The High Line in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District proved that revitalized admission-free public space not only engages both citizens and visitors, but also, from the slew of developments surrounding it, generate income for the city.
Elevated parks are now making its way around the world’s largest metropolises. Chicago recently completed its Bloomingdale Trail, and Seoul has commissioned MVRDV to convert one of their underused highways into a park. Jumping on the bandwagon is Mexico City, and plans to create a “Cultural Corridor” on Avenida Chapultepec has circulated online.
According to Architizer, local practice FR-EE Fernando Romero Enterprise has been tapped to undertake a project dubbed “considerably more complex in many ways” if compared to the High Line.
CORREDOR CULTURAL CHAPULTEPEC BY FR-EE / FRENTE / RVDG from FR-EE Fernando Romero Enterprise on Vimeo.
The city’s ancient viaduct, built by the Aztecs, were an inspiration to the park’s design. Ruins of the viaduct will form a key feature of the park.
Mexico City’s scheme will be composed of “interwoven ribbons of walkable infrastructure, with many sections rising, falling, and splitting in response to the adjacent buildings, roadways, and the metro line beneath,” Architizer reports.
Portions of the pathway will accommodate al fresco cafes, and offer up space for street entertainers and artists.
Related Stories
| Aug 26, 2013
What you missed last week: Architecture billings up again; record year for hotel renovations; nation's most expensive real estate markets
BD+C's roundup of the top construction market news for the week of August 18 includes the latest architecture billings index from AIA and a BOMA study on the nation's most and least expensive commercial real estate markets.
| Aug 22, 2013
Sports Facility Report [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Building Design+Construction's rankings of the nation's largest sports facility design and construction firms, as reported in the 2013 Giants 300 Report.
| Aug 22, 2013
Energy-efficient glazing technology [AIA Course]
This course discuses the latest technological advances in glazing, which make possible ever more efficient enclosures with ever greater glazed area.
| Aug 22, 2013
6 visionary strategies for local government projects
Civic projects in Boston, Las Vegas, Austin, and suburban Atlanta show that a ‘big vision’ can also be a spur to neighborhood revitalization. Here are six visionary strategies for local government projects.
| Aug 14, 2013
Green Building Report [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Building Design+Construction's rankings of the nation's largest green design and construction firms.
| Jul 29, 2013
2013 Giants 300 Report
The editors of Building Design+Construction magazine present the findings of the annual Giants 300 Report, which ranks the leading firms in the AEC industry.
| Jul 26, 2013
How biomimicry inspired the design of the San Francisco Museum at the Mint
When the city was founded in the 19th century, the San Francisco Bay’s edge and marshland area were just a few hundred feet from where the historic Old Mint building sits today. HOK's design team suggested a design idea that incorporates lessons from the local biome while creating new ways to collect and store water.
| Jul 22, 2013
Cultural Facility Report [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Building Design+Construction's rankings of design and construction firms with the most revenue from cultural facility projects, as reported in the 2013 Giants 300 Report.
| Jul 19, 2013
Reconstruction Sector Construction Firms [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Structure Tone, DPR, Gilbane top Building Design+Construction's 2013 ranking of the largest reconstruction contractor and construction management firms in the U.S.
| Jul 19, 2013
Reconstruction Sector Engineering Firms [2013 Giants 300 Report]
URS, STV, Wiss Janney Elstner top Building Design+Construction's 2013 ranking of the largest reconstruction engineering and engineering/architecture firms in the U.S.