Labassin Waterfall Restaurant

Highline Park New York

Manhattan’s Highline Park is an exercise in eco-friendly urban reclamation, the rescue of an abandoned raised freight line for the common good of the city. After traffic through these raised rails ceased in the 1980s, the line sat abandoned waiting for demolition. The neighbourhood of Manhattan’s west side rallied to save the raised line to create a public park with a green roof as an escape to the busy pace of the streets below. James Corner Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro cooperated to turn this aging eye sore into a green place of peace for Manhattan residents. The resulting park stretches across nine city blocks, featuring a contemporary design that fits well with the forward thinking people it was built to serve. Highline Park is a prime example of the old adage that “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”.

Brooklyn Grange is a commercial organic farm located on New York City rooftops. They grow vegetables in the city and sell them to local people and businesses. The goal is to improve access to very good food, to connect city people more closely to farms and food production, and to make urban farming a viable enterprise and livelihood.

Although they function as a privately owned and operated enterprise, Brooklyn Grange is community oriented and open to the public. School groups, families and volunteers are welcome to visit, participate and learn. This is a green space that contributes to the overall health and quality of life of the community, bringing people together through green business and around good food.

Pietro Porcinai

"Most architects have abandoned – out of cowardice or for money – the world of things built in harmony with nature, giving way to the birth of ugly towns and horrible suburbs. It’s up to the landscape architect to find a way of remedying this. But it requires a landscape architect capable of reflection prior to action..."