CHELSEA
“HIGH LINE”
In the Book, “Designing The High Line” by Friends of High Line, Christine C. Quinn said, “Personally and professionally, to advancing the creation of a park on this unique historic structure”.1 The history of High Line project began in the summer of 1999.2 According to official website of High Line3, before, they decided to build a pubic park, the High Line used to be a railroad. The railroad was built in 1847. During that time, many people called this area Death Avenue, because many accidents occured by trains and traffic that were on the 10th Avenue. In 1929, the City and the New York Central Railroad and State of New York accepted the West Side Improvement project. The project lifted the traffic 30 feet in the air, removed dangerous trains from the streets of Manhattan's largest industrial district area. The High Line opened a train in 1934. It worked from 34th Street to St. John’s Park Terminal, in Spring Street.4 The High Line is designed to passthrough the center of blocks, and It connected directly to factories and warehouses. When the train passedby buildings, milk, meat and all the goods were transported without traffic on the streets. The High Line was been working from 1934 to early 1960s. When the rail traffic decreased, the southern section was removed. In 1999, Joshua David and Robert Hammond, who were the residents of the High Line neighborhood, they wanted to preserve the environment of the High Line and redesign the railroad as public open space. So The High Line public park project started. The important three people, the New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Gifford Miller, the city Council Speakers and Christine C. Quinn, they gave many support to make the High Line as a public place. In the New York Times article “First Phase of High Line Is Ready for Strolling” by Robin Pogebin,5 the project of High Line was divided by three steps. The first step opened on June 8, 2009 in the Gansevoort Street to 20th Street, second step, it will continue to 30th Street by the fall of 2010. And the last step of High Line will continue to 34th street on 10th and 11th Avenue.
Robert Hammmond and Joshua David who were the neighborhood residents, who made the group of the High Line, gave the idea to turn the High Line in to a public park or greenway. Before the High Line became a park, it was full of wilderness and they wanted it to keep this wildness but the landscape of the High Line needed to be changed. In the Book, “Designing The High Line” by Friends of High Line, the design principle of High Line is
Keep it simple
Keep it wild
Keep it quite
Keep it slow
Preserve typical railings and upgrade to fulfill code and ensure safety.
Preserve north-south sight lines and liner consistency of the High Line.
preserve and reveal the structure providing opportunities to inhabit and appreciate details.
preserve wild, opportunistic landscape by enhancing existing plant species.
preserve industrial presence of the High Line at the street level.
preserve unusual and found conditions on the High Line.
Preserve slow meandering experience through varied conditions.6
One of designer of the High Line, the field operatior, James Corner wanted to keep the character of the High Line itself. Also, the another designers of High Line, architects Diller Scofidio+Renfro, plant designer Piet Oudolf and engineering designer Buro Happold were inspired by the wildness of High Line and wanted to keet its characteristic. James Corner said that “From an aesthetic and design standpoint, it has always been our position to try to respect the innate character of the High Line itself: it’s singularity and linearity, it’s straight-forward pragmatism, it’s emergent properties with wild plant-life-meadows, thicket, vine, mosses, flowers, intermixed with ballast, steel tracks, railing, and concrete.”7 The designers kept the concept in that mind and found the solution, which is primarily threefold. First, they invented paving system with the liner concrete planks which harmonized with plants. The plants helped to keep the characteristics of the High Line, which were wild, dynamic and taking care of the typical landscape. The second strategy was to slow things down to help the sense of duration and being in a new place where can release the time. The Gansevoort stair which is the entrance, it is called the “Slow Stair”. This stair was constructed with glass and it transition from the busy street below to the quite. The third one was involved with dimension and scale. James Corner, he considered the size that looks to be more bigger and focused on the High Line’s measure.8 According to official website of High Line, plantings of this park were inspired by the self-seeded landscape. These apeared after the trains stopped working and grew on the rail tracks during the 25 years. And the 210 species of perennials, grasses, shrubs and trees on the First part of High Line which was Gansevoort Street to 20th Street, were chosen for their hardiness, sustainability, and textural and color variation, with a focus on native species. Most of the plant naturally grew on the High Line’s rail road and it is in harmony with the park landscape. The landscape also has a diversity in bloom time and the first part’s plants blooms from late January to mid-November.9Keep it wild
Keep it quite
Keep it slow
Preserve typical railings and upgrade to fulfill code and ensure safety.
