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Zigzagging towers on New York waterfront inspired by ancient Mesopotamia

A pair of zigzagging towers which appear as if they have been torn apart have been designed by Dutch firm Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) for Greenpoint in New York.

Located at the northern-most tip of Brooklyn, Greenpoint Landing Block D comprises two residential towers which will extend Eagle Street and Dupont Street into a new waterfront esplanade.

OMA says the design of the buildings "rise together on a trapezoidal site cut by the angle of the shoreline", and add that, similar to two dancers, they "simultaneously lean into and away from one another".

The towers will be linked by a bridge containing a pool and fitness centre.

The architect says the project is similar to a Ziggurat, a terraced temple built by the ancient Mesopotamians and Elamites. OMA says the buildings are a "ziggurat and its inverse", which are linked "by the void between them".

The towers and podium will be clad with precast concrete panels carved into a series of angled planes, reacting differently to the movement of the sun throughout the day.

It was recently announced that OMA were to redesign Sotheby’s New York, design a field of columns engraved with stories from Arabic scholars in Dubai and design a building with a road running through it in Copenhagen.

Images courtesy of OMA

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