#linear parks

(Grand Junction, Michigan) It was grand to be back on the Kal-Haven Trail with Natalie the other day. Next time, we’ll bicycle the trail.

(Grand Junction, Michigan) The Kal-Haven Trail extends from South Haven on the west to Kalamazoo on the east and has already linked to other trails. Some day you will be able to ride from Lake Michigan to Lake Huron without competing with cars. Wouldn’t that be…

Meet The Green Line: How Perkins Eastman would remake Broadway through Manhattan into a 40-block linear park

(Courtesy Perkins Eastman)

By now, the “Bilbao Effect” is metonymy for a culture-led revitalization of a postindustrial city driven by a single institution housed in a starchitect-designed complex. The wild success of Manhattan’s High Line generates regional seismic effects—the Lowline, the QueensWay, and the Lowline: Bronx Edition all cite the high queen of linear parksas their inspiration.…

Toronto’s ambitious plan for a linear garden under the Gardiner Expressway is made of 55 “outdoor rooms”

The vision for the project includes a grand staircase at Strachan that doubles as seating for an urban theater. (Courtesy PUBLIC WORK)

Toronto’s waterfront is separated from the city by the elevated Gardiner Expressway. While access underneath is relatively easy, it isn’t a pleasant transition. Torontonians, however, can expect some changes to their waterfront corridor as 10-acres of new public…

Aim High, Get Low: New “Lowline” linear park eyes in the Bronx

View of the proposed lowline from Rae Street (Google Maps)

Call it High Line fever: since the first leg of James Corner and DS+R’s High Line debuted in 2009, High Line–like projects have popped up all over the city and across country. Now, not ten miles from the original, the Bronx may be slated for its very own rail-to-park conversion.

More after the jump.

Chicago opens newest segment of revamped Riverwalk

Mayor Rahm Emanuel at the opening of a new segment of the Chicago Riverwalk. (Office of the Mayor, Chicago)

Despite a smattering of gray skies, Chicago inaugurated another stretch of its revamped riverwalk this Memorial Day weekend, and visitors were eager to explore the newly expanded public space.

Continue reading after the jump.

Just when you were getting tired of more High Line copies, Dutch architects MVRDV has breathed new life into the genre with their winning proposal for the “Seoul Skygarden,” a 3,000 foot long section of disused elevated highway. Their design doesn’t simply reappropriate the space into a linear public parkway—it uses the original 1970s structure as the basis for an urban horticultural extravaganza.

Seoul Skygarden by MVRDV

Form that structure, which was deemed unusable for cars in 2009, the designers have attached a series of stairs, lifts and escalators as well as new satellite gardens that will grow with the needs of the park. The design features 254 different species of trees, shrubs, and flowers, which are chosen to showcase the biodiversity of Seoul. The library of plants is organized alphabetically and will educate visitors. New leisure spaces such as flower shops, street markets, libraries and greenhouses will provide respite from the city.

The new urban thruway will connect two zones that were previously separated by a railway station and a subsequent 25 minute walk. The now-pedestrian friendly path will reduce this walk to 11 minutes, while simultaneously producing an estimated 1.83 times its own cost for the city.

Lucca city walls.