The new asymmetric pyramid-shaped apartment, dubbed ‘West 57’, is BIG’s first US project. Bjarke Ingels has been commissioned by Durst Fetner Residential (DFR) to design the huge 600-unit residential building in New York.
According to Ingels, the new building is conceived as a fuse of two apparently incompatible styles: a European-style, low-rise apartment block encircling a courtyard, and a Manhattan tower-on-a-podium. The scheme capitulates something that looks like neither and behaves like both.
Named after its location on West 57th Street between 11th and 12th Avenues, ‘the West 57’ will feature a slope offering a transition in scale between the low-rise structures to the south and the high-rise residential towers to the north and west of the site. The sloping roof will be characterised by a simple ruled surface perforated by terraces. The wall’s fishbone pattern will be reflected in its elevations. The courtyard will open views towards the Hudson River.
The building’s profile resembles a dramatically skewed box soaring 467ft at the northeast tip, and subsequently plunging at the other three corners. A large courtyard will be featured in the centre. Every residential unit in the building will be benefitted with outside views and ample natural light.
The residential scheme is considered to be a striking addition to Manhattan’s skyline when it rises in 2015.
