When we were in the city, leaving the Hunger Memorial, I looked up the street and saw this building which I couldn't quite believe. I took this photograph, and then needed to research what the building was, because we didn't walk up to where it was. Turns out this is an amazing work of architecture. It is called 56 Leonard Street and was designed by the Swiss architectural firm of Herzog & de Meuron. The 60 story building is 821 feet tall, and has 145 residences.
The amenities, spanning over the 9th and 10th floors, include a 75-foot long lap pool with a hot tub and sundeck overlooking the Hudson, a fitness studio, lounge, screening room, and a private dining room. Near the top you can see terraces with projecting balconies. This extraordinary tower appears to begin to disintegrate as it rises, fading from a solid extrusion to an ethereal crown, solid melting into air. If you want to buy a penthouse you should know that one of them went for $48,500,000! It has gotten the nickname "Jenga Tower" because of the game of that name. Players take turns removing one block at a time from a tower constructed of 54 blocks. Each block removed is then placed on top of the tower, creating a progressively taller and unstable structure. Yeah, this building looks just like that!
2 comments:
Extraordinary! Perfect nickname. betsey
No doubt this is a very interesting building, but I couldn't help but think that even a slight miscalculation of balance forces might result in a catastrophic failure someday - just like real Jenga Blocks!
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