There Are Plans to Build the World’s First Underground Park in Manhattan…And It’s Spectacular

A New York historic trolley terminal located on the Lower East Side might be getting a pretty amazing and ground-breaking makeover.

The Lowline project plans on creating the world’s first underground park offering a beautiful cultural space in a location that has faced six decades of neglect.

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After visiting this abandoned Williamsburg Trolley Terminal, former NASA engineer and founder of architecture and design studio Raad, James Ramsey and his friend Dan Barasch, imagined the Lowline project and brought it to Kickstarter in 2012.

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After two very successful crowfunding rounds, the project seems to becoming less of a dream and more of a reality.

So how will the Lowline work? Two words: solar technology.

The project involves the creation of a “remote skylight” where sunlight will be transmitted onto a reflective surface on the distributor dish underground, transmitting that sunlight into the space.

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This technology would transmit the necessary wavelengths of light to support photosynthesis, allowing plants and trees to grow. The best part is that during periods of sunlight, electricity would not be necessary to light the space.

To test their theory and plan, the Lowline team built a full-scale prototype in an abandoned warehouse in the Lower East Side showcasing their “Imagining the Lowline” exhibit, which drew thousands of visitors and proved that their idea could indeed work.

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And to see how this would impact the community and public, they conducted a preliminary planning study with Arup, a global engineering firm and HR&A Advisors, a leading real estate, economic development, and energy-efficiency consulting firm which concluded that Lowline could majorly improve the local economy offering a unique cultural space hosting everything from concerts to art exhibits.

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To read more about this inspiring initiative, click here to check out their Kickstarter campaign.

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