32 Avenue of the Americas Building vs Rochester Times Square Building

Comparing the 32 Avenue of the Americas Building and the Rochester Times Square Building is an interesting exercise, because even though they are located in different cities (New York, NY and Rochester, NY), both were designed by Voorhees, Gmelin and Walker and finished within within 2 years of each other. This gives us the chance to see how the same architect's ideas were expressed in different urban contexts almost simultaneously.

The 32 Avenue of the Americas Building is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 430ft (131m) with 28 floors above ground, while the Rochester Times Square Building reaches 259ft (79m) with 14 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 32 Avenue of the Americas Building and the Rochester Times Square 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 Voorhees, Gmelin and Walker and Voorhees, Gmelin and Walker 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 32 Avenue of the Americas Building and the Rochester Times Square Building were designed to serve as commercial towers, and that has remained their main use since their completion, serving similar roles in the urban fabric.

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