56 Leonard Street Tower on Manhattan

The 56 Leonard Street tower, built on Manhattan, USA, according to a design by the studio Herzog & de Meuron, challenges the faceless uniformity of typical residential high-rises that have filled global megacities.

The idea that made this vision possible is to view the building as a stack of individually distinct houses, each unique and standing out within the overall structure.

Thorough research enabled the calculation of a system of shifts and variation in floor slabs to form angles, balconies, and overhangs — all contributing to individuality in every apartment.

Connected together, these buildings in the sky form a cohesive stack, a kind of vertical neighborhood — similar to New York city districts with their characteristic blend of community and private privacy.

Photographs: Hufton+Crow