The High Line is a public park built on an historic freight rail line elevated above the streets on Manhattan’s West Side. It is owned by the City of New York, and maintained and operated by Friends of the High Line. Founded in 1999 by community residents, Friends of the High Line fought for the High Line’s preservation and transformation at a time when the historic structure was under the threat of demolition. It is now the non-profit conservancy working with the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation to make sure the High Line is maintained as an extraordinary public space for all visitors to enjoy.

There are many reasons to praise the High Line, i will share 5 reasons from my point of view.

1) Common Space – One of the priority of Urban Design is Common Space, places that the public shares, anyone could just come and share the space for various purpose and activities. Places that are meant to be leisure and a common node for anyone to meet up, places that often be a park, such as central parks in many areas, or as well as KLCC Park at the bottom of Petronas Twin Towers. These spaces is crucial as more spaces in the cities are taken for economic purpose for the benefit of a certain party or individual. What we see here is encouraging.

2) Urban Greenery - The idea of linear park is deeply encouraging, especially in a concrete city like New York. What’s interesting is that such “floating” Linear park gives people an additional interest to explore it. It offers people a different view of the city landscape like never before. Furthermore, we see that there is a need for people to get out of the office and enjoy a fresh breath of air. Also, it is above the traffic congestion! That gives people a better reason to escape from the daily scene of urban congestion and traffic noise. Green landscapes certainly means a lot in an urban context, in most understanding, common spaces like parks are often seen as romantic spaces!

3) Respecting the Past - I always believe that in Urban Redesigning, when we want to improve a city or a house or a structure, we should respect the past, respect the investments being done and also the memories laid with it. High Line has done well in this. In the 30 years time to come, grandparents can share to their grandchildren that this is the train they used to take during the late 19th century or something like this. It’s also a good act of Reusing infrastructure and there is many reasons again behind environmental reasons and carbon offset calculations etc. Structures or Building certainly embeds certain memories that make people appreciate it.

4) Uniting Community – Another reason is that High Line has been successfully in uniting communities together. High line is taken care by Friends of High Line. If you follow their website HERE, you will find the community has been united through a common responsibility in improving public spaces. High Line is a linear park that certainly needs funds to run it’s maintenance for its landscape. Friends of the High Line has been gathering to do gardening or upkeep task. It’s a way to interact people, or to share hobbies or common points of life.

5) Different Sections, Different Perspectives - It is know that High Line has different sections that has different landscapes and also built environment. It was assured that the high line is not boring of a linear park with constant same design, It gives people a noted memorable landscape node. Following is an illustration on the different prototypes of the sitting and activities related amenities. Personally i really love the Peel Up typology! It’s interesting enough to gain attraction!

And yes i am so inspired that High line and Friends of the High Line has their own website here to connect communities to each other and raise the many awareness of the presence of this High Line. Read HERE.

There are certainly too much for me to digest about New York’s highline over night, It has many recognition, user experience and also user experience i would like to share. Recently, the High line was awarded by Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize. Read the press Release at HERE.

“Chairman of the Prize Nominating Committee, Kishore Mahbubani said: “The City of New York is an inspiring story of urban rejuvenation. With bold vision, strong leadership, sheer determination, and excellent partnership between government and citizens, there is now a new sense of direction in the city. It has regained its perch as one of the most exciting cities in the world.” Please seeAnnex A for the jury citation on the City of New York.”

Also another thing to look forward at will be the next development phase of the similar abandoned rail lines. The “Low Line” is going to be proposed as an underground park instead. Read it more HERE .

“That technology was conceived by the LowLine’s founders, Dan Barasch and James Ramsey, and would use fiber optic cables to fill the subterranean space with natural light and living plants. The proposed site is an unused and long neglected 13-acre former subway stop on Delancey Street, built in 1903 in New York’s Lower East Side. While they imagine the park serving the local community it is found in, they also imagine this park becoming a model for the reappropriation of other, long-forgotten gems found in cities all over the world. It’s the kind of space that childhood daydreams are made of”

As for my personal opinion, i doubt an underground park could really mean a lot to the public. Park has always been associated with wide span of sighting availability and also vast ventilation and sunlight. As much as Ramsey could bring in vast amount of lights into the underground park. But we certainly lack of good air quality and also personal sight freedom here. But to revive the area, it certainly added a point to common space, in which many urban areas would need it.

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5 Reasons why you should cycle during University Life. 5 Reasons why you should Volunteer. Why the Answer to Urban Design is about Location, Location and Location, Not Density?

