資訊專區 - 沛渥綠思PAPERWALL

紐約 High Line Park

去年夏天，紐約空中城市花園High Line在當地人和觀光客的高度期待下開放，成為人們逃離塵囂的空中綠色淨土。紐約的空中花園工程是在一個廢棄建物充斥的城市中，結構有效再利用的典範。此工程將一個廢棄的高架貨運火車軌道轉換成公園，重新定義了紐約的面貌，提供了前所未見的城市自然景觀，和大範圍審視這世界最有活力的都市景觀時，人與城市的緊密連結。

正當剩餘的工程持續動工的同時，讓我們追隨這美麗的公共空間背後，景觀設計師—James Corner的腳步，從他的角度，解讀將廢棄的鐵道轉換成紐約最受歡迎綠地的過程。

The High Line urban park project in New York City opened last summer to tremendous excitement from locals and tourists alike looking to escape the bustling streets for a more peaceful, green enclave in the sky. NYC’s High Line is a project that exemplifies effective adaptive urban re-use in a city that is littered with structures and spaces that have since reached the end of their useful life. By turning an cabandoned, elevated freight train track into a public park, this project has redefined the New York experience, affording never-before seen views of the city’s surrounding natural landscape as well as an expansive and intimate look into one of the world’s most dynamic urban environments. With the completion of the rest of the High Line currently in the works, we couldn’t think of a better time to catch up with one of the brilliant minds behind the design of this beautiful public space. I recently sat down with landscape designer James Corner, the lead designer behind the High Line, to get his personal perspective on the what it was like to take an abandoned train track and turn it into one of NYC’s best loved spots of greenery. Read on for my exclusive interview with James Corner below…

Jill:是甚麼吸引你投入空中花園的計畫?

James:在這之前，這裡有它自己的神話，尤其是非營利社團「空中花園之友」對於創造這空中花園獨特形象很有貢獻，他們樹立了後工業化人造物遺落在一個不斷現代化的城市中，對比下一種憂鬱抽離的氣息。誰能錯過將這形象擷取、轉化成一個人們可以漫步、閒坐、享受美景的公共景觀的機會呢？

Jill: What originally attracted you to the High Line project?

James: The High Line had its own mythology long before we came along. In particular, the ‘Friends of the High Line’ were instrumental in creating this distinct image around the High Line – they established an aura that projected an idea that this was in fact a post-industrial artifact maintaining a sense of melancholy and other-worldliness in a city context that, by contrast, was ever-evolving and modernizing. But to take that detail and to actually instill and transform it into a public landscape where people can stroll, sit and enjoy amazing vistas across the city was too great an opportunity to pass up.

Jill:我認為部分的靈感來自於：大部分的人將原本未經改造的鐵道視為紐約裡獨特的荒野景觀。在你的設計中，有多少是融合這樣的觀感呢？

James:一開始會考量到一些不同的層面。其一是這裡後工業化鐵路的特色—鐵軌、直線性和這細長的帶狀物，穿越街區和建築物。我想創造一個獨特的綠色絲帶，和這城市嚴格的棋盤式規劃並行。

此外，這裡充滿了憂鬱沉默的氣息。造訪者可以感受這個氣氛，彷彿在都市風景中遇見了一個屹立已久的物體。你可以在這裡漫步，放任自己成為一點點的窺視狂，或是觀察家，而不是如此地顯而易見。

Jill: I think part of the inspiration that people around the world found in the original, untouched High Line was that there existed this unusual piece of wilderness in New York. How much of this aspect have you incorporated in your design?

James: Well, there were several influences from the beginning. One would be the post-industrial railroad character of the site – the rail tracks, the linearity, and the fact that it really is a thin, narrow ribbon that happens to be quite extensive. The entire High Line really cuts through blocks and buildings, and I sought to create a distinct juxtaposition where there is this green ribbon existing against the stoic grid of the city.

There is also this almost sad, melancholic, silence that permeates the place. As a visitor you can assume this mood and feel like you’ve come across a found object in a vast cityscape. You can stroll through the space and become a little bit of a voyeur, or a little bit of an observer, rather than being so visible.

這些是我們想在設計中體現的有點經驗性或是不尋常的特點。我們想要確保像通道、座位、垃圾桶、光照、水等的所有細節都能成為構成這樣一個包容性強又安全的空間，同時提供遇見一個神祕奇幻的空中花園的感受。他們會為這樣的綿長感到驚喜，從這些曲折迴轉，從這裡的景觀，他們會為發現這些片刻感到愉悅。

These were the sorts of experiential or phenomenal characteristics we wanted the design to embody. We wanted to make sure that every detail from the paths to seating down to the trashcans, lighting and water features would make this a generous, safe and secure space, but also give people the feeling that they’ve come across a secret, magic garden in the sky. That they’re almost surprised and delighted by how long it is, by the twists and turns it takes, by the views it affords, and ultimately that they are engaged in some of the delight in discovering these moments.

Jill:你最喜歡空中花園的哪個部分？

James:每個人都問我這個問題，但這真的很難說。我喜歡這個Gansevoort街附近的區域，在這裡，你能夠有機會離開街道上的鋼鐵水泥，進入一個花園，真正地看到天空和都市全景。然而，我們所謂的「十四街的陽光平台」，有著大型的家具，是另外一個很棒的社交空間。第十大道廣場也是很棒的地方，那裡置有可以俯瞰第十大道的座位。這些都是非常好的地方，但在日落之際，我覺得最重要的是這空中花園綠色絲帶的本質。所以當你問我；「甚麼是你最喜歡的部分？」時，我認為重點不是在哪裡是我最喜歡的地方，而是這是我最美好的經歷—從Gansevoort街走到20街的時光。這是經歷一連串奇幻的情節的體驗，對我來說，這樣的表現方式和經驗是這計畫最令人興奮也是最原創的部分。

Jill: What’s your favorite part of the High Line?

