 |
 While there have been changes to the north side of the Square, they have been mainly internal; the exterior of the Row on Washington Square North remains much the same as it was during the 19th century. Today several of the houses have been taken over by NYU and turned into offices. The interiors of others have been |
 |
|
incorporated into the apartment houses which rise above and behind them. The same is true for the
Washington Mews, which were turned
from stables into houses and now serve
as theme houses for NYU, or more
general university housing. Lower Fifth
Avenue is now home to several high rise
apartment buildings. The overall
character of the north side of the Square
remains essentially residential.
Nowhere has the effect of NYU's expansion been more evident than on the south side of the Square. Starting in the late 1940's with the construction of Vanderbilt Hall to house the law school, NYU buildings now dominate Washington Square South, as well as much of the rest of the neighborhood to the south of the park. Warren Weaver, Shimkin, and Tisch Halls, Loeb Student Center and the Elmer Holmes Bobst Library all rose above the Square by the mid-1970's. Along with Washington Square Village, the Silver Towers and Coles Sports Center, NYU is more than ever synonymous with Washington Square. Most of these buildings replaced the old federal style houses and five story tenement buildings that existed on the south side throughout much of the 19th and 20th centuries. Judson Memorial Church, still located at its original site on Washington Square South stands as one exception to the vast architectural changes that have been made in the latter half of the 20th century on the south side of the Square. With the extension south of Sixth Avenue in the early 20th century, the west side of the Square now rivals the east side as the busiest area around the park. Its elegant apartment buildings attracted many well known residents such as Willa Cather, Richard Wright and Frank de Gioia. Washington Square West is now home to Hayden Hall, a large NYU residence hall which incorporated the former Holley Chambers into new construction in the 1950's, while Waverly Place still boasts a number of historical homes. Sixth Avenue has become an important retail thoroughfare, though the vertical size of the buildings has remained tempered. The look of the east side of the Square was radically altered at the close of the 19th century with the demolition of both the University Building and the South Dutch Church. In place of the Gothic-influenced University Building, NYU erected the Main Building, which still stands today. A new commercial building was constructed to replace the Dutch Church, called the Celluloid Building. That building currently houses Goddard Hall. There are several other NYU buildings on east side, including the education building, psychology building, and the Tisch School of the Arts. Broadway and Lafayette have both become important commercial arteries. Astor Place continues to house Cooper Union and itself is a cultural and retail hub, with theaters and galleries. The buildings east and south of the Square are much taller than the north and west sides.
|