461 Fifth Avenue Building vs Gas Company Tower

Comparing the 461 Fifth Avenue Building and the Gas Company Tower is an interesting exercise, because even though they are located in different cities (New York, NY and Los Angeles, CA), both were designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill 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 Gas Company Tower is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 748ft (228m) with 52 floors above ground, while the 461 Fifth Avenue Building reaches 377ft (115m) with 26 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 461 Fifth Avenue Building and the Gas Company Tower were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Postmodernism style.

The Gas Company Tower was designed at a moment when the Postmodernism style was already in decline, making it more of a lingering expression of the movement. In contrast, the 461 Fifth Avenue Building was built when the style still carried greater cultural weight.

Both the 461 Fifth Avenue Building and the Gas Company 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.

The two buildings opted for different structural and facade solutions.

The 461 Fifth Avenue Building uses a Trussed Frame system, which uses diagonal bracing in addition to beams and columns for stability, while the Gas Company Tower uses a Frame system, that relies on a regular grid of columns and beams to sustain its weight.

And when it came to the facade, the Modular went with a Modular facade, which employs prefabricated panels, often mixing solid surfaces with smaller windows, while the Gas Company Tower opted for a Curtain Wall facade, that uses a lightweight glass curtain wall hung from the structure.