The High Line
written by migueld
on July 16th, 2009
, 10 comments
(7 votes)
A beautiful example of urban renewal and re purposing, the High Line is New York City’s newest park, converting old unused train shipping tracks into a sleek, modern and enjoyable green space.
The park was modeled after Paris’ own Promenade Plantée in the 12e, essentially also a converted railway that turned into a garden space. The tracks in the west side of Manhattan, once used to directly ship goods to factories such as Bell Laboratories and Nabisco along the west side, stopped operating in the 1980s as manufacturing centers moved out of New York City and a new wave of occupants took over the Meatpacking District, the starting point of the tracks themselves.
Now, neighbored by boutique fashion stores and swank hotels, the park is a relief from cobblestone thoroughfares and concrete sidewalks. Even the benches have a chic modernity about them, what with the project being headed by architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro.
The project is only partly finished; the southernmost section runs over twenty city blocks from Gansevoort Street to 20th Street, with the Standard Hotel straddling around 14th Street. The rest of the project is slated to open at a later date, and an expansion by the Whitney Museum to be designed by Renzo Piano is expected at the southern entry point.
With cool views, plenty of seating for people watching, and a vibrant community around it, the High Line is a great place to hang out and see New York from a different perspective.
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