40 Wall Street Building vs Nelson Tower

Comparing the 40 Wall Street Building and the Nelson Tower is especially interesting because they share much in common. Both rise in New York, NY both were designed by H.Craig Severance, and they were completed just one year apart.

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

The 40 Wall Street Building is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 928ft (283m) with 70 floors above ground, while the Nelson Tower reaches 561ft (171m) with 46 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.

The 40 Wall Street Building was designed in the Neogothic style, while the Nelson Tower reflects the principles of Art Deco.

The 40 Wall Street Building represents a late expression of the Neogothic, a style already in decline in 1930 when it was completed. By contrast, the Nelson Tower followed the then mainstream Art Deco, embodying the dominant architectural direction of its time.

Both the 40 Wall Street Building and the Nelson Tower 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.