NYC, the city of verticality on the horizon, to the horizon

when i first arrived in NYC from JFK, what surprised me the most was its density of skyscrapers and proximity of them to each other. they were just standing like salary-men in tokyo on tubes in the morning as if there were nowhere to spread out (in fact there werent). as a tokyo urbanite, ive seen a lot of skyscrapers and the life surrounded by them is nothing new. but such a density and proximity of skyscrapers was something totally different from what ive known. the city was grabbing the sky. 

although NYC is no doubt a vertical city, it does not mean to make u deny to consider the horizon. when i was on the boat to the super touristy statue of liberty, this vertical city was on the horizon. it was kinda funny.

and when i climbed up to the super touristy empire state building, i found out that this vertical city actually spread to the horizon without much of verticality . this was rather different from what i optimistically imagined. 

technically it has become much easier to pile floors to the sky than ever before (although socially it has become much more difficult to build skyscrapers in modern society). yet the lights on the horizon made me understand that our lives cannot be piled up to the sky like concretes.

the High Line, New York City

2weeks have passed since the second decade of this century opens. Happy New Year!! my new year resolution for 2011 is to see more, feel more and think more. so here comes what i saw, felt and thought on the very first day of 2011.

on the very first moment of this decade (and the end of the last decade), i was in NYC with my family for holidays. this city was insanely gorgeous and full of wonder and surprise! i could only spend 4 days and 4 days were far from enough to get to know the city, but this busy 4 days provided me a great amount of inspiration. and one of the biggest inspiration was, of course, the High Line.

the High Line was originally constructed in the 1930s in order to lift dangerous railroads from the street level. it was used until the 1980s but it became obsolete already in the 1950s and during the 1960s some parts were demolished. some activists lobbied for demolition after the last train ran on the truck. yet some other wanted to preserve it as an urban outdoor public space and they founded "Friends of the High Line" in 1999. in 2002, this idea became NYC's policy. in 2003, the design competition was held and the design was decided. the High Line's construction started in 2006, after the design was published to public at MoMA in 2005. and the section 1 opened to the public in 2009 and the section 2 is estimated to open this year. (http://www.thehighline.org/)  

after i went to see the sight and what i felt about this project was, envy and jealousy. as me being interested in how to utilize unused public spaces, and having started thinking what i can do for them, it totally blew my mind. it already realized what i thought it would be fun to do on that sort of sights. it provided all three types of activities that Jan Gehl introduced (necessary activities, optional activities, and resultant/social activities) as many people felt pleasant to stay there. and indeed i really loved what it offered me.

it made me again understand how important to utilize already existing built environment to upgrade the living condition of one area. according to some articles i read, it seemed this area of Manhattan was not that nice area not so long ago. but when creatives found its built environment attractive for their creative activities, Chelsea became the hub of avant-garde art scene around the world. and now the High Line follows... superb. although i also learned that not many avant-garde can afford to live there any more as the tide of gentrification hit, but still its undeniable that the existing built environment has lead to todays prosperity. 

what i am currently interested in is elevated bridges and old housing complex in the middle of Tokyo. these are everywhere in the city, but both of them are now getting demolished rather than preserved to be utilized. i understand the motivation of demolition, yet somehow id like to challenge the trend by proposing their potentials to public. i strongly believe its quite important for tokyo to maintain its seat in the global context.  

in order to do that, i need to think more...:)