James: Everyone asks this question, and it’s really hard to say. I like this area around Gansevoort because it’s really the moment where you leave the hard concrete and steel of the street level, come into the garden, and really see the sky and a complete panoramic view. But what we call the ‘Sundeck at 14th Street’ is another great social space with big, over-sized furniture. Then there is also this wonderful spot, the 10th Avenue Square, where seating has been installed to overlook 10th Avenue. These are all great places, but at the end of the day, the most important thing to me is the fact that the High Line is this green ribbon. So when you say, “What’s your favorite part?” it’s not that there’s a favorite part, but it’s that there’s a favorite experience – it is the experience in the duration of time that it takes to walk from Gansevoort to 20th Street. You go through an amazing succession of episodes, and for me, it‘s this choreography and experience of this that is really the most exciting and original part of this project.

Jill:有甚麼特別的體驗你希望人們上來時能夠經歷的？或是你希望人們怎麼體驗這裡？

James:我不認為人們的感受是能夠被設定的，不同的人感受到不同的東西和的經驗。但我的確希望我們能夠成功地讓人們體驗到探索事物的愉悅心情。這裡有很多小角落、裂隙和隱蔽的地方，有風景和很好的觀景點。從一個方向你可以北望第十大道，但轉一個方向你可以看到自由女神像。如果人們上來能享受這些驚喜的發現，我想我們就成功了。

Jill: Is there a particular experience you want people to have when they come up here or a hope that you have for how people experience this?

James: I don’t think you can ever determine what people will feel, how they will emote or what they will experience. Different people come up here and feel different things and have a different set of experiences. But what I do hope is that we will have succeeded in getting people to experience the delight in the sense of finding things. What’s great about the High Line is that there are nooks, crannies and hideaways. There are vistas and vantage points. You can turn one way and find yourself looking north up at 10th Avenue, but if you turn the other way you’ll see the Statue of Liberty. There are amazing discoveries to be made and if people come up here and find delight in that, then I think we’ve succeeded.

Jill:你可以告訴我關於空中花園環保永續的特色嗎？還有你是如何設計的？

James:對於建造一個景觀來說，這是一個非常艱困的環境。我們必須考慮到土壤層非常淺，通常約15吋，加上夏天炙熱冬天嚴寒地氣候，還有植物需要的足夠水和養分。大部分在空中花園的植物都是耐力非常高的。它們都是從草原或是其他艱困環境來的，它們大部分都能夠成功地存活下來。我們從那些無法生存的植物中學習，將它們移除然後用那些適應良好的植物代替，這也是景觀規劃充滿活力的地方。走道的鋪面也是很大的特點，我們設計了縫隙供植物生長，還有下雨時可以匯集雨水灌溉植栽的開放接口，我想八至九成的雨水都會留在空中花園中。

Jill:這真的非常令人印象深刻。

James:我們大可誇耀說這些綠化可以帶來減碳，可以確定是這些陰影有冷卻的作用‧所有的材料都是可回收的或是來自永續資源的，所以這裡沒有東西是單純裝飾性或是不適切的。整體來說，我覺得這個計畫是非常永續的。

Jill: Can you tell me a little bit about the sustainable features of the High Line and how you tried to work toward designing features for environmental sustainability?

James: This is an extremely hostile and very difficult environment to build a landscape. We have a soil depth that is very thin – maybe 15 inches typically – it’s very hot in the summer, it’s freezing cold in the winter, there are issues with providing plants adequate water and nutrients – it’s a very difficult environment. Most of the plants up on the High Line are stress tolerant. They’ve been drawn from the prairie or from other difficult environments and most of them will hopefully succeed in survival. We’ll learn from those that don’t make it, take them out and replace them with those that have done well. There is also a dynamic aspect to how the landscape is managed. One of the greatest features of the High Line is the paving, which has been designed to crack open and allow plants to come through. It also has open joints so that when it rains the water falls through the joints and is collected, stored and then allowed to seep slowly into the planting beds. I think we can demonstrate that 80 to 90 percent of all the water that falls on the High Line stays on the High Line.

Jill: That’s impressive.

James: One could boast that there’s going to be some carbon reduction with the amount of greenery that we’ve brought there. There’s certainly an ambient cooling effect with the shade that’s provided. All the materials are recyclable or come from sustainable sources, so there’s nothing here that’s ostentatious or out of place. Overall I think it’s a very sustainable project.

Jill:讓我再釐清一下，你期望植物能夠從這些縫隙中長出來嗎？

James:不是的，事實上這些我們稱它們為錐狀物或是梳子。我們嘗試模糊走道和花園的界線，讓它們互相融合。很明顯地，有些部分是比較困難的，像是主要通道、維護、緊急救護設施之類的東西，但大體上來說，我們想要創造的視覺效果是植物環繞鐵道的景觀。這是一個地毯式的、有別於一般通道鄰接植被的景觀。

Jill: So just to clarify, are you expecting plants to grow up through the cracks at some point?

James: No. It’s really what we call tapers or the combs. There’s an idea of trying to comb the paving so we don’t really have clearly defined edges between path and garden but really that the path bleeds into the garden, and likewise, the garden bleeds into the path. Obviously there are parts where it’s a little harder – for the main pathways, for maintenance, for emergency vehicles and this sort of thing – but the overall visual effect is to try to create an edge to edge effect of a rail bed landscape that has some paving and a lot of planting around the rails. It really is a wall-to-wall landscape rather than the typical garden path adjacent to planting beds.

資料來源:inhabitat