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Robert Hammond, co-founder of Friends of the High Line and a member of the jury explains that the winning proposals were not necessarily expected to be realistic. He says: "They were required to be thought-provoking, and they were — and as exciting and unexpected as the High Line itself."

The competition's four principal winners are Ernesto Mark Faunlagui of Hoboken, New Jersey, Matthew Greer and Karin Taylor of New York, Benjamin Haupt and Robert Huebser of Berlin, and Nathalie Rinne of Vienna. Their work and the submissions of all 720 entrants are on display online.

According to competition advisor Reed Kroloff, "The beauty of a successful open competition, like this one, is the tremendous range of ideas it reveals... The four prize winners summarize several of the major themes that developed across the entry pool, which ranged from stabilizing the High Line and then leaving it essentially as it is to developing it as an extended cultural incubator."

"The range of ideas presented in the competition opened our minds to the endless possibilities that the High Line suggests," comments Vishaan Chakrabarti, member of the jury and director of the Manhattan Office of the New York City Department of City Planning. "As we move toward implementation, that openness of mind will be critical for creating a unique public amenity for the West Side, and in fact for all of New York City."

Since the competition's conclusion, New York City Council Speaker Gifford Miller has announced a $15.75 million funding commitment for planning and construction. Recalling that the rail spur was built during the Great Depression to invigorate New York's economy, Miller predicts that its resurrection will again reinvigorate the city.

"As we have learned from our city's great parks," he said, "public spaces create value and catalyze growth. Central Park was planned in a recession. Even in tough economic times, we have to invest in our future — by planning for the public projects that will keep us at the forefront of the world's great cities."

As the next phase in its project to preserve and reuse the elevated track, Friends of the High Line will hold a series of public workshops beginning in September, with the variety of competition proposals serving as the springboard for discussion. At the end of 2003, the organization plans to compile community comments and develop a request for proposals for realizable designs.

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The jury for the "Designing the High Line," ideas competition included Julie Bargmann, University of Virginia; Vishaan Chakrabarti, New York City Department of City Planning; John Lee Compton, Chelsea Preservation and Planning Committee; Lynne Cook, Dia Art Foundation; Robert Hammond, Friends of the High Line; Steven Holl, Steven Holl Architects; Murray Moss, Moss; Marilyn Jordan Taylor, SOM; Signe Nielsen, Mathews Nielsen; and Bernard Tschumi, Columbia University.

The High Line today is an unused mile-and-a-half- (2.4-kilometer-) long structure covered in "wildflowers." Photo: Courtesy Friends of the High Line "Walking Manhattan's El-topia" is a heavily landscaped alternative for the High Line's redevelopment. Image: Alexander Gorlin Architects, Meyer + Silverberg/Land Architects The proposal from Vienna converts the High Line into a mile-long, elevated swimming pool. Image: Nathalie Rinne "Come fly the High Line!" invites the scheme in which an aerial monorail leaves the wildflower "meadow" virtually untouched. Image: Victor Simpkins Gisue Hariri received an honorable mention for one of the few schemes that proposes building over the railway. Image: Hariri & Hariri-Architecture The "Black Market Crawler" proposal from Berlin envisions a moving structure with space for cultural, retail, and entertainment uses. Image: Hugo Beschoor Plug   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.