High times on the Highline

The Highline has played a major part of the restructuring of the west side of Manhattan, and to think that a few years ago it was an abandoned railroad that became the pet project of a few dedicated Manhattanites called the Friends of the Highline.

What is really genius is the way Diller Scofidio & Renfro together with Field Operations managed to translate and retain the abandonedness of it, while completely redesigning the place as a fabulous public space, dare I say it, as a brand new ruin.




And suddenly you are walking on the highline and there's even architecture to look at, which is really new for NY.

Like this housing by Jean Nouvel with the somehow mesmerising facade treatment.(perhaps even a bit scary if you look at it every day)

next to the Shigeru Ban garage door lofs , sitting next to the familiar Gehry office building.

all together making a sort of dysfunctional family one enjoys to look at

as the sun goes down reflected on the now perfectly located Phillips de Pury showroom, 

and looking the other way, a view you never had from a public space in New York, unless you went all the way to the river

Further along the "coast", we saw the great Spencer Sweeny "show" with a different performance every day at Gavin Brown

a few days later followed by the almost opposite but equally great exhibition of Silke Otto Knapp's eerie painting. 

Another night I went to The National Arts Club to listen to Mr Renfro talk about everything apart from Lincoln Center (and the Highline of course).

NAC has to be one of the weirdest decors ever, ready for a Casa Vogue photoshoot.

and finally a few more gems from MOMA:

Two amazing models of Best stores 

by SITE of course

and a great model of Dome House by Paolo Soleri, so far away from anything New or New York