High Line Part Two

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The second half of the High Line opened this summer and even though it’s a one-off, not likely to be funded in these straightened budget times or replicated in less dense environments, it’s still intersting to think about making parks out of places that are not traditionally green.

Enjoy the pictures.

People walk on a raised urban park path beside a long wooden bench with lush plantings. Buildings are visible in the background.

simple seating and lots of it

People are relaxing on wooden benches along an urban elevated walkway with greenery. The backdrop features a large beige building with many windows. The scene conveys a mix of leisure and urban architecture.

seating as an environment and an experience

People walk along an elevated walkway with railings, bordered by plants on one side and a row of urban buildings on the other. Scaffolding is visible on some of the buildings. The setting appears to be a cityscape.

one of the repeated design features on this leg are seating spurs that reference the park's past as a rail line and allows the user to step out of the traffic flow. Another feature is raising the metal grid path above the original surface, saving a bit on landscape materials and maintenance

 

A modern building with a metallic, dotted surface is adjacent to a simple, gray rectangular building. In the background, parts of a brick building are visible, all under an overcast sky.

unlike the first leg, property owners now know the High Line's value added and developed accordingly, even before the park was finished

People walking through a lush garden with tall grass and yellow flowers in an urban setting, surrounded by modern and older buildings. It's a cloudy day, and the scene is vibrant with greenery.

a simple but charming design effect. The path's jog makes it look like strollers are in the middle of a field

A diverse group of people sits and stands on a stepped grassy area, likely in a park or urban garden. Some are reading or chatting, while others, including a conductor in white, appear to be engaged in a choir rehearsal. Urban buildings are in the background.

and they have managed to fit in a field--a small one--evlivened by a casual choral performance on the built in bleacher seats

2 Responses to “High Line Part Two”

    Bob

    Gee, I thought having pedestrians up above the street level was anti-urban. At least that’s what we heard in all the arguments against connecting the new Silver Spring library to the parking garage.

    claudia kousoulas

    You’re right, but this is a park, intended to be a retreat from urban. Though the High Line is linear and you could use it to get from one part of town to another, it’s also far on the far west side (which makes for nice river views) and out of the main routes travelled by pedestrians. We had to walk past the Morgan Post Office loading dock to get to the 30th street entrance, not exactly a ped-heavy route.

    Our CBD streets are hardly heavily travelled enough to warrant an above street level park. After all, this rail line was originally built spearate industrial traffic from city streets.

    What I take from it is creating a space where there was none.