High Line's ipe bench sparks debate on material origins and reuse

The High Line park in New York City, designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, originally used ipe wood from the Brazilian Amazon for its iconic benches, chosen for its durability. This sparked controversy over timber certification. The article traces the global journey of materials: Saharan dust carries phosphorus to the Amazon, sustaining ipe growth; Dubai imported sand from Australia for the Burj Khalifa due to local sand being unsuitable. It discusses material passports like Buildings as Material Banks (BAMB) in Europe, which document component origins and reuse potential. Later High Line phases replaced ipe with reclaimed teak from Southeast Asian buildings, illustrating a shift from extraction to reuse. The piece questions the meaning of 'local' architecture in a globalized supply chain.