Designs for New York's High Line Unveiled

Designs for New Yorks High Line Unveiled
New York's High Line rail may be defunct, but it hasn't been forgotten.

On April 19th, the City of New York and the Friends of the High Line (FHL), a non-profit organization dedicated to the structure's preservation, will display at the Museum of Modern Art preliminary renderings of the rail's renewal by winning design team Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

In 2001, the city committed to demolish the 1930's 22-block long elevated railway bed, which runs along Manhattan's West Side, but a lengthy battle led to plans for renovation and reconstruction.

The exhibit "the High Line," running through July 18, will concentrate mainly on the stretch between Gansevoort Street and 15th Street. Photographs and renderings of the site's wilderness, pits, ramps, and tracks will be on display. Intimate design details will be revealed--includin g a "vegetal balcony," a "woodland thicket," a "sunken overlook," and a sundeck overlooking the Hudson River.

The project offers New Yorkers a unique combination of nature and the urban landscape. "It is a wilderness atop an engineered structure, historic yet modern, and an escape from busy streets it is physically linked to," says Robert Hammond, co-founder of FHL. "The High Line will enhance our community, as well as our economy, and create a new way for New Yorkers to celebrate