Matteo Pericoli’s "Manhattan Unfurled" was published by Random House in October 2001, meaning it still features the Twin Towers. A short note from Pericolo from that month is appended to the essay by Paul Goldberger in the booklet accompanying the concertina panoramas: “The drawings in this book were completed in December 2000. They belong to another time in history, since the skyline is no longer the same.” He also wrote on his website twenty years after the book came out that “the instant the book came out, it was already a memory of another era.” Today, not only has the WTC been nearly fully rebuilt, the first phase of Hudson Yards has been completed, residential towers along the East River have gone up, and other buildings and landscapes have reshaped how Manhattan is seen from the rivers that surround it. Yet, even more dramatic are the supertalls that have redefined the skyline at the south end of Central Park, which also relates to Pericolo, since he drew the view in 2003 in "Manhattan Within," a 360-panorama of the skyline around Central Park. Drawing may be faster than building, but the changes in NYC over the last twenty years have been especially dramatic and rapid. ( )

Manhattan Unfurled is not really a book at all; it is a work of art encased in covers. It can be opened from either the right or the left. The west side of the island is shown on one side of the panel, or page, and on the other side is the east. The single page has been folded accordion-style into 24 panels, which can be looked at by paging through them, or by pulling it out into its full 22-foot length. Fantastically, every building on the skyline has been sketched, just as it is seen from the Hudson river. It took the artist two and a half years and 890 inches to complete the drawings. The book was published in 2001, and if you look close you can see the Twin Towers standing tall and proud right where they should be...

A pamphlet is included in the slipcase which shows each panel in miniature, labeled with the names of the buildings. An accompanying essay by critic Paul Goldberger is very interesting. ( )