British sculptor Anish Kapoor's mirrored metal sculpture is set to be integrated to Herzog & de Meuron's residential high-rise, titled 56 Leonard Street, in Tribeca, New York. 

Placed at the base corner of the tower, the specially commissioned installation will be the first permanent work of Kapoor built in New York. The oval shaped installation resembles Kapoor's previous design - Cloud Gate -  known as "The Bean", which was installed in 2004 at Millennium Park, Chicago. 

Anish Kapoor first released renderings in 2008 to integrate to the 56 Leonard Street, a vertical glass expression of sculpted surfaces, cantilevers and sparkling glass by Herzog & de Meuron. But the fabrication of the installation was delayed due to difficulties in finding a cost-effective way to join the metal sections of the work while ensuring a flawless finish, according to The Art Newspaper. 

Now Alexico Group, the development firm behind Herzog & de Meuron's 56 Leonard Street, confirmed that the landmark is set to be installed to the tower in the second week of November, reports The Art Newspaper.

"We are excited to be starting the installation of this work that completes our vision for 56 Leonard in Tribeca and will draw arts and culture lovers to its magical seamless surface," Izak Senbahar, president of Alexico Group, said in a statement.

It was an unprecedented collaboration between artist and architects by Herzog & de Meuron to install this seamless structure at its base from the start of the project. 

Image © Iwan Baan

"The relationship between building and sculpture is so closely cultivated that they appear to form a single unified object, exemplifying true synergy between art and architecture," said 56 Leonard Street. 

The 60-story structure contains 145 spatially innovative homes visibly stack upon on another to create a cascading skin. The project is conceived as a stack of individual houses, where each house is unique and identifiable within the overall stack. A careful investigation of local construction methods revealed the possibility of shifting and varying floor-slabs to create corners, cantilevers and balconies – all welcome strategies for providing individual and different conditions in each apartment. 

At the base of the tower, the stack reacts to the scale and specific local conditions on the street, while the top staggers and undulates to merge with the sky. In-between, the staggering and variation in the middle-levels is more controlled and subtle, like in a column shaft.

Image © Alexander Severin

Kapoor's "enigmatic balloon-like form" will perfectly complement the geometry of the tower. The developers described the installation, it will weight the 40-ton, and will be reaching 48 ft-long (14,63 meters) and 19ft-high (5,79 meters).

They added: " the installation will seemingly both prop up the building and be squashed by it". 

"Anish Kapoor’s talent is matched by the imagination of Herzog & de Meuron and watching them work together on this design has been an incredible experience. We are looking forward to sharing their work with the public soon," Alexico Group added.

All images © Anish Kapoor unless otherwise stated.

> via The Art Newspaper & 56 Leonard Street