A lottery for affordably priced apartments in BIG's Manhattan housing development Via 57 West has begun, with some homes available to rent from $1,448 per month.

There are 36 affordable apartments up for grabs inside the so-called "courtscraper" – one of the most desirable addresses in Manhattan, which features a huge courtyard at its centre.

These home are being offered for considerably less than the average cost of studio apartments in the city, which is currently $2,500, according to Curbed.

Rental prices for the apartments, which face into the Hudson River, are calculated based on the occupant's annual income in relation to the Area Median Income (AMI), which for New York in 2017 is $66,800 (£52,090).

So-called affordable apartments are offered in four price bands – for tenants being paid 90, 100, 110 or 120 per cent of the AMI.

Single-occupancy studios are available from $1,448 (£1,100) per month but applicants must have an annual salary of at least $51,532 (£40,000) to qualify. In line with this, studios are priced at $1,949 (£1,520) for those earning 120 per cent of the AMI.

The minimum and maximum wage scales increase in line with the apartment's size, which range up to three bedrooms with a monthly rental cost of $2,902 (£2,260) – and are only available to those earning 20 per cent more than the AMI.

The BIG-designed residential complex has a striking tetrahedral form and metallic cladding that stands out against the more traditional skyscrapers that line the Hudson River on Manhattan's West Side. Its pointed form is designed to afford as many of the residents views out over the Hudson.

The 940,000-square-foot (87,330-square-metre) building spans a full block of the city, and also includes an indoor swimming pool, gyn, basketball court and a film screening room.

In 2015, New York real estate and architecture website 6sqft reported that a batch of 142 affordable homes within the complex had been released. It reported that subsidised rents would range from $565 per month for a studio.

Tenants then began moving into the complex in March 2016. But the suite of 36 apartments included in the new price bracket were released earlier this month through NYC Housing Connect, a search engine for affordable housing in the city.

The deadline for applicants to the scheme is 11 October 2017.

BIG's founder, Danish architect Bjarke Ingels, placed second in the inaugural Dezeen Hot List, a guide to the key players in architects and design. The completion of his first major New York project – Via 57 West – and a chain of high-profile projects played a huge factor in his ranking.

This year Ingels has seen a documentary released charting his rise to stardom, and has unveiled a spate of new projects including a pair of cactus-shaped towers overlooking a new IKEA store in Copenhagen and a subterranean museum beside a Nazi bunker in Blåvand.

Photography is by Iwan Baan.