Herzog & de Meuron: 56 Leonard Street

Under construction

Herzog & de Meuron, 56 Leonard Street

New York, NY

Inspired by the permeability and spatial qualities of Modernist houses and the great American dream of a customized home, Herzog & de Meuron has replaced the usual extrusion of standardized skyscraper floor plates with a staggered progression of structural slabs turning slightly off axis by degrees as they ascend, creating constant variety among the apartment floor plans.

This structural arrangement of floor plates create an irregular flurry of cantilevered terraces up and down the building, making plays of light and shadow that give the tower a shimmering, animated appearance on the skyline.

The building contains five key zones ascending from street to sky: lobby, townhouse residences, amenities, tower residences, and penthouses.

Appearing to rest upon Anish Kapoor’s sculpture, a massive, reflective stainless steel piece, the building base will have the appearance of a stack of cantilevering volumes with varying degrees of transparency and opacity.

Passage : http://www.arcspace.com/architects/herzog_meuron/leonard/leonard.html
Images : http://www.arcspace.com/architects/herzog_meuron/leonard/leonard.html

Architectural Association - Project Review 2008

'Young people are fitter to invent than to judge; fitter for execution than for counsel; and more fit for new projects than for settled business.'Francis Bacon

By longstanding tradition, Projects Review is the title for this annual compendium of student work at the Architectural Association School of Architecture, consisting of a book and, in a parallel convention, our end-of-year exhibition as well as this site. Strictly speaking, neither is a project nor a review, at least in the everyday sense that architects tend to use these terms. Even the most avantgardeof settings (or intentions) can get caught up in a web of associations (convention, repetition, habit) more architectural than even our name. I would suggest that such is the case with the AA’s enduring reuse of the same title at a school whose students have uncovered countless kinds of new architectural projects by simply going against exactly this kind of precedent. more>>>

Passage from: http://www.aaschool.ac.uk/Default.aspx?section=projectsreviewsite

Screen Capture from: http://www.aaschool.ac.uk/Default.aspx?section=projectsreviewsite