116 John Street Building vs 2 Park Avenue Building

Comparing the 116 John Street Building and the 2 Park Avenue Building is interesting because they both stand in New York, NY, and were completed within 3 years of each other, but they were designed by different architects.

This offers a unique glimpse at how rival designers approached projects in the same city during the same era.

These two towers present an interesting contrast in their proportions. The 2 Park Avenue Building rises higher at 361ft (110m), while the 116 John Street Building reaches 0ft (m). However, the 116 John Street Building accommodates more floors with 35 levels above ground, compared to 28 floors in the 2 Park Avenue Building.

This suggests different approaches to interior space design. The 2 Park Avenue Building has an average floor-to-floor height of approximately 3.9m, while the 116 John Street Building has more compact floors averaging around 0m each. The taller building's more generous floor heights might indicate grander interior spaces, higher ceilings, or different programmatic requirements.

These different proportions likely reflect the specific needs each building was designed to serve, whether driven by zoning regulations, client requirements, or the intended use of the spaces within. The contrast shows how architects can achieve different spatial experiences even when working with similar overall building scales.

Both the 116 John Street Building and the 2 Park Avenue Building were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Art Deco style.

At the time, this style was at the height of its popularity. So both Louis Allen Abramson and Buchanan & Kahn Architects followed what was in many ways expected of them, producing designs that fit comfortably within contemporary architectural norms, rather than breaking with convention.

The 116 John Street Building is primarily residential, while the 2 Park Avenue Building is primarily commercial.

Originally, the 116 John Street Building was designed for commercial, but over time it was converted to residential. The 2 Park Avenue Building by contrast has maintained its original role.

These two towers illustrate the many possible ways to combine structure and enclosure in skyscraper design.