Prince and Spring Streets in the SoHo
neighborhood of Manhattan
, New York City
, was the first new building to be constructed in the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District, replacing a one-story garage built in 1954. Completed in 2001, it is the only New York City work by the Italian architect Aldo Rossi
. Originally conceived of in his New York office, it was completed and refined by Rossi's disciple, Morris Adjmi
. It is respectful of its immediate neighbors and pays homage to the district’s cast iron architectural identity. The cast iron architecture that defines this neighborhood straddles between the classical and industrial periods of New York’s past. According to historian William Higgins, "the building’s columnar Broadway façade, in steel, terra-cotta, and stone, echoes the scale and the formal, Classical character of its commercial neighbors. The rear façade, on Mercer Street, extracts a gritty essence from its more utilitarian surroundings of plain cast iron and weathered masonry."
The Scholastic Building was designed and assembled using a "kit of parts" methodology, which is similar to a time when the facades of SoHo's cast-iron buildings were built by ordering the building elements and ornaments in parts from a catalog, having them cast off-site in foundries, and assembled on site.
Broadway (New York City)
Broadway is a prominent avenue in New York City, United States, which runs through the full length of the borough of Manhattan and continues northward through the Bronx borough before terminating in Westchester County, New York. It is the oldest north–south main thoroughfare in the city, dating to...
between Prince and Spring Streets in the SoHo
SoHo
SoHo is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City, notable for being the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, and also, more recently, for the wide variety of stores and shops ranging from trendy boutiques to outlets of upscale national and international chain stores...
neighborhood of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, was the first new building to be constructed in the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District, replacing a one-story garage built in 1954. Completed in 2001, it is the only New York City work by the Italian architect Aldo Rossi
Aldo Rossi
Aldo Rossi was an Italian architect and designer who accomplished the unusual feat of achieving international recognition in four distinct areas: theory, drawing, architecture and product design.-Early life:...
. Originally conceived of in his New York office, it was completed and refined by Rossi's disciple, Morris Adjmi
Morris Adjmi Architects
Morris Adjmi Architects is a New York City based architecture and interior design firm that provides design services to corporate, commercial and residential clients....
. It is respectful of its immediate neighbors and pays homage to the district’s cast iron architectural identity. The cast iron architecture that defines this neighborhood straddles between the classical and industrial periods of New York’s past. According to historian William Higgins, "the building’s columnar Broadway façade, in steel, terra-cotta, and stone, echoes the scale and the formal, Classical character of its commercial neighbors. The rear façade, on Mercer Street, extracts a gritty essence from its more utilitarian surroundings of plain cast iron and weathered masonry."
The Scholastic Building was designed and assembled using a "kit of parts" methodology, which is similar to a time when the facades of SoHo's cast-iron buildings were built by ordering the building elements and ornaments in parts from a catalog, having them cast off-site in foundries, and assembled on site.