Strata for Grass & Shrubs … What the Hell !!!

We build in the air for people don’t we …and everything else can live on  (or under) the ground.

Well, that’s increasingly wrong as we think vertical for more and more things as space on the ground disappears.

New York is pretty full but now there’s one more park up in the air.

The High Line is a novel park in Manhattan’s West Side built on an elevated railway that was in use until 1980.  After sitting in disrepair for almost 20 years it was scheduled removal.

Local residents banded together in 1999 and proposed that the elevated railway be turned into a park, construction began in 2006 and the first section of the park opened in June of 2009.

It’s a great example of reclaiming unused urban property and turning it into something that benefits a community.  Work is continuing and when the High Line is completed in 2011, it will span nearly 1.5 miles in length and feature many plants native to the New York City region.

You can see more images of the High Line here and this video  (narrated by Ethan Hawke) gives a great overview.

And, it’s also inspired at least one other project.  In San Francisco, an architecture group has proposed that the soon-to-be-replaced eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge is converted into a mixed use development called Bay-Line.

So, why not get more and more things off the ground and into the sky ???

And, maybe when we have no cars we can use all those freeways, bridges and tunnels for something more people, animal and plant friendly.

Francesco …