A setback, in the specific sense of a step-back, is a step-like form of a wall or other building frontage, also termed a recession or recessed story. Importantly, one or more step-backs lowers the building's center of mass, making it more stable. A setback as a minimum one-bay indent across all stories is called a recessed bay or recess and is the more common exterior form of an alcove.
Setbacks on the pyramid of Djoser, Saqqara, Egypt
Increasing setbacks make the Empire State Building in New York taper with height.
The Malloch Building in San Francisco is stepped back along the contour of the steep side of Telegraph Hill.
New York's Daily News Building features a number of setbacks. It was designed by architect Raymond Hood in 1929. The 1916 Zoning Resolution of New York led to many soaring, setbacked towers.
A step pyramid or stepped pyramid is an architectural structure that uses flat platforms, or steps, receding from the ground up, to achieve a completed shape similar to a geometric pyramid. Step pyramids are structures which characterized several cultures throughout history, in several locations throughout the world. These pyramids typically are large and made of several layers of stone. The term refers to pyramids of similar design that emerged separately from one another, as there are no firmly established connections between the different civilizations that built them.
Stepped pyramids in Teotihuacan, Mexico
The 4100-year-old Great Ziggurat of Ur in southern Iraq
Pyramid of Djoser in 2010
Nsude Pyramid