Aaron Peasley

If there was ever a place obsessed with reinvention, it’s New York City. A decade ago residents of Manhattan wouldn’t have dreamed that the blighted high line, a disused railway track, would be destined for a glamorous future as the city’s most exhilarating public space.

The high line, a 2.33 kilometre railway line that spans 22 city blocks and connects three neighbourhoods, was built in the 1930s to service the warehouses along Manhattan’s Hudson River. The railway tracks originally ran down the middle of Tenth Avenue, but that route proved to be so dangerous – earning it the grisly moniker of ‘death avenue’ – that the line was raised, allowing trains to cut through buildings and easily offload their freight.

They needn’t have bothered: the high line wasn’t productive for long. Supplanted by the arrival of automobile transportation, the railroad fell into disrepair and was abandoned by the early 80s. The high line would have ended up in a scrap metal graveyard, were it not for a group of residents who saw the decrepit structure as a potential public park in a part of the city critically lacking in green space.
The community-based group Friends of the High Line was founded by residents Robert Hammond and Joshua David, and together with a group of celebrities, designers and downtown tastemakers, they paved the way for the high line’s conversion into a spectacular public park. In 2004, the New York City government committed $77 million towards the proposal.

The development was initially opposed by many of the neighbouring businesses, particularly in the revamped Meatpacking district, but the high line‘s comeback has proven to be very good for business. Residential real estate prices have risen dramatically and there are countless development projects in the works, including splashy architectural showpieces designed by the likes of Jean Nouvel and A.M. Stern, who, together with Frank Gehry and his IAC headquarters, are redrawing Manhattan’s western profile. The high line, flanked by hotels, galleries, restaurants and bars will also become a key part of downtown’s social fabric.

The winning design for the site, by Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro, was chosen in 2004 and is bound to set a new standard for adaptive reuse. The first section of the line, running from Gansevoort Street to West 20th Street, has been unveiled. The result is a 2.7-hectare grand aerial promenade, filled with lawns, trees and flowerbeds. To maintain a conduit to the past, many of the original elements, like sections of railway track, will remain as they’ve been for decades. Visitors will ascend by stairs or escalators (the first section will have four entry points) and follow a concrete path, which will form the backbone of the high line experience.
Eventually, the southern end of the high line will be book-ended by the new annex of the Whitney Museum, a fitting addition to an already booming arts precinct. The six-floor, 17,000 square metre building will be designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Renzo Piano and is expected to open in 2012.

To call the high line a park wouldn’t come close to capturing the one of a kind experience that awaits visitors. Stepping onto grass three stories above the ground, the platform offers a completely new perspective of New York; not just expansive views across the Hudson River, but glimpses into secret corners of the city one wouldn’t notice at street level. The high line, like a magic carpet, feels anchored to the past, whilst being undeniably futuristic. To quote the American writer O Henry “it couldn’t have happened anywhere but in little old New York.”