DILLER SCOFIDIO + RENFRO

On the horizon: The High Line, New York

It'll be interesting to see how New Yorkers take to Diller Scofidio + Renfro's proposed "slow space," the High Line. (Though going by initial reaction, which includes celebrity endorsement and glamour-event fund-raising, it'll probably be like ducks to water.) Together with the cutting-edge landscape architects Field Operations, the team plans to convert a rusted elevated railway track along Manhattan's West Side (next to the Meatpacking District) into an urban park. The mile-and-a-half-long track will have gardens and promenades, with views of the Hudson River and Manhattan's famous skyline, and it will provide a traffic-free route between the Jacob J. Javits Convention Center and the Meatpacking District. The final design is still a work in progress, but preliminary renditions include glass-enclosed balconies hanging from underneath the old tracks, and stretches of flowerbeds that create the illusion of wide-open space in the concrete canyons of Manhattan.

www.thehighline.org