The Impacts of the High Line New York City Building Green Copenhagen, Denmark October 28, 2015
Steven L. Cantor, New York City Landscape Architect
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Green roofs • Steven L. Cantor, Green Roofs in Sustainable Landscape Design, (WWNorton, 2008) I. Overview II. Design Process III. Plant Materials, Irrigation and Specifications IV. Europe V. Case Studies North America VI. Trends VII. Appendices Emory Knoll Farms; Street, MD. Ed Snodgrass
Chapter VI has a section on the High Line. (p. 295- 298) 2
Articles on the High Line • “Promenade Plantee and the High Line,” Landscape Architecture Magazine, October, 2009, p. 98 -99. • “A Comparison of the Three Phases of the High Line, New York City, a Photographer’s and Landscape Architect’s Perspective,” www.greenroofs.com, 14 part series, from December 19, 2013 to January 16, 2015. • www.thehighline.org • SCantorRLA@aol.com
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Chronology 1. Viaduct opened in 1934 to carry trains directly to factories and warehouses for loading and unloading above the street. 2. Modern truck traffic at street level gradually superseded freight trains over about 50 years. 3. Friends of High Line founded 1999 by Joshua David and Robert Hammond. 4. West Chelsea/ High Line Rezoning, 2005 5. Construction started on Phase I in 2006. 6. Total cost of 3 phases is about $ 170 million. 4
Existing Conditions vs. Construction Phase
View from London Terrace summer, 2006
View from London Terrace summer, 2011
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LEAD DESIGNERS Promenade PlantĂŠe
The High Line
1. Jacques Vergely, landscape architect 2. Philippe Mathieux, architect
1. James Corner, landscape architect, Field Operations 2. Ricardo Scofidio, architect, Diller Scofidio + Renfro 3. Piet Oudolf, planting design 6
COMPARISON Promenade PlantĂŠe
The High Line
1. Paris 2. Viaduct abandoned 1969 3. Built between 1988-1993
1. New York City 2. Viaduct abandoned 1980 3. PHASE I 2009; II 2011; III 2014
4. Elev. portion 1.5 km (.9 mi)
4. 5.
Three phases 2.5 km (1.5 mi) Variable width: 9 to 27 meters (30 to 88 ft.)
6. 7. 8. 9.
Naturalistic plantings Water feature to walk in Public art Complexity/ integration
5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
Uniform width Formal/traditional plantings Linear pool of water Trelliage Simplicity
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Comparisons - Water features Promenade
Symmetrical quiet, linear pool with paths and trees on either side
High Line
Adjacent to a major seating area, a moving sheet of water in which to dip one’s feet.
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Promenade
A simple, secluded pathway with occasional views of Paris.
High Line
A complex journey through several neighborhoods in NYC.
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Map of High Line, as built, 2015 (Source: Wikipedia)
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Whitney Museum of American Art Renzo Piano, architect and Gansevoort Woodland
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Whitney Museum of American Art
View of the museum from the High Line
View of Gansevoort Woodland from above
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14th Street Entry
The route forks; restrooms are to the right at the entrance to a hotel
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Diller- Von Furstenberg Sundeck Unique Benches
Benches on wheels which appear to move over the railroad tracks. 14
Diller- Von Furstenberg Sundeck and Water Feature
Earlier design of pyramidal planks proved hazardous
The configuration was changed to be safe all year round.
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Ph. 1 vs. Ph. 2: Water Feature
The current design is much simpler.
People like getting their feet wet.
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Chelsea Market and Northern Spur Horticultural Preserve
The original train route went into the building at the right. The plantings beneath the deck are a horticultural preserve using plant materials which had colonized the original site. 17
10th Avenue Square
Ipe wood deck with amphitheater seating with a view of 10th Avenue. 18
10th Avenue Square
Ipe wood deck with iconic, integrated benches with lighting. Three- flowered maple Acer triflorum
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10th Avenue Sq. at Chelsea Grasslands
The ipe wood deck inserts neatly into the concrete plank pavement. Architecture by Frank Gehry and Jean Nouvel in the distance.
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COMPARISON of HIGH LINE PHASE ONE AND PHASE TWO Phase One
Phase Two
1. Benches and wood deck constructed of ipe 2. Most benches without backs 3. Complex water feature 4. Signs: keep it wild
1. Benches and bleachers of recycled teak or wood composite. Some painted.
5. Silent drinking fountains
5. Interactive drinking fountain
2. Many benches with backs. Chairs added. 3. Simple water feature 4. More accurate signs
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Phase 2 Public Art
Sarah Sze – “Still Life with Landscape – Model for a Habitat” Fanciful stainless steel sculpture that includes boxes for birds’ nests.
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Seating Steps -- Bleachers Steps are set against the walkway and provide space for people to sit, watch and picnic lighting is built into the structure.
