Page 100 - enLIGHTenment Magazine - April 2017

underground playgrouNd

through funnel-like solar installations that magnify able to achieve the right light intensity, duration,

and direct beams of sunlight to the underground and spectrum necessary for a wide range of owers,
plant life.
plants, fruits, and vegetables to thrive even on the

By combining the power of VividGro LED panels darkest winter day. “You know you’re onto some-
and the Lowline Lab’s “Remote Skylight” technology, thing when you can grow pineapples and tomatoes

co-founders James Ramsey and Dan Barasch were
during a New York winter underground,” Ramsey

comments.
The accomplishments of The Lowline Lab has

“You know you’re onto something when sparked conversations about new ways that cities
and communities around the world can reclaim
you can grow pineapples and tomatoes
abandoned urban spaces. For example, by discov-

during a New York winter underground.” ering how to create a sustainable environment for
a subterranean ecosystem, the Lowline has been

able to develop new solutions for providing a public
— James Ramsey
space that can be enjoyed all year long, regardless

of the season.

Set to open in 2021, the Lowline will be the
world’s rst underground park, one that New York

Magazine called “the most exciting civic project
since The High Line [see sidebar].” A larger and

more ambitious evolution of the Lowline Lab ex-

periment, the Lowline park will comprise 40,000
square feet and will be under the guidance of James

Ramsey and Dan Barasch. It will feature a diverse
range of ora and fauna that will experience natural

photosynthesis without direct access to sunlight.

Ramsey and Barasch hope The Lowline will provide
new technology solutions for indoor agriculture and

sustainably grown local food production.
The Lowline was approved by the City of New

York in August, and the eyes of urban leaders

around the world will be watching as The Lowline
is transformed into a subterranean botanical garden

and cultural a raction. In addition to Lighting Sci-
ence, The Lowline is also working in partnership

with the international engineering rm Arup, the

architecture rm RAAD, the renowned landscape
architecture rm Ma hew Nielsen, and horticultur-
INSPIRATION: THE HIGH LINE
alists John Mini Distinctive Landscapes.
The Lowline Lab is open to the public on the
In 1934, “The High Line” railroad trestle ran from 34th Street in New York
weekends, having welcomed 100,000 visitors so City to St. John’s Park Terminal at Spring Street. Part of the West Side

far. During the weekdays, it hosts a Young Designers Improvement Project, it was designed to go through the center of blocks,
Program, o ering educational sessions in Science, rather than over the avenue, carrying goods to and from Manha an’s largest

Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics industrial district. In 1980, as the trucking industry became the primary
(STEAM) to nearly 3,000 children and serves as a
mode of transporting goods, the last train ran on the High Line, reportedly
youth mentorship and job training site for 16 Young pulling three carloads of frozen turkeys. Years later, a group of community

Ambassadors. The goal is to have the community members fought the planned demolition of The High Line and were able to
become engaged with the project and to inspire eventually convert each section to a public landscape featuring perennials,

people of all ages and backgrounds to study and un- grasses, shrubs, and trees native to that area.
derstand the transformative power of innovation.
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98 enLIGHTenment Magazine | april 2017
www.enlightenmentmag.com