News: construction has begun on Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Rockwell Group's skyscraper at 15 Hudson Yards – the first residential tower in New York's new city quarter on stilts.

The proposed 277-metre skyscraper is one of two all-residential high rises in the $20 billion (£13 billion) Hudson Yards development masterplanned by Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF) for a pair of sites on Manhattan's far West Side.

Underway at the north-east corner of 30th Street and 11th Avenue, the slim tapered design was developed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro in collaboration with Rockwell Group, and is set to offer 385 sale and rental residences in its 70 storeys.

It will be the first residential building to open at Hudson Yards, with completion slated for 2018, and will connect up to the Culture Shed – a new performance venue expected to host the New York Fashion Week, by the same architects.

Diller, Scofidio and Renfro are best known for their role in the hugely popular High Line park, which they say has changed the city and, despite numerous attempts, will be difficult to repeat elsewhere.

"What makes it so successful is that it's not an architectural statement," Scofidio told Dezeen last month.

Hudson Yards is the largest private real estate development in the history of the United States, according to developer Related Companies.

It will consist of 16 towers, raised up on a pair of platforms above 30 active train tracks. The 35,000-ton weight on these platforms will be supported by 300 caissons, leaving plenty of space for trains to pass underneath on their way into Penn Station.

The second residential tower proposed for the Eastern Rail Yards is 35 Hudson Yards, designed by David M Childs of SOM, which is also due to start on site before the end of the year and will feature 79 storeys.

The first office tower in the development – 10 Hudson Yards by KPF– got underway in 2012 and is expected to top out next summer, while the tallest of the 16 buildings will be 30 Hudson Yards, also designed by KPF with a proposed height of 391 metres.

The entire Hudson Yards project is due to finish in 2024. It will also boast over 100 shops, a 175-room hotel, a school and a large public square featuring a sculpture by Thomas Heatherwick.

These skyscrapers form part of a series of new towers underway in the American city, many of which were shown in a series of renderings unveiled earlier this month. Others underway include the skinny 411-metre tower by SHoP Architects and Fosters' new tower for 610 Lexington Avenue, while One World Trade Center by SOM has just completed.