The Highline
Chief Urban Designer, New York City Department of City Planning
New York, NY

The High Line in New York City is the most popular park in the world. As Chief Urban Designer at the New York City Department of City Planning, Washburn led the city's urban design effort to complete the project all the way to 32nd Street and integrate it into the Hudson Yards. Having been present at the High Line's inception while still serving as President of the Pennsylvania Station Redevelopment Corporation, Washburn had organized a city, state and federal panel in June of 2000 that year to help the nascent project. A few years later, he found himself in a position as Chief Urban Designer to advance the High Line north into the Hudson Yards.

As part of the Department of City Planning team that implemented the West Chelsea Special District, Washburn became an expert in the process of planning, zoning, and air rights transfers that allowed the High Line to transform an entire neighborhood. The results of that experience and research are summarized in a chapter on the High Line in Washburn's city planning book, The Nature of Urban Design: A New York Perspective on Resilience.