SEVEN DESIGN TEAMS SHORT-LISTED FOR HIGH LINE MASTER PLAN TEAM SELECTION EXPECTED IN FALL 2004
April 20, 2004Friends of the High Line (FHL) and the City of New York announced today that seven teams of architects, landscape architects, engineers, planners, and other design professionals are invited to compete to create a master plan for the High Line, an elevated rail structure on Manhattan's West Side.
Each of the seven teams is led by an architecture, landscape architecture, or planning firm, or two or more firms joined in collaborative leadership. In alphabetical order:
Field Operations (James Corner); Diller + Scofidio + Renfro
Zaha Hadid Architects; Thomas Balsley Associates
Steven Holl Architects
Latz + Partner; The Saratoga Associates
Rogers Marvel Architects; Gustafson Guthrie Nichol
OpenMeshWork.ORG: OpenOffice (Lyn Rice); Mesh Architectures (Eric Liftin); Work Architecture Company (Amale Andraos, Dan Wood)
TerraGRAM: Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates; D.I.R.T. Studio (Julie Bargmann); Beyer Blinder Belle (Neil Kittredge)
The teams were selected from 52 responses to a Request for Qualifications that was released jointly by the City of New York and FHL on March 1, 2004. The conversion of the High Line to public open space has been a shared goal of the City and FHL since December 2002, when the City filed a federal petition to convert the structure to public open space through the federal "rail-banking" program.
"We are thrilled that teams of this caliber will be considered to transform the High Line into one of the most unique and exciting public spaces in the City of New York," said City Planning Director Amanda M. Burden. "This process will form the backbone of one of the most significant aspects of the Bloomberg Administration's redevelopment plans for Manhattan's west side, enhancing the desirability of West Chelsea and the Hudson Yards to the north, as well as serving as an attraction for visitors to New York City. We are excited to be working with Friends of the High Line in this joint effort to convert the High Line into a spectacular public amenity."
Next Steps in the Selection Process: 2-Stage RFP and Team Selection
Each of the seven short-listed firms will now receive the first stage of a Request for Proposals (RFP), which asks them to further detail their proposed approach to the High Line's conversion. Based on their responses, the seven teams will be narrowed down to three finalists. Those finalists will receive the second stage of the RFP, requesting graphic representations of possible design concepts for the Line as a whole. The selection of a design team is expected by Fall 2004.
"It's important to emphasize that we're selecting a team through this process-not a final design or master plan," said Robert Hammond, Co-Founder, Friends of the High Line. "Starting this fall, the team we select will work with active participation from the community and other affected stakeholders to develop a master plan that makes the most of the amazing opportunity offered by the High Line."
Recent Funding Progress
On March 25, Congressman Jerrold Nadler included $5 million for the High Line in the House version of the Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (TEA-LU), the six-year federal transportation bill. The bill must still go through a House and Senate conference process and be signed by the President.
Earlier this year, $500,000 for the High Line was secured by Senators Schumer and Clinton and Congressman Nadler in the 2004 Transportation Bill. In July 2003, New York City Council Speaker Gifford Miller announced a $15.75 commitment in capital funds for the High Line's conversion to public open space. In Fall 2003, Assembly Member Richard Gottfried announced a $50,000 High Line allocation.
Project History
The High Line, a 1.5-mile-long elevated rail structure on Manhattan's West Side, was built in the 1930s to remove freight trains from City streets. It hasn't been used for rail freight since 1980. In December, 2002, the City petitioned the federal board with jurisdiction over the Line to convert it to an elevated pedestrian walkway and public open space.
In 2003, Friends of the High Line sponsored "Designing the High Line," an open, international ideas competition. 720 entrants from 36 countries submitted ideas, many of which were exhibited at Grand Central Terminal in July 2003.
"The team selection process for the master plan is very different from the ideas competition," said Hammond. "The competition was to generate exciting, visionary ideas, but those ideas didn't have to be build-able or make economic sense. The process we're going through now will lead to a design for the High Line that is as spectacular and unusual as the High Line itself-a design that can be built and maintained so that this great new amenity stays beautiful and compelling in the decades ahead, a retreat that New Yorkers will want to return to again and again."
For updates on the design team selection process and all other news related to the High Line, please go to http://www.thehighline.org and subscribe to FHL's E-Mail Newsletter.
