http://www.dillerscofidio.com/
Diller Scofidio + Renfo won a competition for the renovation of the High line in NYC several years ago. The project is underway and has overcome many obstacles in the process. What is neat and exciting (sustainable too) about this project is foremost the High line is an artifact of the city and will not get simply torn down, scrapped, or trashed. The High line was rendered useless for many years after the meat packing district lost its footing as a supply and transportation center. The renovation of this piece of New York’s history into a modern marvel and park – is fascinating and of epic proportion. Additionally, in this district of NYC, in midst of conversations with passersby to my surprise no one had even the foggiest notion of what it is, was, or going to be. Even folks who worked two blocks away from the elevated steel rail line in the middle of the city had no recollection. In any case, check out the site of Diller Scofidio and the surrounding area (new buildings, art shows, ect) It is a really neat concept, rich in history and is very progressive architecturally.
Filed under: Architecture & Design, Transportation
Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio, the husband-and-wife team who are two of the partners at Diller Scofidio + Renfro, have been named on the 2009 Time 100 list in the Artists and Entertainers category. The item, written by Rockwell Group founder and CEO David Rockwell, praises the couple’s work on New York City’s High Line, for which Diller, 54, and Scofidio, 74, invented a paving system that turns the former elevated train tracks into a public park. The architects also redesigned Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall.
The Highline is an interesting example of a way to re-use old unneeded infrastructure. By transforming something that was no longer needed for its intended purpose all that material is being saved from landfills or deterioration in place, while more vegetation is being added into the city which can help to combat the urban heat island effect. It seems like this is something that could be done in many places where old infrastructure has been abandoned….and not only in cities.