Work Starts On New York Jenga Block

Fresh off their 2008 Olympic Stadium triumph Herzog & de Meuron have turned their eye to a deconstructionalist apartment block in New York City named 56 Leonard Street.

Standing in the heart of Manhattan in the trendy Tribeca neighbourhood, the 57 storey tower will have 145 apartments, each pitched at the top end of the market with prices going from a mere $3.5 million all the way up to $33 million making it one of the Big Apple's most expensive addresses.

The architects have basically designed a tower that is a series of cantilevers stacked on top of each other from a central core creating a hotchpotch of fully glazed pods erupting left and right like a game of Jenga as the general mass of the building tapers nearer the top.

All the luxury amenities one would expect for a price of this will be on offer for residents from a luxurious 6 metre tall lobby they can welcome guests in covered with black granite to a 23 metre long pool, a cinema and an outdoor sundeck they can enjoy the summer heat on.

Herzog & de Meuron have previously worked on the Tate Modern in London which saw the renovation of the decrepit Bankside Power Station into a popular art gallery. The pride of it, the turbine hall has been used since to huge large sculptures including a 160 metre long piece by Anish Kapoor.

Again Kapoor's work will be used in conjunction with Herzog & de Meuron. Here he's been commissioned by the developer, Alexico Group, to create a large stainless steel work that will be squashed into the base of the tower creating an interesting space.

Construction work on the project has just kicked off and it will be completed two years from now.