Bjarke Ingels met the New York developer Douglas Durst in the early 2000s when he was in Denmark.
Durst, who visited Ingels' Copenhagen studio in February 2010, found him very inventive, noting that unlike other architects, "What was striking about his work was that each design was so different, and designed for the locale."

In spring 2010, Durst Fetner Residential commissioned BIG to bring a new residential typology to Manhattan.
In 2011, BIG opened an office in New York to supervise W57's development and construction.
According to The New York Times, the name was chosen "because the southbound West Side Highway slopes down as drivers enter the city, right at the spot where the building is situated", serving as an entrance to Manhattan "via 57th".
Bjarke Ingels met the New York developer Douglas Durst in the early 2000s when he was in Denmark. Durst, who visited Ingels' Copenhagen studio in February 2010, found him very inventive, noting that unlike other architects, "What was striking about his work was that each design was so different, and designed for the locale."
In spring 2010, Durst Fetner Residential commissioned BIG to bring a new residential typology to Manhattan. In 2011, BIG opened an office in New York to supervise W57's development and construction. According to The New York Times, the name was chosen "because the southbound West Side Highway slopes down as drivers enter the city, right at the spot where the building is situated", serving as an entrance to Manhattan "via 57th".
VIA 57 West