The architect behind 53 West 53rd wanted the tower to be synonymous with New York City, to be a building that couldn’t easily be slipped into another skyline.

“A worldwide catastrophe today is the number of buildings that are parachuted because they were preconceived. Offices, housing, shopping malls all look the same,” Jean Nouvel told The Real Deal, translated from French. “If you travel around the world you won’t know where you are because buildings are rootless. They don’t have any roots.”

The starchitect — whose projects include 100 Eleventh Avenue, the Louvre Abu Dhabi and Doha Tower — sat down with TRD earlier this month to discuss his latest work on Billionaires’ Row. The project topped out this month, reaching 1,050 feet tall.

The condo tower is being developed by Hines, Pontiac Land Group and Goldman Sachs. Current prices at the tower, which has a $2.1 billion projected sellout, range from about $3 million to $42.5 million.

Video produced by Jhila Farzaneh.