Preserve north-south sight lines and liner consistency of the High Line.
preserve and reveal the structure providing opportunities to inhabit and appreciate details.
preserve wild, opportunistic landscape by enhancing existing plant species.
preserve industrial presence of the High Line at the street level.
preserve unusual and found conditions on the High Line.
Preserve slow meandering experience through varied conditions.6
The High Line passthroughs three of Manhattan's most dynamic neighborhoods: the Meatpacking District, West Chelsea, and Hell’s Kitchen/Clinton. When the High Line was built in the 1930s, these neighborhoods were working with industrial and transportation methods. Nowadays most of the warehouses and factories are changed to art galleries, design studios, retailers, restaurants, museums, and residences. Also, the High Line is one of the world’s great art districts, and some art work have connections with the project of High Line. According to the website of High Line,
Richard Galpin who is best known for creating altered photograph of landscapes, had an exhibition on May 7, 2010 until May 2011 on the east side of the High Line. He created a “viewing station” , this artwork used geometric shape to make one piece of art work. Also, his work gave people to have a view from High Line which is an altered and abstracted. His work is not the only artwork in High Line, There are many different artists who perform their art work in the High Line. For example, “Spencer Finch”, “The River that Flows Both Ways”, in the Chelsea Market passage on High Line and “Valerie Hegarty”, “Autumn On the Hudson Valley With Branches” on the fence at 20th Street that divides Sections 1 and 2 of the park, etc.10 The exhibition of the art on the High Line provided merits to aritists and the public. For artists, the High Line gave an opportunity to perform their work and have a large, diversity of audience. And artists could have feed backs from the audience. For the public, having artworks presented on the stage can make special experience to them.11
The great project of West Side was designed by the landscape architects James Corner Field Operations, with Diller Scofidio+Renfro. First portion of High Line park is opened now. Many people visit the park with their family or friends. Even though the High Line’s railroad is not running anymore, people can still see the history through railroad. Also High Line provided the place where people can release their stress and exercise in the park. In the New York Times article Robin Pogebin said,12 “First Phase of High Line Is Ready for Strolling”. Many people made comments to the High Line, Scott M. Stringer, the Manhattan borough president, called the High Line project “a great West Side story.” Also City Council speaker Christine C. Quinn described High Line as “a miracle of perseverance,” and said “the idea could easily have gone into a file, ‘great ideas that will never happen.’” The project of the High Line is still in progress, the second portion which is located from 20th to 30th Street and it will be opened on fall of 2010. Lastly the third part will be continued to 34th Street.
- HyeGin Hamm-
1 Friends of the High Line. Designing The High Line. New York: Friends Of High Line, 2008. p11
2 Ibid., p7
3 Friends Of High Line, High Line, http://www.thehighline.org/about/high-line-history
4 Ibid.,p 20
5 Pogrebin Robin. “First Phase of High Line Is Ready for Strolling”. New York Times, June 8,2009, http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/08/first-phase-of-high-line-is-ready- for-strolling/
6 Ibid., p36
7 Ibid., p30
8 Ibid., p30-31
9 Friends Of High Line, High Line, http://www.thehighline.org/about/public-art
10 Friends Of High Line, High Line, http://www.thehighline.org/about/public-art
11 Friends Of High Line, High Line, http://www.thehighline.org/about/public-art
12 Pogrebin Robin. “First Phase of High Line Is Ready for Strolling”. New York Times, June 8,2009, http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/08/first-phase-of-high-line-is-ready-for-strolling/
Book
-Friends of the High Line. Designing The High Line. New York: Friends Of High Line, 2008.
Web site
-Friends Of High Line, High Line, http://www.thehighline.org
Article
-Pogrebin Robin. “First Phase of High Line Is Ready for Strolling”. New York Times, June 8,2009, http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/08/first-phase-of-high-line-is-ready-for-strolling/
Interview in Chelsea Market
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