Constructed by rotating structural slabs from axis and comprising cantilevers, protruding balconies, and profiled slab corners, 56 Leonard Street will appear something like a Brobdingnagian stack of glass Jenga pieces or a flamboyant nod to architecture’s Metabolism movement. This irregular arrangement of blocks yields a different floor plan for each of the 145 condo units.

Above the double-height lobby—under whose shifting volumes artist Anish Kapoor will slip a giant, kidney-shaped mirrored sculpture—and a private parking garage on the second level, the building divides into several zones. The lowest, contained within four floors that the architects have dubbed “the townhouses,” is articulated to relate to the immediate context and includes amenity spaces such as a 75-foot-long pool and adjoining sundeck, film screening room, and conference and fitness centers. One- to five-bedroom residences populate floors eight through 45, while the top nine stories, seemingly precariously stacked, contain 10 full- and half-floor penthouses ranging in size from 3,650 to 6,380 square feet.

Herzog de Meuron were responsible for the design of the “Bird’s Nest” Olympic Stadium in Bejing.

Production of the first steel for the Freedom Tower began this week at a plant in Differdange, Luxembourg that specializes in producing the heaviest I-beams available in the world, called "Jumbo Sections." Arcelor, one of the world’s largest steel companies, is making the high-strength, "grade 65" steel columns that are being supplied for this project. Despite being one of the smallest countries in the world, Luxembourg is a heavyweight in terms of steel production. Historically, the presence of rich iron ore reserves in the south and the use of modern techniques makes steel producing and processing a booming sector for the country.

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Rebuilding at the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan began 4 1/2 years after the Twin Towers were destroyed by suicide hijackers who flew passenger planes into them.

The 1,776-foot (540-meter) tower will be among the tallest in the world.

“We are not going to just build low in the face of a war against terror,” New York Gov. George Pataki said. “We are going to soar to new heights and reclaim New York”s skyline.”

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