56 Leonard by SheltonMindel: 2019 Best of Year Winner for Large Apartment

For some, the unmistakable glass stacks and New York City views that come standard with a home on the upper floors of the Herzog & de Meuron famed “Jenga” tower, aka 56 Leonard, would be a complete setting. But for the lower-floor residences, particularly this 9,000-square-foot two-bedroom on the sixth floor, which was put in the hands of Interior Design Hall of Fame member Lee Mindel, they are a blank canvas just waiting to be filled.

Inspired by the Anish Kapoor mirrored sculpture at the building’s entry, which is visible from the apartment’s terrace, and the client’s own stellar collection, including pieces by Zaha Hadid and Gaetano Pesce, Mindel turned the space into a gallery all its own. Sliding walls replace fixed spatial demarcations, and the resulting public spaces are furnished with Flos, Knoll, and Vitra classics. The remaining fixed walls, along with floating shelves, are tastefully appointed with art and objets.

Cheeky artificial turf appears inside, anchoring a seating arrangement, then reappears outside on the generous terrace, which, with works by Mark Fornes and Isamu Noguchi, resembles a private urban sculpture garden. “We created a relationship of indoor-outdoor spaces and interior-exterior gardens,” Mindel says, “to celebrate the building’s architecture.”

Project Team: José Marty.

> See more from the December/January 2020 issue of Interior Design