ZHA Debuts New Architectural Hat For NYCs Friends Of The High Line

Ahead of the High Line’s first-ever Hat Party, Zaha Hadid Architects debuts a sculptural hat in the late architect’s distinctive parametric style.

Around this time last year, Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) paired up with leather artisans Perrin Paris to create a limited-edition glove clutch collection. The $2,000-and-up handbags featured Hadid’s signature fluid curves and parametric forms in sculpted, metallic finishes. They weren’t just clutches; they were architectural objects.

Now, ZHA created the H-Line Hat for Friends of the High Line—the community group that fought to preserve the once-abandoned rail line and transform it into a sustainable public park—to help celebrate their first-ever Hat Party. The summer soireé on June 14 will help raise money to support the 450 public programs and activities organized by Friends of the High Line, who also oversee maintenance and operations for the park.

The H-Line Hat was designed to ‘celebrate Friends of the High Line’s ongoing commitment to the community’

Led by senior designer Patrik Schumacher (who coined the term “parametricism” to describe Hadid’s non-linear, avant-garde style), the new H-Line Hat features white and bold blue gradients and intricately designed cut-outs. The right side swoops upward in an elegant curve, while the back portion comes down over the neck in a dramatic V-shape.

The sculptural shape of the hat was inspired by Zaha Hadid Architects’ futuristic residential building at 520 West 28th Street, which neighbors the High Line Park. The building, which was Zaha Hadid’s first and only project in New York City, features a facade of rounded steel and glass, with interlocking chevrons. According to ZHA’s, the “fluid chevrons of 520 West 28th’s facade weave up the building, conveying its split levels and demarcating each residence within. The H-Line Hat echoes these chevrons, weaving around the wearer with open and closed forms.”

H-Line Hat designed by Zaha Hadid Architects

Local milliners will be auctioning off their custom designs to help raise money for Friends of the High Line, including KOKIN (Blooming on the High Line), Gigi Burris Millinery (Park After Dark Hat), and Christine A. Moore Millinery (City Skyline Hat) for the event on June 14.

Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.

Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.

We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.