Lowline: Literally ‘Low’ line in NYC
The innovative copy-cat of the Highline will be opened in Lower East Side, NYC.
After the success of the Highline in NYC, regenerating old infrastructures to green public spaces has become a kind of trend in world-leading cities [1]. Now, NYC is preparing another innovative urban project utilizing abandoned underground space at the lower east side, ‘Lowline’.
The project is for regenerating the Williamsburg bridge trolley terminal, which had been not used since 1948, to a one-acre underground park [2]. The main issue of the project was how can bring natural sunlight into the underground park. To solve this problem, the project team designed a sunlight collector and distributor with state-of-art technologies. In 2012, the project team hosted an exhibition, “Imagining the Lowline”, with the real scale of a prototype in a warehouse of Lower East Side [2].
The regeneration of underground spaces utilizing high-tech technologies can bring more tourists than the Highline. Utilizing the underground place can be a solution for cities lacking green spaces. Also, improving unpleasant underground places can bring social and economic benefits to cities. However, as the green space for New York citizen, I think the success of the project depends on how well it connects with the pedestrian networks of ‘underground’ and ‘ground’ levels.
References
[1] Quirk, V., (2012 July 16). The 4 Coolest “High Line” Inspired Projects, Archidaily, retrieved on September. 14, 2019, from https://www.archdaily.com/254447/the-4-coolest-high-line-inspired-projects
[2] The Lowline. Retrieved on September. 14, 2019, from http://thelowline.org/about/project/
