Construction of 57 Story NYC Skyscraper That Looks like a Jenga Tower [Timelapse]
Construction of 57 Story NYC Skyscraper That Looks like a Jenga Tower [Timelapse]
June 20, 2017 Shane Hedmond
Standing 821 feet (250m) in the New York City skyline, the new 57-story residential tower, called 56 Leonard Street, has opened its doors to residents. The 145 condos that inhabit the high rise range in size from 1,418 square feet to 6,400 square feet and in price from $3.5 million to $50 million. Amazingly, even with those staggering prices, the developer told the New York Times that 92% of the units had sold in 2013, even though the tower was completed last year.
The architect, Herzog & de Meuron, designed the building to look like individual homes stacked on top of each other, giving the building its Jenga-like qualities. Only 5 of the 145 floor plans were the same, in order to break out of the sense of repetition that most traditional skyscrapers have.
“A careful investigation of local construction methods revealed the possibility of shifting and varying floor-slabs to create corners, cantilevers and balconies – all welcome strategies for providing individual and different conditions in each apartment,” the architect explained on their website.
Construction started on the tower in 2008, but was delayed by the US recession at the time. In 2012, construction began again before being completed in late 2016.
EarthCam recently released a timelapse video of the construction process, beginning in March 2014 to December 2016, amounting to around 33 months of footage. You can watch the video below:
