While in New York city a few weeks ago one of the things I enjoyed the most was highline NYC. Its a park on an elevated former railroad track in the west of Manhatten island. In the north the high line NYC starts at west 30th street and its southern end is marked by the Standard Highline hotel near the DVF headquarters.

View onto Chrysler building from highline nyc, photo@stylecloseup.net

Wooden walkways and benches as well as grass plantings result in a beautiful nordic elegance, so reminiscent of a walk towards the beach at the German North Sea island Sylt, our favorite summer holiday destination.

photo@stylecloseup.net

The sleek elegance of the park is contrasted by the rough industrial surrounding, which is sometimes interrupted by incredible buildings. Among them InterActive Corp (IAC) Building,  an amazing glass and steel office tower, which has been designed by architect Frank Gehry. Just for reference, he is also the architect of Louis Vuitton’s Fondation, which is scheduled to open later this year in Paris and one of the 6 chosen ones to design a LV piece in honor of the brands 160ies anniversary.

View on the Frank Gehry designed IAC building from highline nyc. Frank Gehry is also the creative force behind the Fondation Louis Vuitton, which is about to open later this year in Paris. Furthermore he is one of the 6 invited to design a limited edition LV piece in honor of the brands 160th birthday. photo@stylecloseup.net

…another view onto the amazing IAC building from highline nyc.

Furthermore, the whole walkways are surrounded by cool contemporary art.

Ed Ruscha, “Honey, I twisted through more damn traffic today.” photo@stylecloseup.net

One thing that stood out for me was Josh Kline’s installation “Skittles”. From a distance its quite a normal refrigerator containing juices and smoothies. Opposite from this is a vendor, who actually sells juices. Passing by first time we did not recognize anything. However, on our way back we had a closer look at the fridge and found out that its definitely not normal. The bottles read things typical for different groups of people and the content of the bottles looked like exactly those things had been inserted. For me really cool irony regarding the juice and smoothy craze that is said to rule the city (…as a one time visitor I can’t judge whether there really is a juice craze in the city – So I have to trust in what you read everywhere…).

Josh Kline “Skittles” at highline nyc, photo@http://art.thehighline.org/project/archeo/

Actually, I guess that’s the smoothy the artist dedicated to us tourists. Starbucks – sure we were there!, Metrocard – sure we had one!, Hotel soap – no I didn’t use! Cupcakes – Of course we bought them at Magnolia bakery! Cheesecake – Sure we tried! Cronut – Sadly they were out of stock when we arrived at Dominique Ansel bakery!, photo@http://yamaslife2.wordpress.com

Turns out that again something that’s not on the top list of tourist attractions was one of the most fascinating experiences for me.

Do you know the highline park? What do you like the most about it? Are there places in NYC with a similar spirit?