LEGOs coming to the High Line

Friends of the High Line has announced that Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson will be presenting "The collectivity project, an installation of white LEGO bricks that features an imaginary cityscape conceived and designed by the public," from May 29 until September 30 on the High Line at West 30th Street. The collectivity project was previously installed in public squares in Tirana, Albania (2005, photo below), Oslo, Norway (2006), and Copenhagen, Denmark (2008).


[Olafur Eliasson, The collectivity project, 2005. Installation view at 3rd Tirana Biennale, Albania, 2005. Photo by Olafur Eliasson. Courtesy the artist; neugerriemschneider, Berlin; and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York.]

In addition to the public – meaning kids like my six-year-old daughter – being able to play with the LEGOs,

"a selection of architectural firms involved in current or ongoing projects in the surrounding neighborhood – BIG–Bjarke Ingles Group, David M. Schwarz Architects, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, James Corner Field Operations, OMA New York, Renzo Piano Building Workshop, Robert A.M. Stern Architects, Selldorf Architects, SHoP, Steven Holl Architects – have been invited to collaborate by building one visionary structure or construction for the opening of the project. In the cooperative spirit of the project, these initial buildings will become part of the collective architecture that the public builds over the four months of the project’s installation."

So starting Friday, you'll have the chance to modify a design by one of these firms, just another reason to head to the High Line this summer. Oh, and I'm giving a walking tour of the High Line on Saturday, May 30 – tickets available here.