Dia May Go High Lining

There's some scintillating High Line news: The New York Times reports that Dia Art will move its galleries from Chelsea to the entrance of the High Line at Washington and Gansevoort Streets:

The city owns 820 Washington Street and is supporting Dia's proposed museum, which must go through a public review and be approved by the city. Plans call for possibly demolishing the existing structure, an old meatpacking facility now in disrepair, and building a simple two-story museum with 45,000 square feet of gallery space on two floors. Dia's proposal includes provisions to expand the Gansevoort Meat Market on the West Street side of the building, said Michael Govan, director of Dia.

Further, people will be able to enter the museum from the High Line, the very idea of which makes Gothamist ooh and aah, because it raises the possibility of a different kind of vertical city, with layers of levels, like from Metropolis or any other sci-fi movie; we're still waiting for levitating Jetsons-like space cars. The Dia wants to create a space similar to the Dia Beacon, "a series of simple, raw spaces with skylights rather than a fancy architect-designed monument." Take that, Guggenheim/Krens/Gehry! The project is contingent upon a lot of approval, but our fingers are crossed.

View preliminary designs for the High Line. And check out a comparison of museum styles from two years ago, when the Dia Beacon opened.