a+t architecture publishers

The High Line is a 1.2-mile long abandoned elevated freight rail line along the west side of  lower Manhattan. This 5.9 acre stretch of open space spans 20 city blocks in between and through buildings from Gansevoort Street, through the meat  packing district and West Chelsea, up to 30th Street, ending at the Hudson Rail Yards. The High Line was built in the 1930s as part of the larger West Side Improvement Project, funded by the City and State of New York and the New York Central Railroad, to eliminate dangerous street-level railroad crossings. The existing substrate consists primarily of rock ballast, railroad ties, steel rails and reinforced concrete. Over the past 24 years since the last train ran on the High Line in 1980, a thin layer of soil has formed in some areas and an opportunistic landscape of early successional species has begun to grow.

Pages from the project published in the book The Public Chance: