(Picture Courtesy of The Low Line)
~Big Apple City jeans/ Routes with the LIRR/ The LES lookin’ so gurrrrr/ They looked below/They looked below/Next thing you know/ RAAD went low low low low low low low~
New York City is scheduled for some seriously exciting changes. A new public park space in one of the least green parts of the City, The Lower East Side. James Ramsey and RAAD is looking to open up the city with an entirely unique space. They’re going to convert the underground Williamsburg Trolley Terminal into an underground park. Being interviewed today is Mr. Ramsey himself to clue us in on the project and the research of the historic site they plan to rejuvenate.
James Ramsey is a designer, architect, and inventor. As principal of RAAD and creator of the LowlLine, James has founded a firm that holds true to the traditional idea that design should remain informed by the craft of building and shaping materials. James’ intellectual energy and creative drive emanate through his life and his work.
James studied architecture at Yale University where he won a Bates Fellowship to study cathedral design in Europe. He then went to work as a satellite engineer for NASA, an integral part of the team that created the Pluto Fast Flyby and the Cassini satellites.
James founded RAAD in 2004. RAAD now consists of three divisions—products, architecture and urban design. James closely oversees each of these aspects and personally holds several patents for inventions. His products range from mobius-loop furniture to modernist chicken coops, to even a line of shoes named after him for Hermes, while his architectural work runs the gamut from luxury residential work to institutional scale commercial projects across the world. RAAD’s recently launched urban design division focuses on creating community-driven green spaces in some of New York’s most congested neighborhoods.
James is also the creator of the LowLine, an initiative to create the world’s first underground park, and the inventor of the solar technology that makes it possible. The LowLine seeks to transform an abandoned NYC trolley terminal into a vibrant green space with natural sunlight. More info can be found at www.thelowline.com. James is the founder of a related non-profit group, the Underground Development Foundation, where he serves as President.
James is an expert at North-Mississippi-style guitar. An avid and accomplished chef, he has been featured in Bon Appétit and selected for the NYC Burger Championship. Besides being a card-carrying member of the New York Mycological ,Society, the Origami USA organization, as well as several Paleontology societies,, James is a contributor to Oz Architectural Journal, and following the traditional path, is a guest lecturer in architecture at Yale, the Chicago Ideas Conference, and Columbia, Bloomberg Design Awards, The Genius but can also be found discussing everything from Robert Moses to sea foraging at Bloomberg Gala, New York’s Tenement Museum, and Google. Much of his spare time is also spent taming circus bears.
Trowel Points 