The material used is recycled teak. 23
The Lawn Elevated lawn area of 455 square meters (4,900 SF) for picnicking, sunbathing and people watching. The glass-faced building in the background is called HL23 by architect Neil Denari. It has a curved profile to create more floor space above a very narrow footprint at the ground level.
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Julianne Swartz, Digital Empathy “Digital Empathy� is set within the public water fountains, elevators, and bathrooms. These supposedly inanimate objects greet visitors with messages of empathy and love. 25
“Philip A. and Lisa Maria Falcone Flyover� The walk elevates to a height of 2.4 meters (8 feet) over the planting beds below.
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Viewing Spur While elevated above the plantings, the walkway connects to a seating area with a billboard frame which looks over the street below. The “billboard� also frames a view from below for pedestrians and vehicular passengers to see into the park.
Bigleaf magnolia is sheltered between two large benches. Benches are made of composite material. Phase 1 benches: ipe 27
Wildflower Field Simple edges of a long, wooden (composite) bench and concrete curbs enclose large beds of diverse wildflowers.
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30th Street Cut-Out At the end of Phase Two construction, there is a view of the underside of the viaduct -- the steel has been re-finished and painted.
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Zinco greenroof cross section
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Railroad track inventions
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11 Avenue Bridge th
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Pershing Square Berms
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Interim Walkway
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Entry/ Exit at West 34th Street
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INTEGRATED VOCABULARY
Iconic ipe benches with typical illumination from underneath. Concrete plank curves up gracefully into the end of the bench.
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Exuberant Plantings
Plantings integrated with layout of the railroad tracks provide seasonal interest all year. Foxtail lily – Eremurus stenophyllus
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Materials – drinking fountain Water drains into the grate and into the planting beds.
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Lighting Bollard light posts decorate some planting beds.
Bench lighting and LED (light emitting diode) lighting in the guardrail built onto the top of the trestle’s exterior railing.
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Lighting Some areas are left dark. LED lighting under guardrails gives linear accent.
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Garden or Urban Park?
GARDEN: a plot of ground where herbs, fruits, flowers or vegetables are cultivated. URBAN PARK: a protected area in its natural or semi-natural state, or planted, and set aside for human recreation and enjoyment, with ownership and maintenance by a city or local government.
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Phase 1 Sign from 2009.
Signs
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Signs
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Phase two signs direct pedestrians not to walk on the plants.
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An icon is included to indicate the behavior to eliminate.
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The text no longer refers to whether the park is “wild” or not.
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Maintenance
Annual maintenance budget: $ 670,000 per acre or $ 1,675,000 per hectare Next highest budget: Bryant Park $ 480,000/ acre or $ 1,200,000 /hect.
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Maintenance: New railings Gradual replacement of flexible, green knee high cable set randomly with rigid, stronger metal railings set at right angles
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Negative impacts: complex maintenance of integrated design with unique elements
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Mixed Impacts – increase in dense urban development with new infrastructure– Hudson Yards
Courtesy of Related-Oxford
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Mixed Impacts – increase in dense urban development with new infrastructure– Hudson Yards
Courtesy of Related-Oxford
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Mixed Impacts – increase in dense urban development – Hudson Yards Hudson Yards – vast new urban development. The entire proposed development is estimated to cost $ 30 billion but also generate huge revenue for NYC.
Courtesy of Related-Oxford
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Negative Impacts – increase in dense urban development
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Negative Impacts – High Line is becoming a narrow canyon
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Negative Impacts: lack of services for residents BEFORE 1. Neighborhood restaurants 2. Cobblers (shoes) 3. Laundries 4. Gas stations 5. Small shops 6. Evictions of tenants in rental buildings
AFTER 1. High priced restaurants 2. Luxury high rise apartment buildings 3. Boutiques 4. Large franchises 5. Facilities for tourists, such as hotels 52
Negative Impacts: crowding
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Negative Impacts: lack of connectivity with sustainable design
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Negative impacts: lack of restrooms and drinking fountains for seasonal use only
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Negative Impacts: the High Line risks becoming a corporate brand rather than continuing to thrive as an urban park
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Mixed Impacts: Public Art
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Positive impacts – establishment of Chelsea as an art center
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Positive impacts – expansion of traditional planting palette
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Positive impacts- provides a unique view of the urban fabric of city living
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Positive impacts – connects adjacent neighborhoods; Walk to work
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Positive impacts – revitalization of neighborhoods
Stores and new apartments
New apt. building by Jean Nouvel
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Positive impacts: expands the vocabulary of what is an urban park
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Positive impacts: benches of all types and configurations
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Positive impacts: creation of both intimate and public space within a narrow platform
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Conclusion
Will it be possible to keep most visitors fully engaged and delighted?
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Conclusion
What will these babies see on the High Line during their lifetimes? How will it evolve?
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