A sawtooth roofed loft off Seventh Avenue: north light through industrial glazing on long cutting tables, bolt racks, dress forms, a Singer row, a freight elevator, a rack rolling the aisle. The New Yorkers hang on the brick piers and over the tables.
The Garment District was born from the country's first zoning law, passed on July 25, 1916, which pushed clothing makers off Fifth Avenue into a zone between Ninth Avenue and Broadway from 34th to 42nd Street. The first cooperative garment buildings rose at 494 and 500 Seventh Avenue in 1920. By 1926 the district was the fastest growing construction site in the entire city. In 1987 the city created the Special Garment Center District zoning to protect the manufacturing lofts.
Source · Garment District Alliance ↗
Six sawtooth bays of north facing glazing, cast iron columns on a maple floor, two rows of long cutting tables under hanging work panels, bolt racks by colour, the Singer row with bobbing needles, rolling garment racks, dress forms, the freight elevator gate, garment racks on the sidewalk outside. Mood: north light, the last fitting. Everything is procedural geometry with painted surfaces; nothing is a scan or a photograph. The room is an interpretation, and it hangs the New Yorkers the census recorded at this place first.