Brooklyn Tower vs 111 West 57th Street

Comparing the Brooklyn Tower and the 111 West 57th Street is especially interesting because they share much in common. Both rise in New York, NY both were designed by SHoP Architects, and they were completed just one year apart.

This overlap gives us a unique opportunity to understand how SHoP Architects approached different commissions in the same urban context and historical context during a short period.

The 111 West 57th Street is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 1427ft (435m) with 84 floors above ground, while the Brooklyn Tower reaches 1033ft (315m) with 74 floors above ground.

Of course, each project may have faced different briefs or regulatory constraints, which we don't really know about and could also explain the outcome.

Both the Brooklyn Tower and the 111 West 57th Street were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Contemporary style.

At the time, this style was at the height of its popularity. So SHoP Architects followed what was in many ways expected at the time, producing designs that fit comfortably within contemporary architectural norms rather, than breaking with convention.

Both the Brooklyn Tower and the 111 West 57th Street are primarily residential towers, serving similar roles in the urban fabric.

In terms of capacity, the Brooklyn Tower offers 550 apartments, while the 111 West 57th Street provides 60 units.

Both the Brooklyn Tower and the 111 West 57th Street rely on a Frame structural system.

A frame structure uses a grid of columns and beams to carry the building's loads. This frees the walls from structural duties, allowing for flexible floor plans and larger windows.

They also employ the same type of facade, a Curtain Wall facade.

A curtain wall is a non-load-bearing facade hung from the structural frame. It is anchored to floor slabs and transfers only its own weight and wind loads, allowing for sleek, glassy exteriors.