General Electric Building vs 20 Exchange Place Building

Comparing the General Electric Building and the 20 Exchange Place Building is especially interesting because they share much in common. Both rise in New York, NY both were designed by Cross & Cross, and they were completed in the same year.

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

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 General Electric Building reaches 643ft (196m) with 50 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 General Electric Building and the 20 Exchange Place 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 Cross & Cross followed what was in many ways expected at the time, producing designs that fit comfortably within contemporary architectural norms rather, than breaking with convention.

The General Electric Building is primarily commercial, while the 20 Exchange Place Building is primarily residential.

Originally, the 20 Exchange Place Building was designed for commercial, but over time it was converted to residential. The General Electric Building by contrast has maintained its original role.

The 20 Exchange Place Building offers 762 residential units.

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