Soho, In Search of Cool in London

AUTHOR: Travel Curious

DATE: 2019

SoHo is an uber-trendy neighbourhood in Lower Manhattan, full of beautiful people and upmarket outlets. Its name refers to the area “South of Houston Street”. Not too dissimilar to Soho in London’s West End.

Origins

SoHo is perhaps New York’s foremost example of inner city regeneration and gentrification. A process that has been coined the “SoHo effect”. After World War II, the textile industry that had dominated the area began its steady decline and eventually moved further south. The area began its steady descent in decay, and would eventually earn the name of “Hell’s Hundred Acres” — an industrial wasteland.

The best of Soho architecture

By the 60s the empty manufacturing lofts and the distinctive cast iron architecture- not to mention the affordability, began to attract artists from across the USA. Soho has an architectural style unique to many other areas of New York- the iron widely used in the buildings allows for sumptuously curved window frames of considerable height, reaching from floor to ceiling of the tall rooms. Even if the artists have mainly moved on today, the industrial facades, luminous lofts and cast-iron lampposts, balconies and fire escapes that drew them there remain.

Something for the Cinephile

SoHo’s Film Forum is the only not-for-profit movie house in the City. Here you will find an impressive lineup of highly curated classics and retrospectives from seminal directors. The retrospectives often also feature a Q&A by a star, academic or someone involved in production, so a visit is a must for any cinephile.

Centre for the Arts: Team Gallery

Pay a visit to Team Gallery, The Drawing Centre and the Artists Space for some of the best avant-garde digital art from a range of artists, including Pierre Bismuth and Alex Bag.