High Line in New York – An Unusual Park in the Centre of Manhattan

Abstract

An unusual park – the High Line aerial garden – is an excellent example of restoring a deserted place to life which attracts everybody who wants to find an oasis of peace in the midst of a busy city. In the 1990s, the city authorities had the idea of demolishing a railway viaduct which had been part of the heritage of NY industrial history, and forgetting about it as soon as possible. Luckily, this did not happen. The High Line history dates back to 1847 when a railway line was constructed across the city centre so that a free flow of goods became possible. Unfortunately, the line went along streets, which resulted in a large number of fatalities. Therefore, in 1929 the decision was made to construct a viaduct which took the railway line above the streets, and sometimes even went directly through factories and warehouses. The lush vegetation, footpaths with remainders of railway tracks, streams, drinking fountains, mobile deckchairs and benches located at a height of almost 10 m above the ground, were an idea of a group of enthusiasts (Friends of the High Line), who in 1999 prevented the former railway viaduct from being demolished. Reconstruction of the viaduct started in 2006, the first part had already opened in 2009, and the second in 2011. The revitalisation of the railway route initiated by Robert Hammond (the founder of Friends of the High Line) brought about unexpected results. The plan of Fields Operations, specialising in landscaping, and the team of architects Diller Scofidio+Renfro, which envisaged the construction of a park preserving the original nature of the viaduct, hit the bull’s eye. The High Line is a park created on the route of a railway line crossing 22 New York blocks along the west side of Manhattan. At present it is one of the most popular leisure sites for New Yorkers and a tourist attraction visited by 5 million tourists a year.