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In a city with such stringent limitations on space emerges a slew of outstanding ideas and innovations. With the ecological parameters we are facing with sustainability, designers need to be more creative than ever. Everyone is stepping up their game, creating landscapes filled with ingenuity, beauty, and sense of place. The High Line in New York is just one of the great examples of designing with immense limitations. If you thought Manhattan's west side was already too full, think again. Landscape architects Field Operations with architects Diller Scofidio+Renfro have created a new park in this densely populated area 30 ft in the air! By using a railway built in the 1930's that ran 22 blocks above ground, the architects of the High Line created a new public green space while keeping historic roots of the city. Along with the benefits of a new green space comes a boom of economic growth for this area. The 1.5 mile above ground park will become the "Central Park" of the 21st century, with High Line branded restaurants, hotels, and retail sure to crop up around it (Sternbergh, 2007).
Winnipeg, also a place with rich historical roots in our railways should draw upon this example as inspiration to transform our down trodden railways into new public spaces be they parks or whatever. Using the land we already have is a practice that Winnipeg has failed to touch upon (note the increasing sprawl outside our city boundaries). Because we don't have such challenging limitations on space such as a city like New York, there is a tendency to become lazy. But that only means we need to be self motivated and take initiative to be aware of our land usage.
The guidelines and parameters we must meet to get our designs to the proper "green code" shouldn't be seen as a hinderance, but instead as an opportunity for designers to push their creativity to the furthest limits.
1 comment:
Wow! This is an excellent example of merging the urban, human system with natural systems and environments. I especially appreciate the use of a historic site in New York to tie a past environment with a future one. Converting a past railway environment to a park seems unusual, but it really works here. I agree with you Judith, the many historic sites in Winnipeg create a lot of opportunity to create new park-like urban spaces. The High Line is an example of thinking forward by creating an environment where the lines between urban and natural are less defined, and have begun to merge into one another. -Katie
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