This Manhattan Skyscraper Is Covered in 200,000 Tiny Aluminium Bricks

Russian studio Meganom has clad its 262 Fifth Avenue skyscraper in Manhattan with more than 200,000 laser-cut aluminium "bricks," giving the tower a rippling, water-like facade.

The bricks are most visible on a shear wall on one side of the 860-foot, 52-storey building, which is almost entirely covered by the system.

The Shear Wall | Dezeen

Bogdan Peric, chief architect for developer Five Points, said the brick scale was chosen deliberately. "They work to pull people nearer to the building," he said. "When you get closer to the brick, you see that its scale is very domestic."

Meganom worked with an Italian manufacturer to produce four distinct brick patterns, mirrored to create eight designs in total. Arrayed across the facade, they catch light and shimmer.

The bricks are functional too. Grooves built into each one channel rainwater down the facade, and every piece was anodised to resist rust.

Extruded bricks | Dezeen

Glass sections on the building's north-facing side were angled to reflect an adjacent church and the nearby Empire State Building.

Cladded New York Skyscraper reflecting a church | Dezeen

The tower's base measures just 2,211 square feet, making it one of the slimmest skyscrapers of its height in the city. It topped out in 2024 and now hosts 26 luxury residences designed by Norm Architects, with an open-air sky deck and a gold-clad oculus still under construction at the top.