A stealthy reimagining of urban public space by Elizabeth Diller

Cities are becoming increasingly privatized: commercial real estate dominates the streets, carving up open space that once belonged to the public and selling it as a commodity to the highest bidder. Architect Elizabeth Diller explores the causes and effects of this growing threat — and takes us on tour of her groundbreaking projects aimed at creating landscapes for the public to enjoy, from the High Line in New York City to Zaryadye Park in Moscow.

For the High Line architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro co-created with Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang The Mile-Long Opera, with words and lyrics by acclaimed poets Anne Carson and Claudia Rankine. The event was a citywide public engagement project, that brought together 1,000 singers from across New York for free performances on the High Line, October 3—8, 2018.
“The Mile-Long Opera: a biography of 7 o’clock” is an ambitious, collective, free choral work that shares personal stories from hundreds of New Yorkers about life in our rapidly changing city.