The Meatpacking District: Cultural Influence on Form

Meatpacking District Initiative:  The Meatpacking District is located between Chelsea Market and Gansevoort St. at the northwestern edge of The Village Historic District.  In the late 1800s the neighborhood took shape as an outdoor market called Gansevoort Market on the site of Fort Gansevoort and in the mid 1900s it grew to Gansevoort Meat Center.  Meat processing shaped warehouse and road construction:  streets are wide, building are open, low and of masonry and steel construction.  

Artisans of diverse trades now occupy the meatpacking district and are responsible for its revitalization.  The local building form is ideal for the needs of artists and designers and their culture frames the Meatpacking District Initiative which promotes local business, attracts events and manages "the improvement of public space".  In this neighborhood the artisans established form and now drive their goals of urban design: historic and aesthetic interest, modern retrofitting, congregation and celebration.