The Low Line: Architects see treasure in sunken Memphis rail ravine

About 25 architects from across Tennessee swarmed the fragmented, underdeveloped Edge District, brainstormed and unveiled fresh design concepts for public spaces, but none as glitzy as The Low Line.

If New York City can have its wildly popular High Line — an elevated, rails-to-trail park — Memphis can create The Low Line, a rails-to-amphitheater and gathering spot. 

A former rail depot that few ever notice stretches a few blocks northwest from Union, sinking 30 feet under the Marshall and Madison bridges.

Architects see potential amidst overgrown vegetation

The industrial ravine has long divided the Edge District. The big concrete scar has made it harder for the old commercial district to ride the momentum of development just to the west in Downtown and immediately east in the Medical District.

Remove some of the non-native, overgrown vegetation, shave the severity of the east slope so that people can walk down it and sit on it, and you've got yourself an amphitheater, said architect Sarah Hadskey of SAM Studio in Memphis.

The tall concrete wall where the ravine ends at Madison could be an art display. "A graffiti wall that would continue the graffiti art gallery that's already in existence a block over,'' she said. "And you'd be able to enter from that side, come down and watch a concert against the graffiti art.''

300 architects converge in Memphis to collaborate, transform communities 

Hadskey is among 300 architects from across the state who were expected to attend the American Institute of Architects (AIA) of Tennessee annual conference here Sunday through Tuesday. Most of the conference is occurring at the Memphis Cook Convention Center. 

But the annual meeting format has changed from a lecture-centered convention to a conference to create a more experience-driven, collaborative event for the architects.

The outreach program for the Edge District, called "urbanSTITCH,'' is part of the change.

“This conference is focusing on transforming communities because architects are problem solvers,'' Ashley E. Cates, AIA Tennessee executive vice president, said in a release. "By bringing architects from across the state we hope to make an impact on the community in The Edge District through urbanSTITCH, by making the community safer and more livable.''

The Memphis Low Line would be inspired by the High Line in New York

The former rail depot "creates a 30-foot fault line in the topography of the Edge District,'' said another Memphis architect, Trey Kirk of HBG Design. "And our conjecture is a lot of the alleyways and strange street sequences that have formed are a consequence of this significant depression.

"So our desire is to reactivate this space as a piece of social infrastructure. Kind of a rails-to-trail similar to The High Line in New York. We're calling this The Low Line,'' Kirk said.

Architect Rogean Cadieux-Smith of brg3s helped organize urbanSTITCH. The Low Line will  provide the Edge District with a "green and shady oasis" as well as a concert venue, she said.

The architects listened to local stakeholders who also want the district "to build on the maker community,'' Cadieux-Smith said. "... The nascent makers who are coming back into this community that was once just industrial.''

Reviving a neighborhood: The potential is 'fantastic'

Seemingly every day a healthy number of tourists and tour buses descend on the famous Sun Studio, which anchors the southeast corner of the Edge District.

But changes should be made to encourage those tourists to experience all of the neighborhood, not just the building that Elvis made famous, said architect Wayne Williams of Workshop: Architecture in Chattanooga.

The potential is "fantastic,'' he said of the district. "There's a lot of great building stock here. A lot of really exciting spaces. And it's begun to infill with some really interesting businesses. I think this could really be an attractive destination district.''

Figuring out how to get the tourists to slow down and visit the other shops and sites in the district is the key, Williams said.

"An organized way to manage the tour buses and the tours so that they disembark in a specific location... and a trail of events or spaces they could visit along that trail in the district.

"You don't come to Sun Studio, you come to the district. And there's six or more destination sites in the district,'' Williams said.

Tackling the issue of making the district walkable

The urbanSTITCH architects tackled another big challenge: Tourists have few apparent ways to enter the district by foot or vehicle. The frontage along the busiest route -- Union Avenue -- seems nearly impermeable for the one-third mile between Sun Studio and Lauderdale.

The architects identified two existing alleys as future pathways to be lighted, landscaped, resurfaced and made more appealing. 

Escape Alley starts at Union across from The Commercial Appeal building and goes east behind the old buildings fronting Union and Marshall.

Sam Phillips Alley starts behind Sam Phillips Recording Service on Madison and angles southeast toward Sun Studio. 

"You have Sam Phillips studio here on one end of the graffiti path, and this carries you almost directly to Sun Studio,'' Derek Hukill of brg3s architects said as he led a tour of the vibrant graffiti murals along that path. "So you have two bookends of history right here in one neighborhood location.''