Named one of the Best Coffee Table Books of 2015 by Bloomberg Pursuits
'The designers' detailed personal account (and manual) for High Line lovers.' – New York Times
'Oversize photographs of the construction process as well as views of the finished product offer a nuanced appreciation of the architectural efforts of James Corner Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro.' – Wall Street Journal
'A guide to the rebirth of New York City's High Line, the book shows the formerly derelict site's makeover into an alluring community space and tourist attraction.' – Time
'This comprehensive tome tells the decade-long story of the elevated park's development in the designers' and developers' own words– a unique approach for an equally unique project.' – Bloomberg Pursuits
'Comprehensive…a feat in its own right…a labour of love…Though nothing replaces being there, this book, with its abundance of photos, renderings and plans.. is an enriching accompaniment for an architect, landscape architect, designer, urban planner.' – World of Interiors
'A great book for anyone with more than a passing interest in gardening, public parks and urban architecture.' – Irish Examiner
'Documents the park's design work in detail..Flipping through its pages makes clear that, as Diller puts it, [visitors] are freed from the everyday in order to see the everyday anew.' – Surface
'A piece of performance art, a richly illustrated tour that captures not only the park's history but its blooming, buzzy feel. The photographs are breathtaking, and so is the display of plans and drawings.' – New York Times
'Consider this a behind-the-scenes glimpse, from conception to afterthoughts, provided by the architects and designers who were responsible for bringing The High Line to life.' – Metropolis
'The world's most innovative park.' – Mayor Bloomberg on The High Line
'The High Line serves up the Big Apple on a platter 30 feet high.' – Washington Post on The High Line
'Apparently imbued with almost miraculous transformational powers [The High Line] is the envy of every post-industrial city blessed or cursed with lumps of defunct infrastructure, and an image on the project mood boards of every urban regeneration consultant. ..One for the shelf of any designer whose clients now want something a bit like the High Line.' – Architecture Today
'I was captivated by this book.' – Thomas Keller, Vulture
★ 12/01/2015
Since the High Line Park opened in 2009, it's been an immensely successful tourist attraction and a popular publishing topic, too. There have been several books on the destination, but one can't imagine more exhaustive coverage than this work provides: the spine measures almost two inches thick, and the authors are the designers themselves, the principals of James Corner Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro. The book is brimming with photos and illustrations of the original High Line during its industrial phase; the renovation preplanning phase; each stage of remediation and reconstruction; and the diverse ways in which visitors use the space today. It is quite a design object: the cover evokes the park's walkway stone material. However, as the book's introduction points out, more than design, it is the stories that stand out about the High Line—its history, the activists who fought to keep it, its impact on the neighborhood, and the cultural icon it has become. VERDICT Design fanatics will spend hours studying this work and, if outside New York, will probably look into the earliest flight to see the High Line in person.
