Trump Tower

The Trump Tower is a Modern Style skyscraper designed between 1978 and 1980 by Swanke Hayden Connell Architects, with Der Scutt as lead architect, and built between 1980 and 1983, for a reported $300 million dollars, in New York, NY.

Its precise street address is 721 5th Avenue, New York, NY. You can also find it on the map here.

Some sources claim the tower has 58 floors, while other claim it has 68. The discrepancy originates from a marketing stunt to make the public belive the building is taller than it actually is. From a structural point of view the tower has 58 floors, however in the elevator panels some floors have been omitted, making the 68th.

Swanke Hayden Connell Architects, with Der Scutt as the lead architect, was the architecture firm in charge of the architectural design.

That being said, architecture is a complex discipline involving many professionals from different fields, without whom this building would have not been possible. We will surely be leaving out a lot of names here, but here is a list of the people we do know also played their part in making the Trump Tower a reality:

• WSP Cantor Seinuk in charge of Structural Engineering
• HRH Construction as the Main Contractor
• Trump Organization as the Main Developer

The Trump Tower can be categorized as a Modern Style building.

By their own nature, the Modern and International Styles can still look current, even in contemporary buildings. So that's not to say the Trump Tower appeared old or outdated when it was completed, but Swanke Hayden Connell Architects certainly did not take many risks when it came to choosing the design style. This made the building look more "classic" and integrated within the city's architecture.

The Trump Tower uses a frame structure made of concrete columns and steel and concrete slabs.

A frame structure uses a combination of beams and columns to sustain the building's weight. The walls in this case are non-load bearing, which allows for more flexibility when distributing the interior spaces.

The facade uses a non-load bearing curtain wall system. This means the curtain wall modules are anchored to the building's structural frame, typically by being attached to the edge of the floor slabs. The curtain wall system connects to the slabs using brackets, anchors, and mullions, which transfer the loads imposed by wind and temperature changes, to the building's primary structural elements.

This setup allows the curtain wall to accommodate differential movement between the facade and the structural frame, such as thermal expansion, floor deflection, or sway from wind forces. This system's integration with the slab edges also allows for continuous insulation and weatherproofing layers.

The tower structure also features a hat-shaped truss at the top, which ties the exterior columns to the concrete core, improving the building's stability

From an aesthetic point of view, the facade features a curtain wall that creates a continuous surface of dark reflective glass and thin tinted aluminum frames.

The building's footprint is rectangular, however, a series of setbacks quickly start deconstructing the volume, creating a series of terraces and ultimately giving the rest of the tower it's distinctive sawtooth shape, 28-sided facade.

Another material found at the Trump Tower is Breccia Pernice marble, which provide shades of pink, peach, rose and orange to the lobby's floors and walls.