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April 20, 2004Friends of the High Line (FHL) and the City of New York announced today that seven teams of architects, landscape architects, engineers, planners, and other design professionals are invited to compete to create a master plan for the High Line, an elevated rail structure on Manhattan's West Side.
Each of the seven teams is led by an architecture, landscape architecture, or planning firm, or two or more firms joined in collaborative leadership. In alphabetical order:
Field Operations (James Corner); Diller + Scofidio + Renfro
Zaha Hadid Architects; Thomas Balsley Associates
Steven Holl Architects
Latz + Partner; The Saratoga Associates
Rogers Marvel Architects; Gustafson Guthrie Nichol
OpenMeshWork.ORG: OpenOffice (Lyn Rice); Mesh Architectures (Eric Liftin); Work Architecture Company (Amale Andraos, Dan Wood)
TerraGRAM: Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates; D.I.R.T. Studio (Julie Bargmann); Beyer Blinder Belle (Neil Kittredge)
The teams were selected from 52 responses to a Request for Qualifications that was released jointly by the City of New York and FHL on March 1, 2004. The conversion of the High Line to public open space has been a shared goal of the City and FHL since December 2002, when the City filed a federal petition to convert the structure to public open space through the federal "rail-banking" program.
"We are thrilled that teams of this caliber will be considered to transform the High Line into one of the most unique and exciting public spaces in the City of New York," said City Planning Director Amanda M. Burden. "This process will form the backbone of one of the most significant aspects of the Bloomberg Administration's redevelopment plans for Manhattan's west side, enhancing the desirability of West Chelsea and the Hudson Yards to the north, as well as serving as an attraction for visitors to New York City. We are excited to be working with Friends of the High Line in this joint effort to convert the High Line into a spectacular public amenity."
Next Steps in the Selection Process: 2-Stage RFP and Team Selection
Each of the seven short-listed firms will now receive the first stage of a Request for Proposals (RFP), which asks them to further detail their proposed approach to the High Line's conversion. Based on their responses, the seven teams will be narrowed down to three finalists. Those finalists will receive the second stage of the RFP, requesting graphic representations of possible design concepts for the Line as a whole. The selection of a design team is expected by Fall 2004.
"It's important to emphasize that we're selecting a team through this process-not a final design or master plan," said Robert Hammond, Co-Founder, Friends of the High Line. "Starting this fall, the team we select will work with active participation from the community and other affected stakeholders to develop a master plan that makes the most of the amazing opportunity offered by the High Line."
Recent Funding Progress
On March 25, Congressman Jerrold Nadler included $5 million for the High Line in the House version of the Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (TEA-LU), the six-year federal transportation bill. The bill must still go through a House and Senate conference process and be signed by the President.
Earlier this year, $500,000 for the High Line was secured by Senators Schumer and Clinton and Congressman Nadler in the 2004 Transportation Bill. In July 2003, New York City Council Speaker Gifford Miller announced a $15.75 commitment in capital funds for the High Line's conversion to public open space. In Fall 2003, Assembly Member Richard Gottfried announced a $50,000 High Line allocation.
Project History
The High Line, a 1.5-mile-long elevated rail structure on Manhattan's West Side, was built in the 1930s to remove freight trains from City streets. It hasn't been used for rail freight since 1980. In December, 2002, the City petitioned the federal board with jurisdiction over the Line to convert it to an elevated pedestrian walkway and public open space.
In 2003, Friends of the High Line sponsored "Designing the High Line," an open, international ideas competition. 720 entrants from 36 countries submitted ideas, many of which were exhibited at Grand Central Terminal in July 2003.
"The team selection process for the master plan is very different from the ideas competition," said Hammond. "The competition was to generate exciting, visionary ideas, but those ideas didn't have to be build-able or make economic sense. The process we're going through now will lead to a design for the High Line that is as spectacular and unusual as the High Line itself-a design that can be built and maintained so that this great new amenity stays beautiful and compelling in the decades ahead, a retreat that New Yorkers will want to return to again and again."
For updates on the design team selection process and all other news related to the High Line, please go to http://www.thehighline.org and subscribe to FHL's E-Mail Newsletter.
- selma 4-21-2004 5:31 pm