Back in February it was revealed that HFZ Capital Group was in talks to bring a “monumental” new structure to a lot at 76 11th Avenue in the Meatpacking District. And between shortlisted architects Rem Koolhaas and Bjarke Ingels, in April the developer decided to move forward with starchitect-of-the-moment Ingels for the high-profile project. Now Yimby has our first look at the design that may rise along the coveted High Line site. — 6sqft.com

Whenever one of the millions of buildings under construction flanking the High Line hit a certain height, the developer is required to put up a shed over the park [...] except, it seems, when it's for a building by [...] Zaha Hadid. Then it's not just a shed protecting passersby, it's a 112-foot long sculptural installation—in this case entitled Allongé—designed by Hadid to give a sneak preview of the swooping forms of her building, which has just hit High Line level [...]. — ny.curbed.com

The New York-based World Monuments Fund announced [...] that Joshua David, the co-founder of New York’s High Line—a major urban regeneration project that has inspired similar initiatives in places such as Paris and Philadelphia—will succeed Bonnie Burnham as president of the non-profit heritage preservation organisation. Burnham is to retire in November after 30 years in the post. [...]

David announced in late January that he was stepping down as president of the Friends of the High Line. — The Art Newspaper

...The Collectivity Project is about more than just play. Eliasson conceived of the project as a way to bring people together and allow them to create a utopian society, if only in miniature form. The idea, which is up until September 30, is at home at the 10th Avenue and West 30th Street section of the High Line, where the sounds of construction buzz in the background. — Art Net

The High Line is...a perfect example of “environmental gentrification” – the growing phenomenon of rising property values in the wake of a large-scale urban greening project... While intended to serve existing residents, in reality it tends to increase land values to the point that those who live there are forced to leave. This exodus in turn transforms the sociological contours of the area and, by extension, the spatial segregation of the entire city. — the Guardian

Gimme Shelter has learned exclusively that developer The Related Companies has hired Rem Koolhaas to design their new High Line project on W. 18th St. — nypost.com

Perhaps no part of Manhattan has changed as dramatically since the 1980s as the Meatpacking District. Located on the Lower West Side, the district has gone from a blue-collar warehouse district with a seedy side into a hyper-luxurious, bustling neighborhood.

From the High Line to the expensive shops and restaurants along the old cobblestone streets, everything looks quite different from when Brian Rose first brought his camera to the Meatpacking District. — citylab.com

There are some deft variations on the design themes of the two older sections, and they show some gentle wit, a quality that was absent in 2009 and 2011, when these earlier portions, which run from Little West 12th Street to West 30th Street, were completed.

Now, for example, you can actually walk on old train tracks, rather than look wistfully at the remnants of the tracks poking up amid the plantings. — vanityfair.com

The facades of his 515 Highline, a 12-unit condo at 515 West 29th Street in West Chelsea that will almost touch the elevated park, will be rippled like the surface of a sea.

And Soori High Line, a 27-unit condo across the street at 522 West 29th, will have not only rooftop pools [...]. More than a dozen lower-floor apartments will also come with private pools to allow residents to float above it all while contemplating the brash buildings that increasingly populate the surrounding blocks. — nytimes.com

Zaha Hadid's swooping, spaceship-like condo building along the High Line is just about the most exciting of the many buildings on the rise in West Chelsea and the dozens of projects designed by starchitects in New York City. Mind-boggling renderings of the wavy exterior? Check. Some voluptuous floorplans, plus pricing? Check. Here now, the first look inside the West 28th Street condos, with two unreleased renderings snagged by a tipster. — ny.curbed.com

If there is any one lesson that I have learned in my life as a city planner, it is that public spaces have power. It's not just the number of people using them, it's the even greater number of people who feel better about their city just knowing that they are there.

Public space can change how you live in a city, how you feel about a city, whether you choose one city over another, and public space is one of the most important reasons why you stay in a city. — TED

One obvious answer to these conundrums is increased focus on "sustainability", along with the questionable notion that because something has a lot of vegetation on it, it must be good for the environment. Accordingly, urban farms are part of this peculiar trend. As early as the mid-1980s, Prince Charles advocated turning the depopulated streets of central Liverpool into farmland, something which seemed connected to his war against modern architecture around the same time... — theguardian.com

Photographer Jennifer Williams' upcoming "The High Line Effect" exhibition at the Robert Mann Gallery in New York presents the recently constructed High Line with a Dada-esque collage aesthetic, adding a twist — so to speak — to architectural photography. This latest exhibition from Williams uniquely critiques construction, while also giving commentary on real estate development, zoning laws, habitation patterns, and other urban-living and architectural issues. — bustler.net

The National Building Museum has awarded Joshua David and Robert Hammond the fifteenth Vincent Scully Prize for their New York City urban revitalization project, High Line. After the first section of the High Line opened in 2009, it became a catalyst for the renewal and investment of Manhattan's West Side. The project is viewed as an inspirational model for other repurpose projects and community activism worldwide. — bustler.net