20 Exchange Place Building vs 21 West Street Building

Comparing the 20 Exchange Place Building and the 21 West Street Building is interesting because they both stand in New York, NY, and were completed in the same year, 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.

The 20 Exchange Place Building is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 774ft (236m) with 57 floors above ground, while the 21 West Street Building reaches 374ft (114m) with 31 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 20 Exchange Place Building and the 21 West Street 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 Cross & Cross and Starrett & van Vleck followed what was in many ways expected of them, producing designs that fit comfortably within contemporary architectural norms, rather than breaking with convention.

Both the 20 Exchange Place Building and the 21 West Street Building are primarily residential towers, serving similar roles in the urban fabric.

However, both of them have shifted purpose since their completion. The 20 Exchange Place Building evolved from commercial to residential, while the 21 West Street Building moved from commercial to residential.

In terms of capacity, the 20 Exchange Place Building offers 762 apartments, while the 21 West Street Building provides 293 units.

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