Chalk up another huge urban planning win for the crazy cats at Diller, Scofidio + Renfro. The hip NYC team, with Field Operations, has been chosen to oversee the master plan for the High Line redevelopment in Chelsea. Diller, Scofidio + Renfro have been called by some?okay, by us?NYC's It Architecture Firm. (They're also overseeing redevelopment at Lincoln Center and the BAM Cultural District.) In his first piece as the NYT's new architecture critic, Nicolai Ouroussoff comes out in strong support of the choice, writing,
The design confirms that even in a real estate climate dominated by big development teams and celebrity architects, thoughtful, creative planning ideas ? initiated at the grass-roots level ? can lead to startlingly original results. As the process continues, the issue will be whether the project's advocates can maintain such standards in the face of increasing commercial pressures... The strength of the Field Operations design is its ability to reflect a sense of communal mission without wiping away the site's historical character. These competing interests are balanced with exquisite delicacy.
Lots more to come on the choice and its repercussions. Meantime, the public viewing of the four finalists plans has been extended through Sept. 2 at the Center for Architecture 536 LaGuardia Pl (@ Bleecker/West 3rd).
· Gardens in the Air Where the Rail Once Ran [NYTimes]
· Four Teams, For Visions [Friends of the High Line] PREVIOUS HIGH LINE COVERAGE ON CURBED
· High Line Dystopia [Curbed]
· Finalists Selected For High Line Master Plan [Curbed]
· High Line Proposal #1: Good Weed [Curbed]