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Mid-1980s• A group of property owners lobbies for

demolition of the entire High Line.• Peter Obletz, a Chelsea resident, activist, and

railroad enthusiast, challenges demolition efforts in court and tries re-establishing rail service.

Picture & Source: http://www.thehighline.org/about/high-line-history

History

Peter Obletz

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/13/nyregion/thecity/13oble.html?_r=0&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1350756608-Ci19l3z4ZX+kx06sM2IYhQ

History

1999• Friends of the High Line is founded by

Joshua David and Robert Hammond to advocate for the High Line's preservation and reuse as public open space.

Picture & Source: http://www.thehighline.org/about/high-line-history

History

2001 – 2002• Architect Casey Jones conducts research and

outreach for "Reclaiming the High Line," a planning study which lays out planning framework for the High Line's preservation and reuse.

Source: http://www.thehighline.org/about/high-line-history

Picture Source: http://www.designtrust.org/pubs/01_Reclaiming_High_Line.pdf

The High Line!

2002-2003The City files with the federal Surface

Transportation Board for railbanking, making it City policy to preserve and reuse the High Line.

An open ideas competition, "Designing the High Line," solicits proposals for the High Line's reuse. 720 teams from 36 countries enter.

Source: http://www.thehighline.org/about/high-line-history

March – September 2004 Friends of the High Line and the City of New York

conduct a process to select a design team for the High Line. The selected team is: James Corner Field Operations, a landscape architecture

firm, and Diller Scofidio + Renfro, an architecture firm

April 2006 Construction begins on the Highline

June 2008 All construction is finished, all parts of the

Highline are opened to the public; artwork, wooden boardwalks, etc. are included

Source: http://www.thehighline.org/about/high-line-history

Before (1980s)

Source: http://www.designtrust.org/pubs/01_Reclaiming_High_Line.pdf

After (2000)

Source: http://www.designtrust.org/pubs/01_Reclaiming_High_Line.pdf

Features: Nature

Source: http://www.designtrust.org/pubs/01_Reclaiming_High_Line.pdf

•After abandonment, wild grasses and flowers grew over the tracks,

forming a natural meadow in the neighborhood.

•According to Joshua David, author of Reclaiming the High Line, this

greenery:Provides a refuge in nature for busy New Yorkers

Serves as a botanical garden, and the Horticultural Society of NY has

expressed interest in it

Can serve as a refuge for birds and butterflies

Source: http://www.designtrust.org/pubs/01_Reclaiming_High_Line.pdf

Features: Arts and Open Space

Spaces atop and below the structure can: • Serve as exhibition space for art.• Serve as performance spaces for dance.• Create a place for local markets (though not

big malls)

Artworks

Pictures starting clockwise: Thomas

Houseago, Lying Figure; Various Artists, Lilliput;

Virginia Overton, Untitled

Source: http://thehighline.org/about/public-art

Sources

• Slides 2, 4, 5, 7, 8: http://www.thehighline.org/about/high-line-histo

• Slides 2, 3: Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/13/nyregion/thecity/13oble.html?_r=0&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1350756608-Ci19l3z4ZX+kx06sM2IYhQ

• Slides 6, 9, 10, 11, 12: http://www.designtrust.org/pubs/01_Reclaiming_High_Line.pdf

• Slide 13: http://thehighline.org/about/public-art