factories

Industrial Design: Reconsidering Former-Factory Chic

Filed under: Books, Real Estate Developments, By Design

We on Luxist love it when former industrial space is transformed into something luxuriously wonderful, whether it's a hat factory transformed into condos in Connecticut, a jam factory that became a super-cool hotel in Tasmania, or a textile mill that became a unique art and design center in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

Recycling space that's just lying fallow makes good sense, but it's easy to forget that this gentrification is part of a larger economic story -- in fact, it's often the epilogue.

Check out The Atlantic Monthly's latest issue for a terrific article on Manhattan's urban landscape, Benjamin Schwarz's "Gentrification and its Discontents". It's mostly a consideration of two newer books, Twenty Minutes in Manhattan by architect Michael Sorkin, and Naked City, by urban sociologist Sharon Zukin, in the light of Jane Jacobs' classic book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities -- but my favorite part is when Schwarz points out that the late, great era of creative foment in lower Manhattan that these authors (and a great many others) lament now that it's been replaced by either hugely expensive housing or international brands, was a product of economic and industrial decline:

For instance, in railing against the passing of SoHo's exhilarating, creative days-characterized by "the mix of artists, crafts-people, small manufacturers, researchers [!], as well as of commerce oriented to their needs" (a few funky bars for the artists; places like the collectively run restaurant Food)-Sorkin joins in the lamentation for "the rapid decline of the city's industrial economy." He doesn't recognize that the SoHo he yearns for was precisely the product of that rapid industrial decline, which made economically available to artists and their hangers-on all those cool industrial spaces that in more industrially vibrant times would have been used by, well, industry.

He also points out that those former days of industrial productivity, now steeped in sepia nostalgia, weren't exactly halcyon. (Triangle Factory fire, anyone?) For example, The Henry Jones Art Hotel's pleasant atrium, pictured above, was a former jam factory floor. The original ceiling, though, was the height of that lower cross-beam -- in its original incarnation, it was hardly the light and pleasant space it is today.

Tags: architecture, factories, gentrification, manhattan, manhattan real estate, soho, urbanism

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Unusual Shopping: Fabrica La Aurora in San Miguel de Allende

by Alison Wellner (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor, Luxury Travel & Hotels, Art, Books

When you're visiting San Miguel de Allende in Mexico, it's hard to tear yourself away from its colorful, cobblestoned city center even briefly -- but if you're looking to do a little shopping, particularly for antiques, unusual housewares and art, take a short walk to Fabrica La Aurora.

La Aurora was a textile factory which opened its doors in 1902, and was once one of the largest employers in the area. It specialized in cotton, for everything from textiles to tennis shoes. Anyone who thinks that Mexico reaped all the benefit of free trade agreements should take the history of this factory under advisement: the company closed its doors in 1991, due to increasing global competition.

The factory is now home to antique shops, local artist studios and galleries, all amid the old machine works and photos of the factory the way that it once was. The factory was sprawling, and its maze-like space is fun to explore, even if you've got firm intentions to keep your suitcase light. (Although note bene, La Aurora has three jewelry shops and an excellent art and design bookstore if you'll make exceptions for the light in weight or light in wallet.)

Check out a directory of shops and studios here, and browse the gallery to take a tour of this most unusual shopping venue.

Gallery: La Fabrica Aurora in San Miguel de Allende