James Corner, is the founder of the urban landscape design Field Operations, is best known for his work on the New York High Line - the reclamation of a disused former railtrack in Manhattan. He talks about the transformative impact that the High Line has had on the area into a 21st century city - and about the potential for new urban green space in London as he works on another project with a railtrack at it’s heart, the Camden High Line.
With the project at an important stage of planning he describes the challenges of creating a green park alongside a rail track which is in everyday use. We meet James on a visit to the site in London and Olivia Reevell meets him in his new offices which overlook New York’s Bryant Park - he talks about the importance of urban green spaces in cities, post-pandemic, and the inspiration he draws from the work of Frederick Law Olmsted on the 200th anniversary of his birth - Olmsted was the founder of American landscape architecture and the man responsible for creating New York’s central park.
James Corner was born in the the North of England in the UK, and draws inspiration from the natural landscape of that part of the world for his urban design work. He founded Field Operations in New York which has a cosmopolitan team of 100 people and he is at work on other major projects including the Presidio in San Franscisco and the waterfront for the city of Seattle. For this programme he describes the qualities and characteristics of his urban green space design work.