This is the first skyscraper project for Swiss architects, although not the first luxury residential building in New York, designed in their workshop. But if "40 Bond Street" was inspired by the historical buildings of the surrounding neighborhoods, then in the case of the tower "56 Leonard Street" Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron acted on the contrary. They were more interested in a new look at the "archetypal" skyscraper, which in their project they combined with the principles of composition of classical houses of modernism, in particular, the Californian buildings of Richard Neutra, Rudolf Schindler and their followers. The blur of the boundaries of the interior and the surrounding space, characteristic of their villas, has been transferred to the center of the metropolis; These prototypes are also reminiscent of the contrast between the solid glazing of the walls and the white concrete floor slabs that form the outside terraces. The architects even compared their construction to “a stack of houses in the sky”. This comparison is even more pertinent because each of the 145 apartments will differ from the others in the configuration of its plan, since each floor will be slightly shifted relative to the vertical axis of the building and other tiers. The result is a vibrant, dynamic, vibrating façade surface that is strikingly different from standard polished glass. The living spaces will be part of the urban landscape that opens from the height of the 57-storey tower, and even the Atlantic Ocean can be seen from the balconies and terraces of the building.
Anish Kapoor's sculpture specially commissioned for this building will be a special touch designed to lure buyers of apartments in "56 Leonard Street": a huge "capsule" of polished steel will be installed on the street, under the protruding ceilings of the first floor.
The construction is planned to be fully completed by the end of autumn 2010.
