'the high line public park project' by james corner field operations & diller scofidio + renfro

james corner field operations & diller scofidio + renfro presents images of the high line
public park project now in progress. the high line, in collaboration with field operations,
is a new 1.5-mile long public park built on an abandoned elevated railroad
stretching from the meatpacking district to the hudson rail yards in manhattan.
inspired by the melancholic, unruly beauty of this postindustrial ruin,
where nature has reclaimed a once vital piece of urban infrastructure,
the new park interprets its inheritance. it translates the biodiversity
that took root after it fell into ruin in a string of site-specific urban
microclimates along the stretch of railway that include sunny, shady,
wet, dry, windy, and sheltered spaces. through a strategy of agri-tecture,
part agriculture, part architecture- the high line surface is digitized into
discrete units of paving and panting which are assembled along the 1.5 miles
into a variety of gradients from 100% paving to 100% soft, richly vegetated
biotopes. the paving system consists of individual pre-cast concrete planks
with open joints to encourage emergent growth like wild grass through cracks
in the sidewalk. the long paving units have tapered ends that comb into planting
beds creating a textured, 'pathless' landscape where the public can meander in
unscripted ways. the park accommodates the wild, the cultivated, the intimates,
and the social. access points are durational experiences designed to prolong
the transition from the frenetic pace of city streets to the slow otherworldly
landscape above.