I'm not a fan of Diller and Scofidio; and the High Line is full of mistakes, if you can call them that. It's an elevated boardwalk, over-designed in the name of art when simple responsiveness would have been enough. The design, from the furniture and railings to the direction of the decking, has been built and installed to accentuate it's structure as a stripe. It speeds you up when it should slow you down; the northern half is reduced to a scenic highway to nowhere. On saturday it was crowded so stopping for a moment caused a traffic jam.

Benches and rest areas aligned at an angle mimicking exit ramps, again "flowing" in the direction of the walkway. The rhetoric of foreward motion even at rest.

Foliage locked off, to be looked at.

One of two sets of risers, group seating facing outwards, for people observing but not communicating. The second is on an overpass; you can sit and watch the cars slide under you.

Once of the few times I saw people facing one another in a group.

It's not a question of whether it should have been done or not, though even at that level there's a lot that I doubt has been thought through. Or maybe it has. An architect I know is betting that the southern half at least will be private or semi-private in 10 years, with 24 hour direct access from hotels and buildings, but not from the street.