PERMACULTURE is an approach to design human settlements and agricultural systems together into one. It also means Permanent Agriculture, that aims to create a stable, productive systems that provide for human needs, a system of design where cradle to cradle is practiced, where each element supports and feeds other elements, ultimately aiming at systems that are virtually self sustaining.

I don’t think it’s a concept hard to be understood. It’s something same long ago when human settlements are not defined by walls and blocks but we live in natural environments like caves and we will see how our human waste help the plants to grow, and how the harvested plants provide our food. This is what we say

Sustainability is not a linear process, but a never ending cycle process that ensures every needs is provided by itself.

You could read more about How Permaculture came about from Wiki.  Mollison, the developer of the term,  has described permaculture as “a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted and thoughtful observation rather than protracted and thoughtless labor; and of looking at plants and animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single project system.“^[

In many context, this term seems to draw a common line with agroforestry, green architecture, sustainable development.. In PermaCulture, 3 core values are introduced.

• Care of People
• Care of The Earth
• Setting Limits to Consumption and Population

And also Permaculture has its own design tool. 

1. Observe and interact: By taking time to engage with nature we can design solutions that suit our particular situation.
2. Catch and store energy: By developing systems that collect resources at peak abundance, we can use them in times of need.
3. Obtain a yield: Ensure that you are getting truly useful rewards as part of the work that you are doing.
4. Apply self-regulation and accept feedback: We need to discourage inappropriate activity to ensure that systems can continue to function well.
5. Use and value renewable resources and services: Make the best use of nature's abundance to reduce our consumptive behavior and dependence on non-renewable resources.
6. Produce no waste: By valuing and making use of all the resources that are available to us, nothing goes to waste.
7. Design from patterns to details: By stepping back, we can observe patterns in nature and society. These can form the backbone of our designs, with the details filled in as we go.
8. Integrate rather than segregate: By putting the right things in the right place, relationships develop between those things and they work together to support each other.
9. Use small and slow solutions: Small and slow systems are easier to maintain than big ones, making better use of local resources and producing more sustainable outcomes.
10. Use and value diversity: Diversity reduces vulnerability to a variety of threats and takes advantage of the unique nature of the environment in which it resides.
11. Use edges and value the marginal: The interface between things is where the most interesting events take place. These are often the most valuable, diverse and productive elements in the system.
12. Creatively use and respond to change: We can have a positive impact on inevitable change by carefully observing, and then intervening at the right time.^[8]

Zones are a way of organizing design elements in a human environment on the basis of the frequency of human use and plant or animal needs. Frequently manipulated or harvested elements of the design are located close to the house in zones 1 and 2. Less frequently used or manipulated elements, and elements that benefit from isolation (such as wild species) are farther away. Zones is about positioning things appropriately. Zones are numbered from 0 to 5.

Zone 0

The house, or home center. Here permaculture principles would be applied in terms of aiming to reduce energy and water needs, harnessing natural resources such as sunlight, and generally creating a harmonious, sustainable environment in which to live and work. Zone 0 is an informal designation, which is not specifically defined in Mollison’s book.

Zone 1

The zone nearest to the house, the location for those elements in the system that require frequent attention, or that need to be visited often, such as salad crops, herb plants, soft fruit like strawberries or raspberries, greenhouse and cold frames, propagation area, worm compost bin for kitchen waste, and so on. Raised beds are often used in zone 1 in urban areas.

Zone 2

This area is used for siting perennial plants that require less frequent maintenance, such as occasional weed control or pruning, including currant bushes and orchards. This would also be a good place for beehives, larger scale composting bins, and so on.

Zone 3

The area where maincrops are grown, both for domestic use and for trade purposes. After establishment, care and maintenance required are fairly minimal (provided mulches and similar things are used), such as watering or weed control maybe once a week.

Zone 4

A semi-wild area. This zone is mainly used for forage and collecting wild food as well as timber production.

Zone 5

A wild area. There is no human intervention in zone 5 apart from the observation of natural ecosystems and cycles.

So what we are looking here is pretty similar to a deeper understanding of KenYeang’s Green Approach i suppose, PermaCulture suggested a deeper understanding and considering social and local environment context too if ensuring a sustainable circle is practiced. 

So Green Design? Green Architecture? Perhaps PermaCulture.

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Often as architecture students we really only know about Plants is about having a green sight and improvising the overall building green space to achieve the certain living balancing theme. But it offers much more in terms of spatial distribution, sight and freedom of space concepts.

