This one would never have worked anywhere else in the city but on that specific site. The block was pretty much doomed by AT&T's switching station - hands-down the ugliest highrise in the city. At least the one Downtown is tastefully designed. If the architect were to place conventional towers here, AT&T still would've thrown off any imaginable composition with its ugly bulk. The only solution was to design something so massive and bulky that it would actually overpower AT&T's presence. And designing a good bulky building, as precarious of a task as it is, is even more difficult on this site as the other side abuts a park. The architect succeeded at coming up with a design that draws attention away from the butt-ugly AT&T, without necessarily overpowering the rest of the neighborhood or, most importantly, the park. Face it, this building would've been a complete failure on any other site in the city. Besides, it's an original design and the program is fascinating (how many other condos feature friggin stables?). And though I like the touch with the unbroken spiral of hanging gardens, the midblock bulk still seems more overpowering than necessary. Perhaps the architect could've lessened its wall-like presence by cutting significant apertures in its mid-block section (without breaking the spiral at the top).
At least more thought went into this one than into the two massive turds seen to the right in this picture:
http://cdn0.curbednetwork.com/cache/...7d37d18b_o.jpg