Abstract
Contemporary shops play an important role as a place to experience contemporary culture as well as sales and display techniques. This study is to suggest one of the prototypes of character streets consisting of characteristic shops through the analysis of the stores in the SoHo area in New York City. The study found that there are three kinds of characteristic shops preserving the cast-iron architectural environment in the SoHo area. In the first case, the interiors of the shops are partially renovated original lofts keeping decorative columns, white plaster walls and wooden floors. In the second case, the interiors are totally renovated leaving no old traces. This is achieved through wrapping columns and replacing old materials with new ones. In the third case, the interiors are renovated with the different approaches using mixed ideas and materials. The original columns exist but are transformed in this case. In the third case, shops tend to be extra large and complicated. The Prada shop in SoHo by Rem Koolaas is the best example of this case. This shop is the conceptual city, theater and avant-garde museum itself, that is, the place of experiencing contemporary culture.
