New York is known for its imposing tall buildings with their inventive and original design and is home to over 7.000 completed high-rise buildings of at least 115 feet. But also, over the past decade, super-skinny skyscrapers, or “pencil towers”, have begun rising in New York City.

SHoP Architects' 111 West 57th Street (also known as the Steinway Tower) has been recently completed and has become the skinniest skyscraper in the world with a height to width ratio of 24:1 and a width of 28.5 meters. It stands tall at 1,428 feet as one of the tallest buildings in the western hemisphere, next to the World Trade Center and Central Park Tower in New York. 

Photo: unsplash.com/parrish

The tower was designed by New York-based SHoP Architects and began construction in 2013, with Greg Pasquarelli, director of SHoP Architects, calling the building "a work of extraordinary size and epic grandeur," CNN reported. Construction of the tower was completed in 2021 amid many controversies and incidents.

The new Manhattan landmark building is located along a series of billion-dollar buildings on the northside of 57th Street near Sixth Avenue and includes 60 apartments on the 84 floors of the tower.

As the Steinway Tower opens its doors to new residents, you should be aware that apartment prices range from $ 7.75 million for a studio apartment to $ 66 million for a penthouse overlooking Central Park at the top of the tower. All the 60 apartments offer an all-around panoramic view.

The tower's facade, which is mainly glass, was designed by BuroHappold, and it includes blocks of terracotta, a material that appears to change color and texture when seen in different lights and from different angles.