VIA 57 West , Tetrahedron

Douglas  Durst's   grandfather arrived from  Austria Hungary   penniless  and  eventually became a very successful real estate manager and developer founding the Durst Organization in 1915.  
In May 2010, Douglas Durst, former Vice President Al Gore, and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg officially opened the Bank of America Tower. It was the first high-rise commercial tower to receive LEED platinum rating in the United States. The same year Durst with his wife, Susanne, a native of Denmark visited the studio of a well known  architect Bjarke Ingels.  And  Durst  commissioned Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) to bring a new residential typology to Manhattan.

VIA 57 West  (625 West 57th Street ) was finished in 2016. According to The New York Times, the name was chosen "because the southbound West Side Highway slopes down as drivers enter the city, right at the spot where the building is situated.




The building is a hybrid between the European perimeter block and a traditional Manhattan high-rise. West 57th has a unique shape that combines the advantages of both: the compactness and efficiency of a courtyard building providing density, a sense of intimacy and security, with the airiness and the expansive views of a skyscraper.(....)
The 800,000-square-foot  behemoth   with  709 units on the 32 stories   mainly has   rental studio and one-bedroom apartments. These types of developments are targeted toward young professionals making low six-figure salaries who aren’t quite ready to buy, Durst said.

  It likes  almost entirely self-contained Epcot-like mini-city.  Renters will rarely have to leave the building. It is  of Manhattan’s largest rental complexes, with a the 25,000-square-foot interior   central courtyard  which is inspired by the classic Copenhagen urban oasis and was  designed to look like a miniature Central Park.

There is also a 25-yard indoor swimming pool overlooking the Hudson River, a half-size basketball court, a gym, a golf simulator, a screening room, a nautically themed residents’ lounge and a nearly 300-car garage.
“We knew we had to build a special building in this location because we’re so visible both from the highway and from across the river,” said Jordan Barowitz, a spokesman for the Durst family. “We also had to make it really compelling to convince people to live this far west.”

 “My father doesn’t like people calling it a ‘pyramid,’ ” said  developer Alexander Durst, son of   Douglas Durst. “It’s a tetrahedron.”
 The renting price now is   $3,440 per month for a small one bedroom. If you have more money in your valet maybe you can afford   a four bedroom four bath  for $12,800