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Architect David Adjaye’s first school building turned an abandoned ice factory into a cathedral of learning.

A 120-year-old former factory is now the most stunning school in America

[Photo: James Wang Images/Adjaye Associates]

BY Nate Berg

A hulking 120-year-old brick building on the shore of the Harlem River in the South Bronx was once a centerpiece of the New York City economy. Its original life as an ice factory and warehouse supported beer brewers in the growing metropolis and helped supply the wealth that built nearby Yankee Stadium. But it eventually became a shell, abandoned for 40 years and occupied only by a family of goats that had taken over the ground floor. For many residents in recent years, the empty building was little more than a massive and absurd base for a humongous billboard advertising the ridesharing company Uber.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nate Berg is a staff writer at Fast Company, where he writes about design, architecture, urban development, and industrial design. He has written for publications including the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Atlantic, Wired, the Guardian, Dwell, Wallpaper, and Curbed More


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