How two New Yorkers led the transformation of a derelict elevated railway into a grand--and beloved--open space
The High Line, a new park atop an ele-vated rail structure on Manhattan's West Side, is among the most innovative urban reclamation projects in memory. The story of how it came to be is a remarkable one: two young citizens with no prior experience in planning and development collaborated with their neighbors, elected officials, artists, local business owners, and leaders of burgeoning movements in horticulture and landscape architecture to create a park celebrated worldwide as a model for creatively designed, socially vibrant, ecologically sound public space.
Joshua David and Robert Hammond met in 1999 at a community board meeting to consider the fate of the High Line. Built in the 1930s, it carried freight trains to the West Side when the area was defined by factories and warehouses. But when trains were replaced by truck transport, the High Line became obsolete. By century's end it was a rusty, forbidding ruin. Plants grew between the tracks, giving it a wild and striking beauty.
David and Hammond loved the ruin and saw in it an opportunity to create a new way to experience their city. Over ten years, they did so. In this candid and inspiring book-- lavishly illustrated--they tell how they relied on skill, luck, and good timing: a crucial court ruling, an inspiring design contest, the enthusiasm of Mayor Bloomberg, the concern for urban planning issues following 9/11. Now the High Line--a half-mile expanse of plants, paths, staircases, and framed vistas--runs through a transformed West Side and reminds us that extraordinary things are possible when creative people work together for the common good.
 Trade In this Item for up to £1.05
Trade in High Line: The Inside Story of New York City's Park in the Sky for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £1.05, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Learn more
|
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"This lushly illustrated volume showcases the range of imaginative designs [Joshua David and Robert Hammond] explored and, in some cases, rejected. In recounting their decade-long experiment, they provide an inspiring primer for grass-roots urban planning." --Sam Roberts, "The New York Times"
"This account by the founders of the nonprofit responsible for the groundbreaking reclamation project chronicles the struggles and successes that led to the realization of what was deemed a far-fetched dream--and resulted in a new Manhattan landmark." --"Travel + Leisure"
"A fascinating first-person tale." --"The New York Observer"
"The High Line is not only a great work of design--surely the most important addition to the public realm of New York in this century; it is also a great saga. In this book Robert Hammond and Joshua David, who led the grass-roots movement to rescue the High Line from demolition, tell with energy, passion, and refreshing candor the story of how this industrial artifact became, against all odds, a magnificent park." --Paul Goldberger
"This book is the record of a bright and in fact heroic part of New York City's history. The story of the struggle, against very long odds, by two young men to create the High Line is a story of perseverance, determination and courage, and the photographs which accompany it show the brilliance of their achievement." --Robert A. Caro
"This is a fundamentally uplifting story of two young men with a dream who scythed through red tape and skepticism, summoning a village to help reimagine what a park could be in the twenty-first century. Thanks to their vision, and to the dedication, enthusiasm, and brilliance of their collaborators, a walk in the park has been transformed into an exhilarating urban experience that helps all of us to see our extraordinary city with new eyes." --Anna Wintour
"If God is in the details, then few projects can be more divine than the High Line. Christo, the man who wraps bridges
About the Author
Joshua David and Robert Hammond cofounded Friends of the High Line in 1999. David has written for "Gourmet," "Fortune," "Travel + Leisure," "Wallpaper," and other magazines. Hammond was awarded a Rome Prize by the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2009. In 2010 they were awarded the Jane Jacobs Medal for their work on the High Line.
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
This lack of expertise in these areas was the key to the High Line's phenomenal success as it forced them to bring in other people to help them, and bring the dream into reality.
The book gives a potted Time Line from 1847 to 1999 (when Messrs David and Hammond started their quest), charting the history of street level and elevated train tracks in NYC. The authors then give a detailed but highly interesting account of the struggle to overcome all of the many obstacles, frustrations and challenges to a successful conclusion. They freely admit that they had an enormous amount of help from many people and organisations without which there would probably be no High Line today, but it is also self-evident that they were the most important reason for the projects triumphant outcome. The latter part of the book is taken over with many great photographs showing the before, during conversion works, and after of this unique green city leisure space.
In a short time, if not already, the most famous attractions in NYC will be Central Park, Times Square, Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge, Ground Zero Memorial, The Empire State Building and The High Line. This elevated parkway is truly a marvel of urban regeneration which serves as an object lesson to City Politicians and Planners worldwide.
Henry David Thoreau, the renowned natural and environmental historian, was perhaps prescient of the creation of The High Line Parkway when he wrote "If you have castles in the air, your work need not be lost: that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them." Joshua David and Robert Hammond and their friends did just that.
It will be my first stop when I get to NY
This book is about the struggle to save the structure and then to develop the park (it is not a detailed guide to the park and the plants etc), and has some really good photos from all eras of the structure in use as a railway through to the current day.
If you want a tourist guide then don't buy this book, it won't be what you want. If you are interested in the background and development of the park, the politics and the human stories behind it then it is a 'must'.
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Art, Architecture & Photography > Architecture > Planning
- Books > Art, Architecture & Photography > Architecture > Techniques & Tools > Drafting
- Books > Art, Architecture & Photography > Architecture > Techniques & Tools > Structure & Design
- Books > Art, Architecture & Photography > Architecture > Types of Architecture > Landscape
- Books > History > Cultural History > Local & Urban History
- Books > Home & Garden > Gardening > Landscape Gardening
- Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Social Sciences > Urban & Rural Planning
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
