Landscape Architecture Appreciation - The Lowline

The Lowline is a proposal for the world's first underground park in the New York City borough of Manhattan that would be located under the eastbound roadway of Delancey Street on the Lower East Side, adjacent to the Essex Street station. The proposed location is the one-acre former Williamsburg Bridge Trolley Terminal. The large trolley terminal has sat unused for 60 years. The project was first proposed in 2011 and quickly generated widespread media attention.

In 2012, the project raised over $150,000 from 3,300 backers on Kickstarter to create a full-scale exhibition of the solar lighting technology. In September 2012 an installation was opened on the Lower East Side to promote the project; titled "Imagining the Lowline," it consisted of a 30-foot wide aluminum solar canopy distributing natural sunlight onto a live cultivated landscape "park." The exhibit saw over 11,000 visitors and featured design talks, school visits, weekend street fairs and a political event. 

The dream is to create a stunning underground park, providing a beautiful respite and a cultural attraction in one of the world’s most dense, exciting urban environments.

The Technology
Designed by James Ramsey (one of the co founders), the proposed solar technology involves the creation of a “remote skylight”, in which sunlight passes through a glass shield above the parabolic collector, and is reflected and gathered at one focal point, and directed underground. Sunlight is transmitted onto a reflective surface on the distributor dish underground, transmitting that sunlight into the space. This technology would transmit the necessary light needed to support photosynthesis, enabling plants and trees to grow. During periods of sunlight, electricity would not be necessary to light the space. In September 2012, the Lowline team built a full scale prototype of the technology in an abandoned warehouse in the Lower East Side, for the “Imagining the Lowline” exhibit. The exhibit attracted thousands of visitors, was heavily covered by the press and ultimately served as a proof of concept.

The creators were inspired to use technology to improve the lives of city residents, by creating more of the green space that we all need. The Lowline aims to build a new kind of public space, one that highlights the historic elements of a former trolley terminal while introducing cutting-edge solar technology and design, enabling plants and trees to grow underground.

The project envisions not merely a new public space, but an innovative display of how technology can transform cities in the 21st century. And along the way, they hope to draw the community into the design process itself, empowering a new generation of Lower East Siders to help build a new bright spot in their dense urban environment. 

"LowLine Proposed" by TheLowline - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4xjCdiKGXk. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LowLine_Proposed.png#/media/File:LowLine_Proposed.png 


"LowLine Existing" by TheLowline - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4xjCdiKGXk. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LowLine_Existing.png#/media/File:LowLine_Existing.png 

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