1, TREES (Basic planting): The species selected for this group should be hardy, able to hold their own among other species, vigorous in growth, and with no difficult problems of visual relationship with other plants and elements of the landscape. Designers who respect ecological indigenous to the locality and exotics which have become established as part of the local sense.

2. TREES (Special effect) Trees in this section would include those sufficiently individualistic, spectacular, or strong in character to occupy isolated positions, either because of those qualities or because they do not mix easily in a visual sense with other tree. The group would also include trees which can act as accents in a basic planting. Sometimes it is the rigid form of a tree like blue spruce which dictates that it can only associate with other trees in a formal landscape, and sometimes it is the temporary nature of the effect, as with the so called “flowering Trees” and those with good Autumn colour.

3. TREES (Barriers) Barriers formed with plants are needed in landscapes for screening unpleasant views, for dividing up the landscape into spaces, for providing shelter from the wind, for protection against smoke and dust, for defining legal boundaries, and ,as with all planting, for assisting in the creation of a beautiful landscape. In order to achieve these objectives, one looks for qualities of impenetrability through the medium of dense leaf or tangled twig growth, and for the ability to stand up to the forces ranged against the barrier . The emphasis in plant selection is likely to be on those qualities rather than appearance.

4. SHRUBS (Basic Planting) Using this as a basic constituent of the planting, compared to their traditional use as an interest or decoration. Shrubs can be effectively used as a massing landscape with a soft touch at times, because shrubs used in the mass are sometimes used as the under storey of a plantation of trees and sometimes used to perform the same tasks at a smaller scale in the open as tress used for basic planting.  The same qualities of hardiness growth are appropriate as for trees fulfilling the same function, with a greater emphasis on evergreen plants.

5. SHRUBS (Special Effects) The same thing as trees, but at the same time noting the need for shrubs which can produce special effect when more amount is being put together rather than a single tree.

6) SHRUBS (Barriers) Impenetrability is essential, unless the barrier is merely for visual purpose. Thus spikiness achieved by the habit of the twigs or by thorns is advantage. A matter to consider is the ability of the plant to accept pruning, either to control growth and increase density or to produce topiary effects.

7) SHRUBS (edgings) The use of Shrubs for edgings to footpaths, to outline in beds of other kinds of plants, and to create line effects in traditional parterres is not a frequent occurrence in contemporary landscapes, not least because of the maintenance problem. The limitations on the selection of suitable plants are that they should be low in growth, dense and compat.

8) GROUNDFLORA (Woodland Groundcover) The ability to accept shade and drip from trees and  drip from trees and shrubs, and stand up to competition in the soil for nutrients and moisture, are essential qualities in the choice of plants which may include low growing shrubs, herbs and ferns,.

9) GROUNDFLORA (Open Land Groundcover) Grass mixtures fall into this category. The selection of species relates to the appearance of unmown areas. A wide range plants available to create visual interest at ground level. Vigour in growth to cover the ground quickly, dense twigs, and foliage, a spreading habit and ability to increase by suckering are important qualities. With regard to appearance, colour and particularly a textural effect created by the leaves are desirable.

10) GROUNDFLORA (Herbaceous/Perennial) The perennial herbs used in the traditional herbaceous border are familiar examples. They can be used as beds viewed from all sides and some species naturalize in rough grass areas. Colour and height are qualities that should be considered in making a list which gives ample scope for design purposes.

11. GROUNDFLORA (Herbaceous/annual) the use of annuals has diminished with the high cost of labour and to a certain extent from changing fashion. For exhibition or temporary plantings, annuals are effective and economical. This section could include bedding out plants which also have the characteristic of being temporary in a planting design.

12. CLIMBERS : these plants include those used primarily for covering a wall. But note the decorative effect comes in play with you able to change the facade of the wall at seasons goes by. Fruit trees can be trained against a wall for decorative effect to produce fruit in a sheltered environment.

13. AQUATICS AND SUB AQUATICS: Aquatic plants, for design purpose, are divided into species fully submerged, those with floating leaves and flowers, and the swordlike reeds, rushes, and irises. The latter group also include the sub aquatics growing in wet conditions. Plants which contribute to oxygenation of the water are valueble in this section.

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Vertical Farming – The Future Architecture Landscape. By When? Permaculture will Save the World, Some call it the Green Architecture. Green Architecture is UnderRated – A Case Study on Solaris by TR Hamzah and Ken Yeang