Greenery Gets Glamorous: The High Line and The Gates dress up New York City
Jennifer Luong
The Gates, Project for Central Park, New York. Collage in two parts: Christo 2002; Photo: Wolfgang Volz
"Imagine a mile-and-a-half of surreal gardens in the sky, a linear stroll where time slows down and the spectacle of nature in the city is heightened to new levels of surprise and pleasure. And the High Line raises a host of extraordinary opportunities for new synthesis of ecology, art, urbanism, and urban culture." —Field Operations Design Principal, The Highline, James Corner
"For those who will walk through The Gates, following the walkways and staying away from the grass, The Gates will be a golden ceiling creating warm shadows. When seen from the buildings surrounding Central Park, The Gates will seem like a golden river appearing and disappearing through the bare branches of the trees and will highlight the shape of the footpaths." —Christo
Call it a makeover story for Manhattan, where two very different open spaces are about to get completely transformed by bold feats of "nature-meets-man-meets-nature." The two projects, High Line and The Gates, are both artificial, man-made landscapes dependent on the natural spaces they inhabit to make an impact. They symbolize movement yet at the same time provide a sense of place within the ever-bustling city. They are both high-profile projects that almost didn’t happen, with famous designers, money, and devoted followers attached. Still, they couldn’t be any more different in the way they look and have developed. The Gates is soon to take center stage in the crown-jewel of open spaces – Central Park; meanwhile, the High Line sits as an abandoned rail line hidden in the industrial, meat-packing district of the city. The Gates celebrates the restoration of its site; in contrast, the High Line transforms its site into an entirely new use.
Nature-meets-man. 1980 was a turning point for both The Gates and High Line. Large-scale public artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude had applied to the Department of Parks and Recreation for a permit to erect The Gates in Central Park, where up to 15,000 gates would take over 25 miles of footpaths, requiring 4 months of installation and 2 months of take down and repair for the 2-week project. All this happened just as the largest restoration efforts in the park’s history were underway to rehabilitate the much-abused and overused grounds. Consequently, the main reasons why the permit for The Gates was rejected was because it would have been a major distraction in the efforts to restore Central Park and sent the wrong message to park users.
1980 was also the year trains finally stopped running on High Line after a half-century of use. Built during the Great Depression, the High Line consisted of 13 miles of elevated track along Manhattan’s industrial west side. Parts were torn down in the 1960’s as trucks began replacing trains to transport goods, and trains stopped running altogether in 1980. Then, the tracks just sat there, slowly taken over by the elements and wild plant life. No one knew exactly what to do with the tracks, and as late as 2001, developers and the Giuliani administration were ready to tear down what remained.
Man-meets-nature. Fast forward a quarter-century later, where both projects this time around are back in action. With Central Park declared "gloriously restored" and its permit policies firmly established, a new permit application for The Gates was approved in late 2003 and the project will go up in mid-February 2005. The number of gates has been cut in half and requires just 3 months of set-up and takedown time. Saffron-colored fabric panels will freely hang from each gate, totaling over 1 million square feet of fabric blowing in the winter winds. Looking from above, the park will be transformed into a seeming virtual army of bright orange ants marching through an otherwise barren-looking park. For passersby on the park grounds, experiencing the overwhelming presence of thousands of man-made gates suddenly planted in Central Park will be unavoidable. Park-goers will have to navigate the park’s organic flow against the gates’ rigid vertical geometry; view artificially bright color in stark contrast to the muted earth; touch synthetic materials juxtaposed against the natural elements. And then the gates will disappear and the park will return to its original state. Although its short 16-day stay belies all the years and effort it has taken to finally see it realized, The Gates will assuredly make a lasting statement on how public art can invigorate a city simply by its oddly creative — and provocative – use of open space.
The High Line has also been revived with the help of the Friends of the High Line, a non-profit organization formed in 1999 to stop its demolition. The project is part of a new urban preservation trend that converts industrial spaces into open ones, such as through the government-supported "rails to trails" program. After an international "ideas" competition generating 720 entries, the team of Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro was ultimately selected to create the master plan for High Line’s reuse. "We’re excited about re-tooling this distinctive piece of industrial infrastructure for post industrial use," said Elizabeth Diller, Architect and Principal of Diller Scofidio + Renfro. "We foresee a new paradigm from the intersection of visual culture, civic responsibility, and public policy in which dualisms such as nature/artifice will be dissolved." (previously quoted). Their design celebrates the strangely beautiful juxtaposition of nature and urban infrastructure, in what they call "agri-tecture," by sprinkling a mixture of walkways and green spaces along the tracks. The elevated park-like space will provide a unique experience for its users as they glide over the busy streets below, walking through trees and vegetation above. Yet, unlike The Gates, which will not physically disturb any of Central Park’s landscaping, the High Line will permanently alter the untamed vegetation that currently exists. The success of the project will therefore depend on how well it can form open spaces without completely stripping the site of its original source of inspiration and spirit.
Not just a site, nature, therefore, becomes both the backdrop and centerpiece. After 25 years of waiting, The Gates and High Line will finally be realized, with many thanks going to politics, timing, and well-placed friends. The Gates is a highly anticipated event, while supporting the High Line continues to be a darling among the city’s social circles. Both The Gates and the High Line use artificial creations to transform and comment on the nature surrounding them. A public park is taken over by bright orange gates; an industrial remnant provides a floating platform of greenery.
