Things I Like - Odds & Ends

Remember the Highline Park in NYC that I mentioned in June?
I finally made it in person – what a lovely use of public space.

It was a very windy day and somewhat cloudy but it was so nice to be up above the street traffic. The walkway is planted with perennials, grasses, trees and shrubs that are native to the area and were inspired by the plants that grew up on the abandoned tracks over the past 25 years.
There are plenty of benches along the walk and a couple spots that offered teak lounge chairs. There’s an open air snack stand across from the Chelsea market and a covered (although not completely enclosed) space that is used for community programs (lectures, art showings, yoga classes).

The park currently runs from 20th Street at 10th Avenue to the Gansevoort Street stairs in the Meatpacking district. The next section, planned to open in 2010, will take the park up to 34th Street.



Checking in on the Highline website, I noticed that the Whitney Museum is planning a second museum to be located on a site near the south end of the Highline. The building will be designed by Renzo Piano, the Italian architect who designed the Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Design renderings released a couple of years ago show a six-story building, stepping down from the West Side Highway towards the High Line in a series of terraces.
~ The Highline

I guess Mr. Piano really likes to incorporate the outdoors in his museums - here's the view from the bridge connecting Millennium Park to the Modern Wing