How Lisa Switkin and Matthew Johnson's High Line Ushered in a New Era of Landscape Design - CityLab 2/14/18,

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Making The High Line

Jan 14, 2016

Diane Cook and Len Jenshel/National Geographic Creative

Two designers behind the iconic railway-turned-park discuss how it ushered

in a new era of landscape design.

The High Line, Manhattan’s elevated railway-turned-park, now attracts six

million visitors a year. As it approaches its seventh year as one of the world’s
most identifiable public spaces, it’s come a long way for a piece of
infrastructure marked for demolition not long ago.

Designed by James Corner Field Operations and Diller Scofidio+Renfro, the

High Line’s success has ushered in a new wave of park design that either
reuse neglected trails and bridges or create new ones for the same effect.
Around the world, at least 60 different projects that are either being planned,
are under construction, or have been completed cite the High Line as an
influence, according to the two firms.

Constructed in the 1930s to bring cargo to warehouses and factories by train,

the line began a slide into irrelevance in the 1950s as trucking replaced freight
rail. In 1960, the southernmost portion of the rail line was demolished. In
1980, what remained of it hosted one last train ride as the Meatpacking
district below it transformed into a hotspot for nightlife and art galleries.

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