The first segment of the reincarnated High Line, the elevated rail line that runs up the West Side of Manhattan between 10th and 11th Avenues, was opened this week as a promenade from Gansevoort to 20th Streets. 

 

Eager pedestrians (many were heard exclaiming as they emerged onto the structure from the street below) were treated to new perspectives on Chelsea streets, with a bird's eye view of diverse architecture in the vicinity and distance, including everything from tenements and warehouses to the Frank Gehry building sailing on land near the Hudson.  The design team, led by James Corner Field Operations, includes Diller Scofidio + Renfrow, whose signature open air theatre borrows from their Museum of Contemporary Art design, which features a lenslike protrusion framing Boston Harbor.  For the High Line, however, the "center stage" is the street below.  Planting specialist Piet Oudulf recreates the feel of the High Line when the abandoned railbed was reclaimed by nature, before its latest reclamation.

 

The High Line is an exciting addition to New York City and an inspiration to adaptive reuse projects everywhere.  Don't take our word for it though; see what The New York Times architectural critic Nicolai Ouroussoff  and Bloomberg's architectural critic James Russell have to say, as well as our Jersey City blogger and Pro Arts Founder Charles Kessler.

 

Hop over to New York (Gansevoort Street at Washington stairs; elevator at 16th) to see for yourself; in the meantime, here are slides.

Village Tour Takes in Embankment