I've found the High Line a fantastic structure
ever since becoming aware of it in a competition
sponsored by the Friends of the High Line in
2003. I wound up doing a quick study on it back
in school. The theory link is to the left. It
involved a fly by the seat of my pants derive of
the Internet environment- Guy Debord's theory
in approaching urban terrain adapted in a free
form internet environment. Because of this,
there are a lot of websites that I'll need to seek
permission from to display images and what not.
The "unofficial" sites were especially interesting
involving urban warriors that climbed through
buildings, across rooftops, and moved through
obstacles not unlike the David Belle's parkours.
A friend told me of a less involved route (i.e.
33rd Street) where I can simply walk onto it.
One of the many butcher factories that were
intermediaries for cattle disassembly and
dissemination to the steak houses, delis and
markets through out the city. This brought back
a lot of the Seigfried Giedion readings I had to
do back in school. The abstract of the article
dealt with inexact volumes like cattle that would
need to be butchered by precision assembly
line machines. (1) Urban conditions are like
cattle in this way- irregular inexact volumes
which architects often attempt precision in
manifestos, computer generated plans and
laser cut models.
These were superstructures that had to allow
for the light industry assembly lines and the
heavy rail supported diesel locomotives that ran
along 8th Avenue.
Another one of a number of loading bays.
Abandoned equipment. Marks from urban
intruders.
Still, it was great to be here where the High Line
met the Gansevoort Meat Market. Of course, as
a neighborhood, Gansevoort is being subjected
to radical transformation from industrial
butcheries to bourgeois residential and retail.
The elevated High Line literally punched through
a series of buildings. With this one on 12th
Street, the bay has been filled in and occupied.
The ruin of a past civilization reoccupied by the
current denizens.
This building is scheduled to be redone. I
suspect that the meat hook rail seen here will
probably be disassembled in the process of the
building renovation.
Construction spaces as tourist attractions! This
was Open House New York in Nov, 2006
sponsored by the Friends of the High Line. It
felt like a tour of "The Body" exhibit.
Observations on a dissected superstructure.
Despite all the health wavers that we had to
sign, we were restricted to a loading dock
platform that was fenced off from all the action.
(1) Giedion, Siegfried. Mechanization
takes command, pp. 15-126. W. W.
Norton & Co (1975)
